JP3096316B2 - Communication 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 apparatus for communicating via a public telephone network and having a redial function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various communication devices such as facsimile machines store a certain number of past destination telephone numbers, and when an operator presses a redial key, the stored destination telephone numbers are sequentially displayed. Is often provided with a redial function that can be set as a destination by selecting a desired one.

[0003] Along with this function, a one-touch dial that can set a destination by pressing a key corresponding to each destination, and a destination to be set by inputting a short number of each destination. Simple dialing functions, such as speed dialing, are also well known.

In the conventional redial function, a destination telephone number input from a numeric keypad and a destination telephone number set by the above simple dial function are both stored and stored in a buffer memory. When pressed, they are displayed sequentially.

Since the buffer memory has a limited storage capacity, for example, for 10 destinations, only the latest fixed number of buffers are always stored. Now, for example, it is assumed that a destination telephone number is input using a numeric keypad to make a call to one destination, and thereafter, each destination telephone number is set using the simple dial function, and then a number of destinations are transmitted. Then, the buffer memory is filled with a destination telephone number corresponding to a simple dial, and one destination telephone number transmitted earlier is erased.

In this case, the destination telephone number that can be transmitted by a simple operation is stored, but the destination telephone number that must be input from the numeric keypad is deleted.
Therefore, in order to make a call to the other party again, it is necessary to re-enter the destination telephone number using the numeric keypad.

[0007] Generally, each destination includes a destination that frequently transmits and a destination that rarely transmits. However, as described above, since the destination telephone numbers are simply deleted in the order from the oldest one at the time of originating the call, the telephone numbers of the frequent destinations may be deleted. I needed it.

Further, conventionally, when the redial key is pressed, the destination telephone numbers are sequentially displayed one by one starting from the newest one at the time of the transmission. Therefore, the redial key is repeatedly used until the operator finds the desired destination. I had to press.

[0009]

As described above, conventionally, when making a call, there is a problem that the number of key operations such as numeric keypad input of the destination telephone number and pressing of the redial key is large and the calling operation is troublesome. there were.

[0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problem and reduces the number of key operations and facilitates a transmission operation.

[0011]

For this reason, the present invention provides a normal dialing means for setting a destination telephone number by inputting a telephone number one digit at a time, and pressing a key corresponding to the destination or inputting a shortened number. Simple dialing means for setting a destination telephone number, storage means for ranking and storing a predetermined number of telephone numbers sent in the past, and selecting a telephone number stored in the storage means as a destination by selecting the telephone number A settable redial means and a discriminating means for discriminating whether the telephone number stored at the highest level of the storage means is set by the normal dial means or set by the simple dial means. The destination telephone number is input and set by the normal dial means or the simple dial means, and the result of the determination by the determination means is stored at the highest level of the storage means. If the telephone number is one which is set in the normal dial means stores the destination telephone number entered by deferred stored information of the storage means sequentially lower the top by a conventional dial means or simple dial means,
When the destination telephone number is input and set by the normal dial means or the simple dial means, and the result of the judgment by the judgment means is that the telephone number stored at the highest level of the storage means is set by the simple dial means In the meantime, while the highest-level information is rewritten to the input destination telephone number, if the destination telephone number is set by the redial means, the telephone number is stored in the highest level of the storage means, It is characterized in that the stored information higher than the telephone number is stored is sequentially moved down to the area where the telephone number is stored.

When the input and set destination telephone number is stored in the storage means, if there is no free space in the storage means, one of the lowest-ranked telephone numbers is determined in accordance with a predetermined priority order. The number is erased from the storage means.

[0013]

With this configuration, the destination telephone numbers set by the simple dial means stored in the storage means are minimized, so that the storage area of the storage means is filled with those destination telephone numbers. Inconveniences such as the deletion of the destination telephone number set by the normal dial means can be suppressed, and the number of times that the destination telephone number must be re-entered by the normal dial means is reduced, and the number of operations of the numeric keypad etc. is reduced I do.

[0014]

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a facsimile image processing unit 1 reads an image of a transmission document, records a received image, and transmits and receives an image. The network control unit 2 is connected to a telephone line,
A predetermined line control is performed at the time of outgoing and incoming calls. The operation display unit 3 is used by the operator to perform various operations and to display the operation state and various information of the apparatus.

The operation display unit 3 is provided with one-touch dial keys 3a, ten keys 3b and redial keys 3c as keys for dial operation. The one-touch dial keys 3a are a plurality of keys to which serial numbers are assigned. Further, a display 3d for displaying the contents set by each operation is provided.

The system memory 4 stores various information necessary for the operation of the apparatus. In the system memory 4, a one-touch dial table 4a for storing each destination telephone number of one-touch dial, a speed dial table 4b for storing each destination telephone number of speed dial, and each destination telephone number transmitted in the past are stored. A redial buffer 4c for storing is formed. The control unit 5
This is a microcomputer that monitors and controls the above components.

With the above configuration, the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment has already performed the predetermined registration processing of the one-touch dial and the abbreviated dial, and has performed the transmission processing to a plurality of destinations. And Accordingly, each destination telephone number corresponding to each key of the one-touch dial key 3a is stored in the one-touch dial table 4a, and abbreviated numbers and telephone numbers of each destination are stored in the abbreviated dial table 4b. . In the redial buffer 4c, past destination telephone numbers are stored.

FIG. 2 shows the transmission process of the facsimile machine. In this case, the operator first sets the transmission destination. This setting is performed by any of normal dial operation, simple dial operation, and redial operation. In the case of a normal dial operation, the destination telephone number is input one digit at a time using the numeric keypad 3b. For simple dial operation,
There are speed dials and one-touch dials. In the case of abbreviated dialing, the abbreviated number of the destination is input using the ten keys 3b. In the case of one-touch dialing, one key corresponding to the destination of the one-touch dial key 3a is pressed. In the case of a redial operation, the redial key 3c is pressed. Then, each time a key is operated, the previously transmitted destination telephone numbers stored in the redial buffer 4c are displayed one by one on the display 3d. The operator selects a desired one of them.

After the input or selection of the destination telephone number, a calling operation is started (step 101). As a result, the facsimile apparatus makes a call to the set destination and, when the destination responds, executes a predetermined facsimile communication (process 102).

When the facsimile apparatus terminates the communication,
It is determined whether the destination telephone number stored in the head area in the redial buffer 4c is set by simple dialing or by normal dialing (step 103).

If it is assumed that the call destination telephone number of the normal dial is stored in the head area (N in process 103), the stored information is sequentially moved down to the head area to open the head area (process 104). Then, the destination telephone number transmitted this time is stored in the top area (process 105).

That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), when one destination telephone number is set by a normal dial operation while each destination telephone number is stored in the redial buffer 4c, The current destination telephone number is stored in the head area of the redial buffer 4c, and the past destination telephone numbers are moved down one area at a time.

When a destination telephone number is set by a one-touch dial operation as shown in FIG. 2B, the information is stored in the head area in the same manner as described above. Further, as shown in FIG. 10C, when one past destination telephone number is set by the redial operation, the number is similarly stored in the head area. In this case, the information after the area from which the destination telephone number is extracted is sequentially moved up.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2D, when the destination telephone number of the one-touch dial is stored in the head area (Y in step 103), the stored information is not moved, and the head area of the head area is not moved. The information is rewritten to the current destination telephone number information (process 105).

As described above, each time a call is made to one destination, the destination telephone number is sequentially stored. Also, since the redial buffer 4c has a certain capacity, if a certain number of destination telephone numbers are stored, the oldest one is deleted every time a new destination telephone number is stored. . Then, the redial operation is executed based on the stored information at that time.

As described above, in this embodiment, one or more destination telephone numbers set by simple dial operations such as one-touch dialing and speed dialing are not stored in the redial buffer 4c.

Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the redial buffer 4c from being filled up by the destination telephone number set by the simple dial operation, thereby preventing the destination telephone number information set by the normal dial operation from being erased. This reduces the need for the operator to re-enter the destination telephone number using the numeric keypad 3b, thereby facilitating the transmission operation.

Further, since only one destination telephone number set by simple dialing is stored in the redial buffer 4c, when a destination is busy and the destination is busy and redialing is required, the redial operation is easily performed. Can send.

In the above embodiment, one destination telephone number set by simple dialing is stored in the redial buffer 4c, but it may not be stored at all. In this case, the simple dial operation is performed again at the time of retransmission, but the operation is simpler than the normal dial operation. This also has the effect of storing an additional call destination telephone number set by the normal dial operation.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a redial buffer 4c stores a destination telephone number transmitted in the past and the number of transmissions.

FIG. 5 shows the transmission processing of the present embodiment.
The same reference numerals denote the same operations. That is, in this case, similarly to the above-described embodiment, a call destination is set (process 101), a predetermined communication is executed (process 102), and then the call destination telephone number in the head area of the redial buffer 4c is changed. It is determined whether or not it is a simple dial (process 10).
3).

If the destination telephone number is one set by normal dialing (N in process 103),
Next, it is determined whether or not the storage area of the redial buffer 4c is free (process 106). If there is room (Process 10
6Y), similarly to the above-described embodiment, the registration information is moved down to the lower order (process 104), and the destination telephone number set this time is stored in the head area (process 105).

Next, it is determined whether the current destination telephone number has been set by the redial operation (step 10).
7). If the number has been set by the redial operation (Y in process 107), the information of the corresponding number of outgoing calls is incremented by +1.
On the other hand (step 108), if a new setting has been made (N in step 107), "1" is set as the number of times of communication (step 109).

On the other hand, when the destination telephone number is stored in the redial buffer 4c in the full storage capacity (step 10).
6N), the priority of each of the destination telephone number information is determined. This determination is performed, for example, by assigning sequence numbers “1, 2, 3,...” In the time series in which each information is stored, and calculating the product of the sequence number and the number of times of transmission for each information I do. In this case, a new destination telephone number with a larger number of transmissions has a larger calculated value and a higher priority.
The priority order is determined in this way (process 110).

Next, the destination telephone number information having the lowest priority and the information of the number of times of transmission are deleted from the redial buffer 4c (step 111). Thereafter, the information stored in the redial buffer 4c is moved down to the lower area, the head area is opened, and the current destination telephone number is stored (step 104).
What).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the number of calls is stored together with the destination telephone number, and the redial buffer 4c is stored.
Is full, and one new piece of information is registered, the priority is determined based on the storage time and the number of transmissions, and the oldest information with a small number of transmissions is sequentially deleted.

As a result, the destination telephone number which is relatively frequently used remains without being erased, so that the number of cases where the destination telephone number must be re-entered is reduced, and the calling operation is facilitated.

By the way, in the redial operation of each of the above-described embodiments, when the redial key 3c is pressed, the destination telephone numbers in the redial buffer 4c are displayed in the storage order, but are displayed in a fixed order. It may be.

FIG. 6 shows such an embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, when the facsimile apparatus is started, the priority of each destination telephone number information in the redial buffer 4c is determined by the determination method of the above-described embodiment (process 201). Then, the press of the redial key 3c and the activation operation are monitored (step 202, N in step 202).
From the processing 203 to the processing 202 from N of the processing 203).

When the redial key 3c is depressed (Y in step 202), the destination telephone numbers are displayed one by one in the descending order of the determined priority (step 204).

As a result, the destination telephone number having a high transmission frequency is preferentially displayed, so that the operator can find a desired destination telephone number with a small number of key operations, thereby facilitating the transmission operation.

In each of the above embodiments, a facsimile apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is naturally applicable not only to a facsimile apparatus but also to various communication apparatuses used in a public telephone network.

Also, the example has been described in which the priority of the stored destination telephone numbers is determined by the product of the storage time and the number of transmissions. It goes without saying that the determination may be made by a method.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, the destination telephone number set by the simple dial means is stored in the storage means only to a minimum, so that the destination telephone number set by these means is stored. As a result, the storage area of the storage means becomes full and the destination telephone number information set by the normal dial means is suppressed from being erased, the frequency of re-input by the normal dial means is reduced, and the calling operation is facilitated. Become.

[0048]

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of a transmission process.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of storing a destination telephone number in a redial buffer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing information stored in a redial buffer in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of a transmission process in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart showing another embodiment of the redial processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile image processing part 2 Network control part 3 Operation display part 3a One-touch dial key 3b Numeric keypad 3c Redial key 3d Display 4 System memory 4a One-touch dial table 4b Short dial table 4c Redial buffer 5 Control part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04M 1/274 H04M 1/56 H04M 11/00 302

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A normal dial means for inputting a telephone number one digit at a time to set a destination telephone number, and a simple dial means for setting a destination telephone number by pressing a key corresponding to a destination or inputting an abbreviated number. Storage means for ranking and storing a predetermined number of telephone numbers transmitted in the past; redial means which can be set as a destination by selecting a telephone number stored in the storage means; Discriminating means for discriminating whether the telephone number stored at the highest level of the telephone number is set by the normal dialing means or set by the simple dialing means. The destination telephone number set and inputted by the normal dial means or the simple dial means, and the result of the discrimination by the discrimination means is stored at the highest level of the storage means. If the setting is made by the normal dial means, the information stored in the storage means is sequentially moved down to the lowermost position, and the destination telephone number input by the normal dial means or the simple dial means is stored at the highest position, and The destination telephone number is input and set by the normal dial means or the simple dial means, and the result of the determination by the determination means is that the telephone number stored at the top of the storage means is set by the simple dial means. In some cases, the top-level information is rewritten to the input and set destination telephone number. On the other hand, when the destination telephone number is set by the redial means, the telephone number is stored in the storage means. At the same time, the information stored in the higher order is moved down to the area where the telephone number was stored. A communication device, comprising: 2. When storing the input and set destination telephone number in the storage means, if there is no free space in the storage means, one of the lowest ranks according to a predetermined priority order is set. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the telephone number is deleted from the storage unit.