JP3249588B2 - 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 which is connected to various telephone lines and communicates in response to receiving a call signal from the line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile apparatus is widely used in various lines such as a facsimile communication network, a private branch exchange network, and a private telephone line in addition to an ordinary public telephone line network.

A call signal for notifying an incoming call from a line to a facsimile machine is an AC voltage signal of 75 V / 16 Hz for ringing the bell of a telephone in the case of a normal public telephone line network. In the case of a facsimile communication network, 1
This is a 300 Hz tone signal.

On the other hand, in the case of a private branch exchange network or a private telephone line, as a calling signal, in addition to an AC voltage signal similar to that of a public telephone line, tone signals of various frequencies, DTMF (Dua).
One tone multi-frequency or a direct current signal is used.

[0005]

As described above, there are various types of call signals.
There was no one that could detect any of these various calling signals. For example, a general-purpose facsimile machine is 75
Only the AC voltage signal of V.16 Hz, or the AC voltage signal and the 1300 Hz tone signal could be detected. Further, the facsimile apparatuses for the private branch exchange network or the private telephone line can detect only a specific call signal.

[0006] In order for the facsimile apparatus to automatically respond to an incoming call and perform communication, it must detect a call signal. However, the conventional facsimile apparatus has a problem that a single facsimile apparatus cannot be used arbitrarily on various lines because a detectable calling signal is limited.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a facsimile apparatus which can be used arbitrarily on various lines.

[0008]

For this purpose, a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention comprises a pair of voice band signal receiving terminals connected to a line in a facsimile apparatus which starts communication in response to reception of a call signal from the line. And a connector having another pair of signal terminals, a DC current detecting means connected to the other pair of signal terminals of the connector to detect a DC current signal flowing through the line as a call signal, and receiving a voice band signal of the connector. Switching means for switching a terminal from a paging signal detection terminal side to a facsimile communication execution terminal side in response to detection of a paging signal; and a 16 Hz AC voltage flowing through the line via the paging signal detection terminal of the switching means. And a frequency setting means for setting the frequency of a single tone signal or a DTMF signal to be detected. Tone signal detecting means for detecting, as a calling signal, a single tone signal or a DTMF signal of a frequency set by the frequency setting means flowing from a voice band signal receiving terminal of the connector to a line via the calling signal detecting terminal as a calling signal. It is characterized by having.

[0009]

If the received signal is one of a predetermined single tone signal, DTMF signal, DC current signal and AC voltage signal, it is determined that the received signal is a calling signal, Communication, one facsimile apparatus can be arbitrarily used on various lines.

[0010]

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 the figure, a communication connector 1 is a component generally called a modular jack, and various telephone lines are connected to the communication connector 1. The first pin and the fourth pin of the communication connector 1 are connected to the DC current detector 2 respectively. The second and third pins are connected to common terminals c1 and c2 of the switching circuit 3, respectively. The contact a1 of the switching circuit 3 is connected to one end of one winding of the transformer 5 and the 16 Hz AC voltage detector 4. Also, contact a
2 is connected to the 16 Hz AC voltage detection unit 4 and
It is connected to the other end of the winding via a capacitor 6. Further, the contact b1 is connected to one end of one winding of the transformer 7, and the contact b2 is connected to the other end of the winding via the switch 8. One ends of the other windings of the transformer 5 and the transformer 7 are both connected to the modem 9, and the other ends are grounded.

The DC current detector 2 detects a call signal of a connected line when the signal is a constant DC current. The 16 Hz AC voltage detection unit 4 detects a call signal of a connected line when the signal is a 75 V / 16 Hz AC voltage signal.

The modem 9 transmits and receives image information according to a known procedure of G3 facsimile. The modem 9 includes a modulation / demodulation circuit 9a, a tone transmission circuit 9b, a tone detection circuit 9c, and the like. Modulation / demodulation circuit 9a
Is for modulating and demodulating image information. Tone sending circuit 9
b transmits a tone signal for transmission control.
The tone detection circuit 9c detects a tone signal for transmission control and, when a call signal of a connected line is a tone signal, detects the call signal. The tone detection circuit 9c includes frequency setting means for arbitrarily setting the frequency of the detected tone signal.

The image information processing section 10 reads image information from a transmission original and compresses the data, or restores the compressed and received image information to record and output it on recording paper. The memory 11 stores information registered in advance in the apparatus and various other information. Operation display section 12
Is for displaying the operation state of the apparatus while the operator performs various operations. The control unit 13 is a microcomputer that monitors and controls the above units.

With the above configuration, the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment is used by being switched to a private telephone network, a private branch exchange network, a private telephone line, or the like as necessary.

When the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment is used, a tone signal to be detected as a call signal at the time of an incoming call is first registered. When performing this registration process,
The operator first selects a signal to be registered as shown in FIG. 2 by a predetermined operation (process 101).

The signal selection can be a single tone or DT
The choice is whether the signal is an MF signal. The single tone is a voice band signal of a single frequency, and is selected when a line in which a call signal is a single tone signal is used. Examples of such a line include a line of a facsimile communication network and a private telephone line. The DTMF signal is a known signal indicating one number by a combination of two signals having different frequencies. DTMF is selected when a line in which the call signal is a DTMF signal is used. Examples of such a line include a private branch exchange network extension and a private telephone line.

When the operator selects a single tone ("single tone" in step 102), the operator inputs a signal frequency and a detection time (steps 103 and 104). Here, for example, information that the signal frequency is “400 Hz” and the detection time is “500 ms” is input. The facsimile machine stores the input information in the memory 11 (step 105).

On the other hand, if the operator selects the DTMF signal ("DTMF" in process 102),
The number of the F signal and the detection time are sequentially input (Process 10
5, processing 106). Here, for example, information such as a number “2” and a detection time “500” ms is input.

In the memory 11, as shown in FIG.
Correspondence information between each number of the TMF signal and each frequency is stored in advance. The facsimile machine determines each frequency corresponding to the input number on the basis of the stored information (process 108). Then, the determined frequencies and the input detection time are stored in the memory 11 in the same manner as described above (to the processing 105). As a result, the memory 11 is stored in FIG.
As shown in (1), the information of the tone signal to be detected, which is input by the operator, is registered.

When the input operation is completed, the operator designates "end of registration". When "end of registration" is designated ("end" of process 102), the facsimile apparatus ends the above registration processing.

Next, the operator connects the facsimile machine to a desired line. In this case, there are two lines and four lines. If there are two lines,
As shown in (a), the line 14 is connected to the second and third pins of the communication connector 15, and the communication connector 15 is connected to the communication connector 1 of the facsimile apparatus. Also,
When the line is four lines, as shown in FIG. 2B, two lines of the audio signal of the line 16 are connected to the second pin of the communication connector 14,
The third pin is connected, and two lines of the calling signal are connected to the first and fourth pins.

When a call arrives on the two-line circuit 14, a predetermined call signal is transmitted from the other party exchange or the like via the two lines. When a call arrives on the line 16, the call signal 2
A direct current is supplied via the line.

When the power is turned on, the facsimile apparatus connects the switching circuit 3 to the contacts a1 and a2 as shown in FIG. 6 (step 201). Then, first, an AC voltage signal of 75 V and 16 Hz is monitored by the 16 Hz AC voltage detection unit 4 (process 202). If the signal is not detected (N in process 202), the DC current detector 2 monitors a constant DC current (process 203). If the current is not detected (N in process 203), the tone signal is monitored (process 204). This tone signal is registered as shown in FIG. In this case, the registered various signal frequencies are sequentially set in the tone detection circuit 9c, and the signal reception of a single frequency or two frequencies is monitored. Here, when the signal of the registered signal frequency is not detected (N of the process 204), the monitoring of each signal is repeated (to the process 202).

When an AC voltage signal of 75 V and 16 Hz is detected (Y in step 202) or when a constant DC current is detected (Y in step 203), the switch 8 is immediately closed and the switching circuit 3 is turned off. The connection is switched to the b1 and b2 sides to establish a line connection (process 205). Then, a known facsimile communication is executed in response to a predetermined signal (step 20).
6).

On the other hand, when the registered signal frequency is detected (Y in step 204), it is checked whether or not the signal is continuously detected for the registered detection time (step 207). If the signal is not detected for the detection time (N in process 207), the above signal monitoring is repeated (to process 202). On the other hand, when the signal is detected for the detection time (Y in process 207), the communication is performed by connecting the line in the same manner as described above (to process 205).

As described above, in this embodiment, means for detecting a single tone signal, a DTMF signal, and a DC current signal in addition to a normal AC voltage signal for ringing a telephone bell as a call signal from a line are provided. In any case, when any call signal arrives, the call signal is detected, and communication is made in response. As a result, one facsimile machine can be arbitrarily used on various lines.

Further, the tone signal to be detected is arbitrarily registered by the operator with respect to the frequency and the detection time, so that it is possible to register as many as necessary according to the type of line used.

Further, since the internal circuit of the modem 9 is used for the detection of the tone signal, an independent signal detection circuit is not required, so that the circuit cost can be reduced.

Further, two lines of the calling signal are independent 4
In the case of a line circuit, two unused pins of the communication connectors 1 and 17 are used for a call signal. This allows the operator to use 4 lines even if the line used is 2 lines.
Even in the case of a line, the connection of the line can be switched by the same operation.

In the above-described embodiment, the DC current detector 2 detects a predetermined DC current. However, the current value to be detected can be arbitrarily varied according to the line used. Is also good.

Further, in the present embodiment, a description has been given by taking a facsimile apparatus as an example, but the present invention may be applied to other communication apparatuses that selectively use various lines.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the received signal is any one of the predetermined single tone signal, DTMF signal, DC current signal and AC voltage signal, Since it is determined that the received signal is a calling signal and the communication is performed in response, one facsimile apparatus can be used arbitrarily on various lines.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a tone signal registration process.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of correspondence information between DTMF signal numbers and signal frequencies.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of information registered by the tone signal registration process.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a method of connecting various lines to a communication connector.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an incoming call operation of the facsimile machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 15, 17 Communication connector 2 DC current detection unit 3 Switching circuit 4 16Hz AC voltage detection unit 5, 7 Transformer 8 Switch 9 Modem 9a Modulation / demodulation circuit 9b Tone transmission circuit 9c Tone detection circuit 10 Image information processing unit 11 Memory 12 Operation display Unit 13 Control unit 14, 16 lines

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/32-1/36 H04N 1/42-1/44 H04N 1/00-1/00 108

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus which starts communication in response to reception of a call signal from a line, comprising: a connector having a pair of voice band signal receiving terminals connected to the line and another pair of signal terminals; DC current detection means connected to another pair of signal terminals to detect a DC current signal flowing through the line as a call signal; and a voice band signal receiving terminal of the connector, a call signal detection terminal according to the detection of the call signal. Means for switching from the side to a facsimile communication execution terminal side, and detecting a 16 Hz AC voltage flowing through the line as a call signal via a call signal detection terminal of the switch means.
Hz AC voltage detecting means, frequency setting means for setting the frequency of a single tone signal or DTMF signal to be detected, and said frequency setting flowing from a voice band signal receiving terminal of said connector to a line via said ringing signal detecting terminal And a tone signal detecting means for detecting a single tone signal or a DTMF signal of a frequency set by the means as a calling signal.