JP3286960B2 - 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 machine, and more particularly, to a facsimile machine capable of making an application with a price through a facsimile machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional general facsimile machine is used only for transmitting information, and when accompanied by a price,
Applications can be made, but if payment is required, payment must be made separately. As this type of technology, for example, a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-54031 is cited. This technology is intended to improve the service by making it possible to separate a general telephone charge and a charge for storage conversion communication by creating billing information in the storage conversion device on the receiving side.

[0003]

The former of the above prior arts is used only for transmitting information, and in the case of a price, an application or the like can be made. Had to do. The latter of the above-mentioned prior arts enables the separation of the general telephone charge and the charge for the storage conversion communication, but does not consider the payment of money when the price is involved. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the purpose thereof is to:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile machine which solves the above-described problems in the conventional technology and enables an application or the like with a price to be made via a facsimile machine.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus having an automatic transmission / reception function and capable of utilizing a charge collection function of a connected charge management apparatus. means for detecting the connection of the mating machine with a toll collection function by the contents, fees other aircraft
Signal indicating means for notifying the gold collection function by NSC signal, and means for detecting the charge information from the other aircraft, and outputs the charge information to the charge management system, the toll collection from該料proceeds management device Is received by the facsimile apparatus, which is configured to transmit information indicating that the fee has been received to the partner machine.

[0005]

In the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, a control signal is exchanged between the facsimile apparatus and a charge management apparatus installed outside the facsimile apparatus, so that the facsimile apparatus can communicate with the other facsimile apparatus. Thus, it is possible to have an arbitrary protocol procedure, and to settle a fee through this. Further, the line charge can be collectively processed by the charge management device described above. Receipt of a receipt or the like for payment of a fee is also possible by polling reception from the partner.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an operation port (OPU) for inputting an operation from a user and transmitting information to the user, 2 is a scanner for reading a document, 3
Is a plotter for printing a copy or received document, 4 is a buffer for temporarily storing various information, and 5 is installed outside.
2 shows an interface (I / F) with a charge management device (not shown). Through this fee management device I / F5, the fee information sent from the partner facsimile device and the charging information from the line are output to the fee management device, and a charge settlement determination signal is received from the fee management device.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a picture information compression / decoding processing unit (DC
R) and 7 are central control units for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment. The central control unit includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls each unit of the facsimile apparatus according to a program in the ROM. Such processing is also performed. Reference numeral 8 denotes an image information storage unit (SAF). Reference numeral 9 denotes a communication control unit (CCU) that exchanges a facsimile control signal with a partner facsimile machine via a modem (MDM) and executes a facsimile procedure. ing. Reference numeral 10 denotes a network control unit (NCU) for controlling a communication line, and in this embodiment, a billing signal is detected in this portion. Reference numeral 11 denotes an image memory, an IC card slot, and the like.

Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment constructed as described above will be described based on the operation flow shown in FIGS. FIG. 2 is an operation flow of a portion where an operator first transmits an application form to a facsimile machine (hereinafter, referred to as a “other device”), and FIG. 3 is a portion of a portion for receiving fee information for the transmitted request. FIG. 4 is an operation flow of a portion for transmitting a fee payment determination result to a partner machine, and FIG. 5 is an operation flow of receiving information on a paid fee, a receipt, and the like. Also, TX and RX in FIGS.
Indicate the first calling side and the called side at the time of line connection, respectively. In the following description, a case in which an operator makes a purchase application accompanied by payment of a fee will be described as an example.

First, an outline of the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 6, and then details of each operation will be described with reference to FIGS. The outline of the operation of the device according to the present embodiment is as follows. When the operator performs a calling procedure in accordance with a prescribed procedure, the call is connected to the partner machine, and fee information corresponding to the purchase application is transmitted from the partner machine (steps 61 to 66). The device outputs the received fee information to an external fee management device (not shown), and when there is an operator's deposit,
Information indicating that this has been confirmed is received from the fee management device (steps 67a-c). Thereafter, information indicating that the fee has been paid is transmitted to the other party, a receipt is received, and the entire process ends (steps 68 to 71).

The details of each operation will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the operator puts money into the fee management device, sets a facsimile manuscript (here, the above-mentioned purchase application form) on the facsimile device, and presses a start button. When the facsimile procedure is exchanged with the partner machine, an NSF signal is returned from the partner.
(21) Therefore, it can be determined from the declared contents that the connection has been established with the facsimile machine capable of processing the fee. In response, the transmitting side sets a flag indicating payment of the fee in the contents of the NSS and declares (22). Here, D
The CCITT non-standard protocol procedure is used using the extended mode of IS and DCS. Since the contents of the corresponding bit are defined in advance, the declaration can convey the operation of the processing according to the present invention.

The condition for setting a flag indicating the payment procedure in the content of the NSS in (22) may be provided with a function button for instructing this operation in the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, or registered in advance in the facsimile apparatus. The operation mode of the process according to the present invention may be set in such a manner as to be compared with the destination number, and when they match with each other. (23) is a high-speed training period performed prior to transmission of image information. The other party returns CFR (24) when this signal is received correctly.
If the training fails, FTT is returned. Next, the image information of the application form is transmitted (25).
At (26), EOM indicating the end of the page is returned, and phase B
By returning to the above, the procedure moves to the next step.

The above is the description of the portion shown in FIG. 2 where the operator transmits the application form to the partner machine. Less than,
The description will be continued based on FIG. Transmission of image information of application form
In response to (25), the NSF is returned from the partner machine (26). Here, the polling transmission standby is declared in this declaration. In response, the transmitting side returns NSC and declares that it will be a receiver (27). When the other party notifies the NSS (28) that there is toll information to be transmitted, a loop state is formed by the TCF and FTT between the two parties until the fare information is determined. Thereafter, when a charge determination is prepared from the partner machine, CFR is returned and the process proceeds to the next operation (2).
9).

In (30), a fee is notified from the partner device instead of the image information message. Furthermore, after sending the fee, EOM
(31), the process returns to the phase B, and the receiving side and the transmitting side are exchanged again. The above is the description of the portion shown in FIG. 3 for receiving the fee information for the transmitted request. On the transmitting side, the charge information received above is processed by the operation of step 67 in the operation flow shown in FIG.
This detail is shown in FIG. The transmitting side waits until information indicating that the fee has been correctly paid from the fee management device is received (32), and upon receiving the information, the other device pays the fee instead of the image information message in (33). Send the code shown.

After completion, the process returns to the phase B by returning the EOM, and the receiving side and the transmitting side are exchanged again. The above is the description of the portion shown in FIG. 4 for transmitting the fee payment determination result to the partner device. When receiving a notification from the other machine that the receipt will be sent (34), the sender will receive this (35),
This completes one process. According to the above-described embodiment, by performing turnaround transmission with a partner machine via a charge management device externally connected, payment of information, receipt of a receipt, etc. are performed simultaneously with transmission of information. It can be executed as a user, and the convenience received by the user is great.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining functions of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the collection of the line usage fee when using the public line, which is effective when considering the versatility of the device according to the present invention, is included in the fee collection process by the above-described fee management device. Things. In the case of Japan, the charging signal from NTT is expressed as a reversal of the polarity of the line. This is detected by the network control unit (NCU) (step 81) and output to the charge management device (step 8).
2). Then, it monitors the payment information output from the charge management device, connects to the line only while the payment information is returned (step 83), and immediately disconnects the line when an error is returned.
(Steps 83 and 84).

According to the above-described embodiment, in addition to the above-described functions, billing by a public telephone is performed at the same time, and the user only has to pay a unified one of both charges, so that the convenience received by the user is further improved. growing. It should be noted that the above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this.

[0017]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there is a remarkable effect that a facsimile machine which can make an application with a price through a facsimile machine can be realized. It is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a part of a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a facsimile apparatus including a network selection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating details of the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating details of the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating details of the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating details of the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of an operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating functions of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation port 2 Scanner 3 Plotter 4 Buffer 5 Charge management device I / F 6 Compression decoding processing part 7 Central control part 8 Image information storage part 9 Registration number input part 10 Network control part

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A has an automatic originating and terminated functions, a facsimile apparatus capable of utilizing a toll collection function of the charge management device connected, rates the content of the NSF signal from the transmission destination
A means for detecting the connection of the destination machine having a collection function, and means for notifying the NSC signal toll collection function to the other machine, and means for detecting the charge information from the other aircraft, the When the charge information is output to the charge management device and a signal indicating charge collection is received from the charge management device,
A facsimile apparatus configured to transmit information indicating that a charge has been received to a partner machine. 2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: means for detecting a charging signal (line usage charge) from a line, and means for outputting the contents of the charge to said charge management device. When a signal indicating receipt is received, communication with the partner machine is maintained, and when no signal is received, communication with the partner machine is cut off. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 3. In addition to each of the above-mentioned means, when receiving a signal indicating toll collection from the toll management device, it transmits information indicating that toll collection has been completed to a partner machine and receives polling when returning an EOM signal. 3. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein