JP3463669B2 - Facsimile machine and destination designation method - 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 a destination designation method capable of referring to a large number of destinations and easily identifying a specific destination from the destinations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Facsimile apparatuses are often provided with a telephone directory function capable of registering a plurality of destination names and telephone numbers. In a facsimile machine having such a function, it is general that the destination telephone number is assigned to a button or the like installed on the operation panel or the like. In this case, the user can press these buttons to
It is possible to easily send a document or the like to the destination without inputting the destination telephone number for each transmission.

[0003]

However, in the facsimile machine as shown above, the telephone directory data is R
Since it is stored in the memory such as AM, there is an upper limit to the number of destination telephone numbers that can be registered in the telephone directory. That is, it is impossible to register the destination telephone number or the like in excess of the storage capacity of the memory. Therefore, even if a large number of destination telephone numbers or the like are desired to be registered, a situation may occur in which some of them are not registered.

Further, in a facsimile machine, it is general to input various information by a ten-key for inputting a telephone number. Therefore, the input mode of the ten-key is switched to a kana input mode, and a complicated operation is carried out, so that the other party It was very troublesome to enter the name and so on.

As a technique for eliminating such troublesome input, there is an invention described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-124985. JP 2000-12498 A
According to the invention described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5, a communication device such as a facsimile device downloads phonebook data registered in advance by a user from a server that manages phonebook data on the Internet and stores it in an internal memory or the like. By doing so, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of inputting the destination telephone number and the like. However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-124
Also in the invention described in Japanese Patent No. 985, since the telephone directory data is stored in the memory or the like, there is an upper limit to the number of registered destination telephone numbers. That is, the destination telephone number cannot be registered in excess of the storage capacity of the memory. for that reason,
Even in this case, a situation may occur in which part of the telephone number or the like is not registered.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus and a destination designation method which can refer to a large number of destinations and can easily identify a particular destination from among them. .

[0007]

A facsimile apparatus according to the present invention comprises an operation section for giving an operation instruction and a communication control section for establishing communication with a destination based on a telephone number notified from the operation section. A facsimile device provided with the network data processing unit that has a function of connecting to the Internet, reads phonebook data from a server that manages phonebook data, and outputs the phonebook data to the operation unit. Is to display the contents of the telephone directory data and notify the communication control unit of the telephone number selected from the contents.

The network data processing unit divides and reads the telephone directory data. In this way, by reading the telephone directory data in pieces, the network data processing unit
A large number of destination names and telephone numbers can be displayed on the operation unit without being limited by the storage capacity of the memory in the facsimile apparatus. The divided reading is continued until a specific telephone number is selected on the operation unit.

A destination designating method according to the present invention is a destination designating method for designating a communication destination in a facsimile apparatus, which comprises reading telephone directory data from a server that manages telephone directory data via the Internet, and Display the contents of the phonebook data read in step,
Establishing communication with the other party based on the telephone number selected from among them.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile machines 1 and 2 and the service center 4 are connected to a communication network 3 such as the Internet.

In the facsimile apparatus 1, the network data processing unit 12 gives the information acquired from the communication network 3 to the operation unit 11, and the operation unit 11 responds to an instruction from the user and the network data processing unit 12 and the communication control unit. The predetermined information is output to 13, and the document reading unit 14
The communication control unit 13 converts document data such as documents and drawings read by a scanner into a format that can be transmitted by facsimile.
Output to. The communication control unit 13 has a function of establishing communication with the other party, transmits the document data output from the document reading unit 14 to the other party, and receives the document data transmitted from the other party. The network data processing unit 12 has a function of connecting to the Internet, and
It has a function of analyzing a communication protocol used for communication on the Internet such as P and analyzing the content of communication protocol data such as HTML. The network data processing unit 12 is composed of software or hardware having such a function. When the network data processing unit 12 is realized by software, a program for realizing such a function is R
It is recorded on a recording medium such as OM. Further, such a program may be loaded into the facsimile device from a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM. The operation unit 11 includes a display unit (a liquid crystal panel, a touch panel, etc.) for displaying information, buttons for inputting predetermined information, and the like.

The facsimile device 2 (destination) has the same structure as the facsimile device 1. FIG. 1 shows only the network data processing unit 22 and the communication control unit 23 among those components. In this case, the network data processing unit 22 is the network data processing unit 12
The communication control unit 23 corresponds to the communication control unit 13. Further, the destination facsimile machine 2 may be a general facsimile machine having no network data processing unit 22.

At the service center 4, the WWW server 41
Reads the telephone directory data 421 or 422 via the database server 42, and
To the facsimile device 1 or 2 via the. The telephone directory data 421 and 422 store destination names, telephone numbers, and the like in a list format. The telephone directory data 421 and 422 are registered from a personal computer or the like via the communication network 3, for example. It may also be registered from the facsimile machine 1 or 2. The case of addition or deletion of telephone directory data is the same as the case of registration. The database server 42 may store not only the telephone directory data 421 and 422 but also a plurality of telephone directory data.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The user gives an instruction to access the service center 4 to the facsimile device 1 (step S21). For example, when the telephone directory reference button is assigned in the operation unit 11, the button is pressed. In addition, if there is a portion on the touch panel to which such an assignment is made, that portion is pressed.

The network data processing unit 12 connects to the communication network 3 by dialing up with an Internet service provider contracted in advance. Then, the service center 4 is connected to the service center 4 by using the URL of the service center 4 registered in advance in the memory or the like. Also, the user specifies the URL of the service center 4 each time, and the network data processing unit 12
May connect to the service center 4 using the URL.

In the service center 4, the WWW server 41
Sends a selection menu for selecting the telephone directory data stored in the database server 42 to the facsimile device 1. The selection menu is, for example, HTM
It is transmitted in a data format such as L. In the facsimile apparatus 1, the network data processing unit 12 analyzes the data transmitted from the service center 4 in the HTML format or the like and causes the operation unit 11 to display a selection menu. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the operation unit 11 displays a menu for selecting either the telephone directory data 421 or 422. Then, the user operates one of the phone book data (phone book data 42
1 or 422). Then, the selection information is transmitted from the operation unit 11 to the service center 4 via the network data processing unit 12.

At the service center 4, the WWW server 41
Acquires the telephone directory data selected by the user via the database server 42 and transmits it to the facsimile apparatus 1. Phonebook data, for example, HT
It is transmitted in a data format such as ML. Facsimile device 1
Then, the network data processing unit 12 analyzes the data transmitted from the service center 4 in a format such as HTML (step S22), and causes the operation unit 11 to display the contents of the telephone directory data (step S23). At this time, the contents of the telephone directory data are dividedly displayed or scrolled in consideration of the size of the display unit in the operation unit 11. On the operation unit 11, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. Here, the network data processing unit 1
2 may store the data from the service center 4 in a storage medium such as a RAM and then display the content on the operation unit 11, but in that case, the storage capacity of such a storage medium may be small.

The user selects a desired destination from a plurality of destinations (name of destination and telephone number) displayed on the operation unit 11 by touch panel operation or button operation. In the case of button operation, if the desired destination exists in the content displayed on the operation unit 11, the Δ button, ▽ button, etc., the enter button etc. are operated to select the desired destination. If the desired destination does not exist in the displayed contents, the previous button or the next button is pressed. In the case of touch panel operation, the portion corresponding to the above-mentioned button is pressed.

The operation unit 11 determines whether or not the desired partner has been determined (step S24). As a result, when the desired destination is determined (when the determination button or the like is pressed), the telephone number of the destination is notified to the communication control unit 13 (step S25). The operation of the network data processing unit 12 is completed by notifying the network data processing unit 12 that the other party has been determined.

The user sets the original document, drawing, etc. to be transmitted in the original document reading section 14. Then, a send button or the like on the operation unit 11 is pressed to give an instruction to send the document.
Then, the document reading unit 14 reads the set document, converts the read document data into a data format that can be transmitted in a facsimile format, and outputs the data to the communication control unit 13 (step S26). The communication control unit 13 establishes communication with the other party based on the previously notified telephone number,
The document data output from the document reading unit 14 is transmitted to the other party (step S27).

When the specific destination is not determined in step S24 (when the previous button, the next button, etc. are pressed), the operation unit 11 gives an instruction to acquire the data of other parts in the telephone directory data. Network data processing unit 1
Output to 2. That is, when the telephone directory data is composed of a plurality of blocks, when the display of the data of a certain block is completed, an instruction to acquire the telephone directory data of another block is output. Then, the network data processing unit 12 reads the data of the other part from the service center 4 and displays the content on the operation unit 11 (steps S21 to S24). In this way, by dividing the telephone book data as necessary and reading it from the service center 4, the contents of a large number of telephone book data are transferred to the operation unit 11 without being limited by the memory storage capacity of the facsimile apparatus 1. Can be displayed.

As described above, the facsimile machine 1
Since the network data processing unit 12 is provided with the network data processing unit 12 and the network data processing unit 12 divides and reads the telephone directory data from the service center 4 as necessary and displays the contents on the operation unit 11, the user can use the facsimile machine. It is possible to refer to a large number of destinations without being limited by the storage capacity of the memory provided in 1, and it is possible to easily select a desired destination from among them.

If the facsimile device has the same function as the network data processing unit 12, each facsimile device can independently receive the telephone directory data from the service center 4. In the example shown in FIG. 1, not only the facsimile apparatus 1 but also the facsimile apparatus 2 can receive the telephone directory data 421 or 422. Therefore, even when a large number of facsimile devices are installed, such as in an office, each facsimile device independently reads the telephone directory data from the service center 4, thereby making it difficult to input the destination telephone number or the like to each facsimile device. Is released from.

In the above embodiment, the facsimile machine is described as a limitation, but the present invention is applied to a mobile phone, a PHS (Personal Handyphone).
It may be applied to a communication device such as System. Even in this case, the user can refer to the preset destination telephone number without being restricted by the storage capacity of the memory of the communication device, and can refer to the destination telephone number displayed on the liquid crystal panel or the like. A specific telephone number can be selected by using the △ key or ▽ key. Therefore, in the present situation where a large number of destination telephone numbers are being registered in a mobile phone or the like, the significance of applying the present invention to a communication device such as a mobile phone is significant.

In addition, as described above, when the present invention is applied to a communication device such as a mobile phone, the embodiment is realized by using an i-mode service provided by NTT Docomo, Inc., for example. can do. In this case, the user registers the destination telephone number and the like in advance in the site that manages the telephone directory data, and accesses the site from the communication device (mobile phone) to register the destination telephone number that is registered in advance. It is possible to easily select a desired telephone number or the like by referring to the number or the like.

[0026]

According to the present invention, the facsimile machine is
It has a function to connect to the Internet, reads the phonebook data from the server that manages the phonebook data, and has a network data processing unit that outputs the phonebook data to the operation unit. Is displayed and the telephone number selected from them is notified to the communication control unit.
Then, the network data processing unit divides the phone book data.
Because to read, regardless of the storage capacity of the memory in the facsimile apparatus, the user can refer to the number of the destination, it can readily determine a desired destination from among them.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the operation unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Facsimile machine 11 Operation part 12 Network data processing unit 13 Communication control unit 14 Document reading section 2 fax machines 22 Network data processing unit 23 Communication control unit 3 communication network 4 service centers 41 WWW server 42 database server 421 Phonebook data 422 Phonebook data

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An operation unit for giving an operation instruction, and the operation unit.
Communication with the other party based on the telephone number notified by Sakubu
In a facsimile machine equipped with a communication control unit that establishes
And It has a function to connect to the Internet and manages phonebook data.
Phonebook data is read from the server
Network data that outputs data to the operation unit
Equipped with a data processing unit, The operation unit displays the contents of the telephone directory data, and
Notify the communication control unit of the telephone number selected from
Then The network data processing unit divides the telephone directory data.
Then read A facsimile device characterized by the above. 2. The network data processing unit is an operation unit.
In this case, you can perform divided reading until a specific telephone number is selected.
The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, which is continued . 3.In the facsimile machine,
It is a destination designation method to specify, A server that manages phone book data via the Internet.
Read phonebook data from the Display the contents of the phonebook data read in the above step
And based on the phone number selected from among them,
And establishing the communication of In the step of reading the phonebook data, the phonebook data
Data is divided and read Destination designation method characterized by
Law. 4. In the step of reading the telephone directory data,
Continue split reading until a specific phone number is selected
4. The method for designating a destination according to claim 3.