JP3704231B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus suitable for use in a system in which a standard format sentence is attached together with a document read by a transmitting station and transmitted, and a comment is written and returned at a receiving station.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional facsimile-related technique, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-133100 discloses a technique for reducing a reply work in a system using a storage exchange system or an OCR technique. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-97369 discloses a technique for extracting a difference between a transmitted original and a received document that has been added and sent back, and printing the difference over the transmitted original. Further, JP-A-8-163341 discloses a technique for adding a telephone number of a transmitting station and reading out the telephone number from the print-out information when replying and printing it automatically when sending it back. ing.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the system disclosed in JP-A-6-133100 is expensive and has a problem of becoming large-scale. In the technique disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-97369, the replying side must send back a large amount of FAX transmission data obtained by adding the added amount to the transmitted document, and the communication time and the communication fee are reduced. There is a problem that it takes a lot. In addition, the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-163341 is intended to reduce the communication charge by putting a telephone number in the TTI or additionally printing the telephone number at the receiving station in addition to the TTI. Is not considered. In addition, since the procedure uses printout as a medium, there is a problem that the confidentiality of the telephone number cannot be protected.
[0004]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that solves the above-described problems and can prevent an increase in communication time and communication charge with an inexpensive configuration.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention includes a receiving means for receiving a fixed format sentence transmitted by facsimile from a transmitting station , a preparation means for generating a comment sentence for the received fixed format sentence, and a preparation A transmitting means for transmitting the comment text to the transmitting station; a selecting means for selecting an application of a computer connected externally; a display means for displaying a format of the selected application; and the fixed format text is stored. Storing means, wherein the transmitting means transmits a comment text entered in the format, and the receiving means declares the type of the fixed format text when communicating with the transmitting station. , Print means for printing out the fixed format sentence of the type declared above Characterized by providing.
[0006]
The receiving means is provided with storage means for receiving data sent from the transmitting station, storing the telephone number of the transmitting station included in the received data and the received data in association with each other, and the transmitting means When transmitting the comment text, it is preferable to call and transmit the station of the associated telephone number.
[0007]
It is preferable to provide reduction means for reducing the data including the fixed format sentence received by the receiving means, and print means for adding a comment column to the data including the reduced fixed format sentence and performing printout.
[0008]
It is preferable to provide holding means for holding data including the fixed format sentence received by the receiving means even after the print output, and instruction means for instructing output and discard of the held data.
[0009]
It said receiving means receives the read size of the document sent from the transmitting station, if the size of the read size and paper received provided setting means for selecting and setting the reduction ratio of the reduction means Good.
[0010]
A format sentence transmitting means for facsimile transmission of a fixed format sentence to a receiving station, a determination means for determining an area in which a comment sentence for the fixed format sentence is described from data transmitted from the receiving station, and the data Conversion means for cutting out the determined area and converting it into predetermined data may be provided.
[0011]
The conversion means may perform data conversion only on the character portion from the cut out region.
[0012]
Setting means for uniquely determining the fixed format sentence is provided, and the format sentence transmitting means declares the type of the fixed format sentence determined when communicating with the receiving station as the receiving station, and It is advisable not to send fixed format text.
[0013]
The format sentence transmitting means may notify the receiving station of the telephone number of the own station.
[0014]
The format sentence transmitting means may notify the receiving station of the read size of the document.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.
[0016]
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus is divided into a copy unit and a modem control unit. The copy unit reads the scanner and performs print output, and the modem control unit transmits and receives facsimile data via the communication modem.
[0017]
The copy unit includes a CPU 1 that controls the whole and a ROM 2 and a RAM 3 required for software. The I / O of the copy unit includes a scanner 4a, a scanner controller 4b, a plotter 5a, and a plotter controller 5b, and includes an operation unit 6a and a UART 6b. There are various IO controllers 7 as other I / O control. Image data exchange between the copy unit and the modem control unit is performed via the I / F 8.
[0018]
The modem control unit includes a controller 9 incorporating a CPU for controlling and a ROM 10 for storing software. As a work memory, there is an SRAM 11a to which a battery 11b guaranteed for five years is connected. There is a volatile DRAM 12a as a memory for storing received images, which is also in a conventional facsimile apparatus, and is backed up for about one hour by a secondary battery 12b that prevents memory erasure due to a power failure or the like. Further, there are a page memory 13 which is an image working memory, and a large capacity nonvolatile memory 14a such as an HDD and a large capacity flash ROM. Since this memory 14a has a low access speed, it is connected to the system via the cache buffer 14b. The analog line G3 FAX modem 15 is connected to a telephone line via the line control NCU 16.
[0019]
Further, the DSP 17 is installed as a FAX image processing unit, and performs various image processing and FAX compression / decompression processing. As a simple configuration for executing the present embodiment, a reduction unit 17a and a whiteout unit 17b are built in the DSP 17. Further, the facsimile apparatus is connected to a personal computer via the PC I / F 18.
[0020]
Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described along the first to eighth configurations for explaining the inventions of claims 1 to 10 .
In the facsimile apparatus as the first configuration , the transmitting station transmits a FAX by attaching a fixed format document together with the read original, and an example of the fixed format is shown in FIG. In this example, the manuscript has 5 pages or more, and requests for comments are examples of 1, 2, 4, and 5 pages. A comment is written at the receiving station and returned.
[0021]
In the transmitting station, the document in which the comment is written is read by the scanner, and the image data is developed on the page memory 13. A long black dot is found from the image data, a vertical line and a horizontal line are discriminated, a comment area is determined, and only a part in the area is sent to the DSP 17 for FAX compression. In the case of FIG. 2, the comment area has four blocks. In the case of a FAX unique procedure, it suffices to divide each block in the transmission format, attach a header, and add a comment or additional information on what page.
[0022]
When the comment area is extracted, the facsimile apparatus according to the second configuration determines, for example, from the black character rate what is not established as background dirt or characters from the image data. As a simple example, the comment area is cut out in the horizontal direction of the ruled line, and after removing the background dirt, the operation of deleting the black dot-free portion is performed by the white portion 17b of the DSP 17, and the rest is performed by the reduction portion 17a in the DSP 17. The character part can be cut out.
[0023]
In the facsimile apparatus as the third configuration , the above-mentioned fixed format is uniquely determined at the transmitting / receiving station. As an agreement method, the format to be sent is determined by declaring the format type in the FAX communication protocol. The receiving station outputs a predetermined format recorded in advance in the memory 14a at the time of FAX reception print output.
[0024]
A facsimile apparatus as a fourth configuration relates to a system in which a facsimile apparatus and a personal computer are connected as shown in FIG. Here, for example, after the image of FAX reception is converted, it is converted again into an image format that can be displayed on a general-purpose viewer installed in the personal computer, and then transferred to the personal computer via the PC I / F 18.
[0025]
That is , in the facsimile apparatus as the third configuration , when the format type is declared, if a format that can be displayed and written by the viewer installed in the personal computer is prepared, it is performed on the receiving station side. Instead of printing out, the corresponding format is displayed on the personal computer, and the user inputs a comment. In the personal computer, only the part where the comment is input is developed, transferred to the facsimile apparatus together with the page number corresponding to the comment, and returned by FAX. Further, if the FAX-specific procedure of the present embodiment is incorporated in the PC-FAX software, the work amount is further reduced.
[0026]
The facsimile apparatus as the fifth configuration notifies the receiving station of the telephone number of the own station in a FAX unique procedure or the like. Thereafter, the read original is transmitted, and the receiving station records the data as a received FAX file with a file number attached thereto. At that time, the notified telephone number is also recorded correspondingly.
[0027]
Further, for example, a part of an amount sufficient for TTI part and file discrimination from image data is recorded together with its coordinate position. When returning, a special mode for replying is entered by a user operation, and the comment reply document is read. At that time, the file can be identified by collating with the above-described determination portion, and the telephone number to be transmitted is extracted from the stored information and automatically transmitted.
[0028]
In the facsimile apparatus as the sixth configuration, the document read by the transmitting station is fax-transmitted as it is, but it is declared in the protocol that it relates to the present invention. On the receiving station side, the received image is compressed by the DSP reduction unit 17a, and a standard format as shown in FIG. 3 is created in the page memory 13 and printed out. The comment document is not output because each page has a comment field.
[0029]
The facsimile apparatus according to the seventh configuration is the same as the facsimile apparatus according to the sixth configuration, in which the received image is retained with a file number after the print output, and the file number is recorded somewhere in the print output. You may do it. When a problem such as difficulty in reading due to reduction occurs, it is possible to easily obtain the same size print output by specifying the above file number in the memory reception image output procedure incorporated in the FAX function.
[0030]
The facsimile apparatus as the eighth configuration declares the paper size and the like in the protocol in the FAX communication, but it can be imagined that it becomes difficult to view, for example, by reducing the A4 document to A5. Therefore, combinations of paper types and density of black dots of the original are calculated, and combinations that are difficult to see are set in advance and stored. Further, the size of “reduced and displayed” in FIG. 3 may be changed. From the determination result, the received image is printed and printed at the reduction rate determined in the format of FIG.
[0031]
As described on the following, in the facsimile apparatus as a first configuration, the data to be returned is because only comment area can reduce the communication time and communication fee. In the facsimile apparatus as the second configuration , since the data to be returned is only the comment character part, the communication time and communication charge can be further reduced.
[0032]
In the facsimile apparatus as the third configuration , the comment reply document is negotiated by both parties, and the image of the standard format text is not actually transmitted. Therefore, the comment station does not spend the communication time or the communication fee. Print output is possible.
[0033]
In the facsimile apparatus as the fourth configuration, it is not necessary to construct a reply system by using a fusion function with a PC and print out a comment document, so that the cost of printout can be reduced.
[0034]
In the facsimile apparatus as the fifth configuration , since the reply telephone number is automatically input without showing to the user, the work for replying the comment can be reduced.
[0035]
In the facsimile apparatus as the sixth configuration , since the comment document is not output but is printed out in a reduced size, writing and comments can be easily described.
[0036]
In the facsimile apparatus as the seventh configuration, since the same- size image information is also held, an operation of outputting for storage at the receiving station can be performed.
[0037]
In the facsimile apparatus as the eighth configuration , since the reduction rate is further suppressed, the reduction is suppressed and the difficulty in seeing due to the reduction can be avoided.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, since the data to be returned is only the comment area, the communication time and the communication charge can be reduced.
In addition, the document for replying the comment is decided by both, and the image of the standard format sentence is not actually transmitted, so that the comment document can be printed out at the receiving station without incurring communication time or communication fee.
In addition, since it is not necessary to construct a reply system using a function for integrating with a PC and print out a comment document, the cost of printout can be reduced.
[0039]
In the facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, since automatically performed at not a clearly telephone number input back to the user, it can be reduced practice when comment reply.
[0040]
In the facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect, since the comment document is not output and is printed out in a reduced size, writing and comments can be easily described.
[0041]
In the facsimile apparatus according to the fourth aspect, since the same-size image information is also held, an operation of outputting for storage at the receiving station can be performed.
[0042]
In the facsimile apparatus according to the fifth aspect, since the reduction ratio is further suppressed, the reduction is suppressed and the difficulty in seeing due to the reduction can be avoided.
[0043]
In the facsimile apparatus according to the seventh aspect, since the reply data is only the comment character part, the communication time and the communication charge can be further reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a comment document format.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a reduced print output for writing comments.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 CPU
2 ROM
3 RAM
4a Scanner 5a Plotter 6a Operation unit 9 FAX controller 10 ROM
11a SRAM
12a DRAM
13 page memory 14a large capacity non-volatile memory 15 modem 16 NCU
17 DSP
17a Reduction part 17b White part 18 PC I / F

Claims (10)

Receiving means for receiving came the facsimile transmission from a transmitting station constant type format statement,
Creating means for creating a comment sentence for the received fixed format sentence;
Transmitting means for transmitting the created comment sentence to the transmitting station ;
A selection means for selecting an externally connected computer application;
Display means for displaying the format of the selected application;
Storage means for storing the fixed format sentence,
The transmission means transmits a comment sentence in which characters are input in the format,
The receiving means includes a printing means for declaring the type of the fixed format sentence when communicating with the transmitting station, and for printing out the fixed format sentence of the declared type. Facsimile device. The receiving means includes storage means for receiving data sent from the transmitting station and storing the transmitting station telephone number included in the received data in association with the received data, and the transmitting means , at the time of transmitting the comment, facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting by calling stations of the associated telephone number. There is provided reduction means for reducing the data including the fixed format sentence received by the reception means, and print means for adding a comment column to the data including the reduced fixed format sentence and printing out the data. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 . Claim 3, characterized in that said receiving means is provided with holding means also holding after the print output data including the standard format text received, the output of the held data, and instruction means for instructing the discard The described facsimile machine. The receiving means is provided with a setting means for receiving a reading size of a document sent from the transmitting station, and selecting and setting a reduction ratio of the reducing means from the received reading size and print paper size. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 3 or 4 , characterized in that: A format sentence transmitting means for facsimile transmission of the fixed format sentence to the receiving station;
A discriminating means for discriminating an area in which a comment text for the fixed format text is described from data transmitted from the receiving station;
6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a conversion unit that cuts out the area determined from the data and converts the area into predetermined data. 7. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the conversion means converts only the character portion from the cut out area. Setting means for uniquely determining the fixed format sentence is provided, and the format sentence transmission means declares the type of the fixed format sentence determined when communicating with the receiving station as the receiving station, and 8. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the fixed format text is not transmitted. 9. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the format sentence transmitting unit notifies the receiving station of the telephone number of the local station. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the format sentence transmitting unit notifies the receiving station of a read size of the document.

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