JP3873996B2 - Network facsimile apparatus, information acquisition apparatus, and network system including them - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a network facsimile apparatus and an information acquisition apparatus, and a network system including them, and more particularly to a network facsimile apparatus and an information terminal apparatus connected via a public network, and a network system including these.

In recent years, network facsimile apparatuses such as an MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral) having a network printer function and a network scanner function in addition to a network facsimile function have been developed. Such a network facsimile apparatus has a web server function and is configured to transmit predetermined web page information to a client terminal connected via a private network such as a LAN. Thereby, it is possible to browse the device setting information of the MFP or change the device setting information using a browser from a client terminal on the LAN (Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-186301 A

  However, if the terminal connected to the public network such as the Internet is allowed to access the internal information including the setting information in the network facsimile apparatus, the HTTP port must be opened. It is necessary to take, and it is difficult to realize.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide internal information of a network facsimile apparatus to a terminal connected to the network facsimile apparatus via a public network such as the Internet. On offer.

  According to the present invention, a network facsimile apparatus configured to be able to transmit internal information of its own apparatus to a client terminal connected via a private network, from another terminal via a first public network. A transmission request reception means for receiving a transmission request for internal information; a determination means for determining whether internal information can be transmitted to another terminal that has transmitted the transmission request; There is provided a network facsimile apparatus characterized in that the terminal includes transmission processing means for transmitting the internal information via a second public network.

  Here, the private network can be an intranet such as a LAN, for example. The network facsimile apparatus of the present invention has an HTTP server function and can transmit internal information to the client terminal in response to an internal information acquisition request from the client terminal in which the browser program is installed. Here, the internal information can be accessed only from a client terminal connected via a private network.

  The first public network can be the Internet or PSTN. The second public network can be the Internet. The network facsimile apparatus receives a transmission request for internal information of the apparatus in the form of facsimile data or e-mail from another terminal connected to the public network. When a request for transmitting internal information is received from another terminal as facsimile data, the facsimile data is preferably transmitted in binary format. As a result, the content of the internal information transmission request can be easily analyzed.

  The network facsimile apparatus of the present invention can further include means for receiving identification information of other terminals together with a request for transmission of internal information from another terminal, and the judging means is based on the identification information of other terminals. It is possible to determine whether or not the user of another terminal is permitted to acquire the internal information and determine whether or not the internal information can be transmitted.

  According to the network facsimile apparatus of the present invention, internal information that can be accessed only from a client terminal connected through a private network can be provided to a terminal connected through a public network.

  In the network facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the second public network can be the Internet, and the transmission processing means can transmit internal information to other terminals in an electronic mail format.

  Here, when transmitting the internal information in the e-mail format, the transmission processing means can set, for example, the title of the e-mail as “internal information”. As a result, it is possible to easily determine whether another terminal has received a normal electronic mail or an electronic mail containing internal information of the network facsimile apparatus.

  In the network facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the transmission request receiving means, when receiving binary format facsimile data, determines whether or not the facsimile data includes a request for transmission of internal information from another terminal. Can do.

  The network facsimile apparatus of the present invention includes, from another network facsimile apparatus, receiving means for receiving internal information of the other network facsimile apparatus in an e-mail format, and includes the internal information based on the internal information received by the receiving means. Web page generating means for generating a web page and display means for displaying the web page can be further included.

  In this way, in the network facsimile apparatus, depending on the situation, the internal information of the own apparatus is transmitted to other terminals, or the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus is acquired from other network facsimile apparatuses and displayed. can do.

According to the present invention, the internal processing information of the network facsimile apparatus is electronically transmitted from the network facsimile apparatus to the transmission processing means for transmitting the internal information transmission request of the network facsimile apparatus to the network facsimile apparatus as binary facsimile data. A receiving means for receiving in a mail format; a web page generating means for generating a web page including the internal information based on the internal information received by the receiving means; and a display means for displaying the web page. An information acquisition device is provided.

  Thus, by displaying the internal information received from the network facsimile apparatus as a web page, the user can easily grasp the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus. The information acquisition device may be a device that manages internal information of a plurality of network facsimile devices. When the internal information is displayed as a web page, even when managing the internal information of the plurality of network facsimile devices. The user can grasp the internal information conveniently.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a network system including any one of the network facsimile apparatuses described above and the information acquisition apparatus described above.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide internal information in a network facsimile apparatus to a terminal connected to the network facsimile apparatus via a public network such as the Internet.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network system including a network facsimile apparatus and an information acquisition apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  The network facsimile apparatus 100 is, for example, an MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral). The network facsimile apparatus 100 is connected to the client terminal 306 via a private network such as a LAN 304. The client terminal 306 is, for example, a personal computer. The network facsimile apparatus 100 has an HTTP server function, and transmits predetermined web page information to the client terminal 306 in response to a web page acquisition request from the client terminal 306. A browser program is installed in the client terminal 306, and the client terminal 306 has an HTTP client function. By transmitting the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 from the network facsimile apparatus 100 to the client terminal 306 by HTTP, the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 can be browsed from the client terminal 306 as well.

  Here, the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 is, for example, setting information such as facsimile data transmission / reception recording, print processing storage, and scan processing storage of the network facsimile apparatus 100, the remaining amount of toner of the network facsimile apparatus 100, printing, and the like. Maintenance information of the network facsimile apparatus 100, such as the remaining amount of paper.

  The network facsimile apparatus 100 is connected to the information acquisition apparatus 200 via a public network such as a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) 300 or the Internet 302.

  In the present embodiment, information acquisition apparatus 200 transmits an instruction key for transmitting the internal information to network facsimile apparatus 100 as facsimile data via PSTN 300. After authenticating the information acquisition apparatus 200, the network facsimile apparatus 100 transmits the requested internal information to the information acquisition apparatus 200 in the form of an electronic mail via the Internet 302. Although not shown here, the information acquisition apparatus 200 can acquire internal information of each network facsimile apparatus 100 from a plurality of network facsimile apparatuses 100. The information acquisition apparatus 200 can be a management apparatus that manages maintenance information and the like of a plurality of network facsimile apparatuses 100. The information acquisition apparatus 200 can also be another network facsimile apparatus, and a user who normally browses the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 using the client terminal 306 can access the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 from the outside. Can also be used to view

  The network facsimile apparatus 100 includes a communication control unit 102, a notification processing unit 104, a user information storage unit 106, an internal information storage unit 108, an output processing unit 110, and an HTTP server 112.

  The information acquisition device 200 includes a communication control unit 202, an instruction key creation unit 204, an HTTP server 206, a browser function unit 208, a display unit 210, and a mail reception processing unit 212.

  In FIG. 1, the configuration of parts not related to the essence of the present invention is omitted. For example, the document reading unit, the image processing unit, etc., which are the configuration of the network facsimile apparatus 100, are not shown.

  Each component of the network facsimile apparatus 100 and the information acquisition apparatus 200 includes an arbitrary computer CPU, memory, a program that implements the components shown in the figure loaded in the memory, and a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the program. It is realized by an arbitrary combination of hardware and software, centering on a network connection interface. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications to the implementation method and apparatus. This figure shows a functional unit block, not a hardware unit configuration.

  The communication control unit 102 communicates with the information acquisition apparatus 200 via the PSTN 300 or the Internet 302. When the communication control unit 102 receives facsimile data from the information acquisition apparatus 200, the communication control unit 102 determines whether the facsimile data is a request for transmission of internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100. The information acquisition apparatus 200 transmits an instruction key, which is a request for transmitting internal information, as binary facsimile data to the network facsimile apparatus 100. The communication control unit 102 determines whether or not the received facsimile data is in a binary format. If the facsimile data is in a binary format, the communication control unit 102 analyzes the content and determines whether or not a transmission request for internal information is included. When the facsimile data received from the information acquisition apparatus 200 is a request for transmission of internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100, the communication control unit 102 notifies the notification processing unit 104 to that effect.

  On the other hand, when the facsimile data received from the information acquisition apparatus 200 is normal data, the communication control unit 102 causes the output processing unit 110 to output the facsimile data. The output processing unit 110 may print out the facsimile data received by the notification processing unit 104 and may transfer the facsimile data to another terminal such as the client terminal 306 via the LAN 304 or the like. Further, the output processing unit 110 may simply store the received data in a storage unit (not shown) included in the network facsimile apparatus 100.

  The internal information storage unit 108 stores internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100.

  When there is a web page information acquisition request from the client terminal 306, the HTTP server 112 reads predetermined information from the internal information storage unit 108 and transmits the web page information of the specified URL to the client terminal 306.

  The user information storage unit 106 stores identification information of a user who is permitted to acquire information in the internal information storage unit 108 via the PSTN 300 or the Internet 302. Here, the identification information may be, for example, a sender telephone number (facsimile number), a sender mail address, or the like.

  When the notification processing unit 104 receives a notification from the communication control unit 102 that there is a request for transmission of internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 from the information acquisition apparatus 200, the notification processing unit 104 refers to the user information storage unit 106 and transmits the transmission request It is determined whether the transmission source user is permitted to acquire information in the internal information storage unit 108. When the user is permitted to acquire information in the internal information storage unit 108, the notification processing unit 104 reads out the corresponding information from the internal information storage unit 108.

  The communication control unit 102 transmits the information read by the notification processing unit 104 to the information acquisition apparatus 200 that has requested transmission in an e-mail format. When the communication control unit 102 transmits an e-mail including internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100, the communication control unit 102 sets the e-mail title to, for example, “internal information”. Thereby, the information acquisition apparatus 200 can easily determine whether or not the received electronic mail includes internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100. The notification processing unit 104 can also perform processing for encrypting information read from the internal information storage unit 108. Thereby, the security of the information in the internal information storage unit 108 can be ensured.

  The information acquisition device 200 is, for example, an MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral) or a personal computer. Hereinafter, a case where the information acquisition apparatus 200 is an MFP will be described as an example.

  The communication control unit 202 communicates with the network facsimile apparatus 100 via the PSTN 300 or the Internet 302.

  The instruction key creating unit 204 creates an instruction key for requesting the network facsimile apparatus 100 to transmit the internal information. The instruction key includes an e-mail address of the information acquisition apparatus 200 and designation of internal information desired to be acquired from the network facsimile apparatus 100. The instruction key creation unit 204 can create an instruction key based on a user instruction of the information acquisition apparatus 200.

  The communication control unit 202 transmits the instruction key created by the instruction key creation unit 204 as facsimile data to the network facsimile apparatus 100 via the PSTN 300. Here, the communication control unit 202 transmits the instruction key to the network facsimile apparatus 100 in binary format. Thereby, in the network facsimile apparatus 100, the instruction key from the information acquisition apparatus 200 can be easily analyzed.

  Further, when receiving an electronic mail from the network facsimile apparatus 100, the communication control unit 202 determines whether the electronic mail includes internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100. The communication control unit 202 can determine whether the e-mail includes internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 based on the e-mail title, for example. When the electronic mail received from the network facsimile apparatus 100 includes internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100, the communication control unit 202 transfers the information to the HTTP server 206.

  On the other hand, when the electronic mail received from the network facsimile apparatus 100 is normal data, the communication control unit 202 transfers the data to the mail reception processing unit 212. The mail reception processing unit 212 performs mail reception processing and displays it on the display unit 210 as a normal electronic mail.

  The HTTP server 206 generates a web page including the internal information based on the internal information transferred from the communication control unit 202.

  The browser function unit 208 can be realized by a browser program. The browser function unit 208 acquires a web page from the HTTP server 206. The display unit 210 displays the web page acquired by the browser function unit 208.

  As a result, the user of the information acquisition apparatus 200 can acquire and browse internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 even from a location not connected to the network facsimile apparatus 100 and the LAN 304.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the network facsimile apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  When receiving the facsimile data (YES in S100), the communication control unit 102 determines whether the facsimile data is a request for transmitting internal information (S102). When the facsimile data is a transmission request for internal information (YES in S102), the communication control unit 102 notifies the notification processing unit 104 to that effect. The notification processing unit 104 refers to the user information storage unit 106 based on the facsimile number of the facsimile data transmission source and authenticates the transmission source (S104). When the transmission source terminal is authenticated and it is determined that the internal information can be transmitted (YES in S106), the notification processing unit 104 reads the corresponding internal information from the internal information storage unit 108, and includes the internal information. Create an email. The notification processing unit 104 transmits the e-mail created by the notification processing unit 104 to the terminal that has transmitted the facsimile data (S108).

  If the received facsimile data is not a transmission request for internal information in step S102, the communication control unit 102 performs reception processing on the facsimile data as a normal facsimile (S112). Specifically, the received facsimile data is printed, transferred to another terminal, or stored in a storage unit in the network facsimile apparatus 100.

  In step S110, when the transmission source terminal is not authenticated and it is determined that internal information cannot be transmitted (NO in S106), the notification processing unit 104 performs error notification (S110). The error notification may be notified to the transmission source terminal by e-mail, or may be notified to the administrator of the network facsimile apparatus 100 without being transmitted to the transmission source terminal.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the information acquisition apparatus 200.

  When receiving the electronic mail (YES in S200), the communication control unit 202 determines whether the electronic mail includes internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 (S202). When the e-mail includes internal information (YES in S202), the communication control unit 202 transfers the e-mail to the HTTP server 206 (S204). The HTTP server 206 generates a web page based on the transferred electronic mail information (S206). The browser function unit 208 acquires a web page from the HTTP server 206 and displays internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 on the display unit 210 (S208).

  In step S202, when the received electronic mail does not include the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 (NO in S202), the communication control unit 202 transfers the electronic mail to the mail reception processing unit 212. The mail reception processing unit 212 causes the display unit 210 to display the received electronic mail as a normal electronic mail (S210).

  According to the network facsimile apparatus 100 in the present embodiment, not only from the client terminal 306 connected via a private network such as the LAN 304 but also from the information acquisition apparatus 200 connected via a public network such as the PSTN 300 and the Internet 302. However, the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 can be browsed. At this time, since the HTTP server 112 of the network facsimile apparatus 100 is not opened to the public network, the security of the internal information stored in the internal information storage unit 108 can be maintained.

  In addition, since the information acquisition apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment has an HTTP server function and a browser function, the internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 is obtained based on the internal information data transmitted from the network facsimile apparatus 100 in an e-mail format. Can be displayed as a web page. As a result, maintenance information and the like of other network facsimile apparatuses can be easily managed using the information acquisition apparatus 200.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. The embodiments are exemplifications, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the network facsimile apparatus 100 can be configured to include the function of the information acquisition apparatus 200. That is, as described above, the network facsimile apparatus 100 acquires the internal information of the other network facsimile apparatus in addition to the function of transmitting its internal information to other terminals such as the information acquisition apparatus 200, and the network It can also be used for managing maintenance information and the like of the facsimile apparatus.

  In the above embodiment, the information acquisition apparatus 200 transmits the facsimile data including the instruction key to the network facsimile apparatus 100 via the PSTN 300. However, the information acquisition apparatus 200 transmits the facsimile data via the Internet 302 in an e-mail format. The instruction key can be transmitted to the network facsimile apparatus 100. When the network facsimile apparatus 100 receives an e-mail, the network facsimile apparatus 100 determines whether the received e-mail includes a transmission request for internal information. If the transmission request is included, the network facsimile apparatus 100 performs the same process as described above. Internal information can be transmitted to the information acquisition device 200.

  On the information acquisition apparatus 200 side, the HTTP server 206 is not provided in the information acquisition apparatus 200, and may be realized by another terminal connected to the information acquisition apparatus 200 via a LAN.

  Further, the information acquisition apparatus 200 may be configured not to include the HTTP server 206, and the notification processing unit 104 may transmit an HTML-format e-mail. In addition, the information acquisition apparatus 200 may be configured not to include the HTTP server 206 and the browser function unit 208, and the e-mail transmitted from the network facsimile apparatus 100 is directly displayed on the display unit 210 by the mail reception processing unit 212. You can also

  In the above embodiment, when the network facsimile apparatus 100 receives the instruction key, the internal information is transmitted to the information acquisition apparatus 200. However, the information acquisition apparatus 200 uses the network facsimile apparatus 100 as an instruction key. An instruction to periodically transmit internal information can be included. In this case, the network facsimile apparatus 100 transmits internal information to the information acquisition apparatus 200 for each designated period. In addition, the information acquisition apparatus 200 can also include an instruction for causing the information acquisition apparatus 200 to transmit the internal information when the predetermined internal information of the network facsimile apparatus 100 is updated or the like in the instruction key.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the network system containing the network facsimile apparatus and information acquisition apparatus in embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a network facsimile apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of an information acquisition apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the other example of a network facsimile apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Network facsimile apparatus 102 Communication control part 104 Notification processing part 106 User information storage part 108 Internal information storage part 110 Output processing part 112 HTTP server 200 Information acquisition apparatus 202 Communication control part 204 Instruction key creation part 206 HTTP server 208 Browser function part 210 Display unit 212 Mail reception processing unit 300 PSTN
302 Internet 304 LAN
306 Client terminal

Claims (6)

A network facsimile apparatus configured to transmit internal information of the own apparatus to a client terminal connected via a private network,
A transmission request receiving means for receiving a transmission request for the internal information from another terminal via the first public network;
Determining means for determining whether or not the internal information can be transmitted to the other terminal that is the transmission source of the transmission request;
Transmission processing means for transmitting the internal information to the other terminal determined to be capable of transmitting the internal information via a second public network;
A network facsimile apparatus comprising: The network facsimile apparatus according to claim 1,
The network facsimile apparatus, wherein the second public network is the Internet, and the transmission processing means transmits the internal information to the other terminal in an electronic mail format. The network facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The transmission request accepting means, when receiving facsimile data in binary format, judges whether or not the facsimile data includes a transmission request for the internal information from another terminal. apparatus. The network facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Receiving means for receiving internal information of the other network facsimile apparatus in an electronic mail format from another network facsimile apparatus;
Web page generating means for generating a web page including the internal information based on the internal information received by the receiving means;
Display means for displaying the web page;
A network facsimile apparatus, further comprising: Transmission processing means for transmitting a request for transmission of internal information of the network facsimile apparatus to the network facsimile apparatus as binary facsimile data;
Receiving means for receiving internal information of the network facsimile apparatus in an e-mail format from the network facsimile apparatus;
Web page generating means for generating a web page including the internal information based on the internal information received by the receiving means;
Display means for displaying the web page;
An information acquisition apparatus comprising: A network facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
  An information acquisition device according to claim 5;
A network system comprising:

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