JP4086033B2 - Network MFP - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a network multifunction device connected to a terminal device such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) via a communication network such as a LAN.

  Recently, facsimile systems have been widely used in offices and the like, and play a useful role in data communication. Such a system is configured, for example, by connecting a network multifunction peripheral or a terminal device so-called a client personal computer through a communication network such as a LAN. The network multifunction peripheral transfers data received by facsimile to the client personal computer. When the data specifying the transfer destination is received from the client personal computer, the received data is transmitted to the specified transfer destination.

Such a network multifunction device includes a network board having a web browser function, and history of transmission / reception of facsimiles and Internet / facsimiles operated on the network multifunction device body, a list of registered users, a list of communication reservations, a dial A list or the like is displayed on the monitor screen of the client personal computer so that the user can refer to the internal information of the network multifunction peripheral (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-135500 A

  As described above, when a conventional network multifunction peripheral performs fax transmission or Internet fax transmission by operating the network multifunction peripheral body, the user logs in from the browser screen displayed on the PC monitor screen, and the fax communication history You can check the communication result in the Internet / fax communication history, but if you want to know whether the transmission is complete, the user has to open the browser screen to see the communication result. There was a problem.

  In addition, since only communication results such as “normal” and “abnormal” are displayed in the communication history on the browser screen, it is not possible to confirm what image has been sent. If you try to send the same document to another destination again after sending it, or if you try to send it again to the same person, you will need to scan and send the document again, which takes time and effort. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. When a fax transmission is executed by operating the network multifunction printer main body, the user can know that the transmission has been completed at the terminal device and the transmitted image. An object of the present invention is to provide a network multifunction peripheral that can easily reuse data.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the network multifunction peripheral according to the first aspect of the present invention is a network multifunction peripheral connected to a terminal device via a communication network, the selecting means for selecting a user, and fax transmission information. And a storage means for storing the original to be sent and a control means for controlling the fax transmission. When the user selects by the selection means, when the fax transmission from the device main body is completed, the control means sends the destination information and the communication information. The transmission information such as the result and the transmission original are stored in the storage unit, and the pop-up screen of the communication result is displayed on the monitor screen of the selected user terminal device. The display of the transmission information is instructed on the pop-up screen. In this case, the control means displays transmission information on the monitor screen of the terminal device, and confirms and retransmits the transmission document based on the transmission information. Wherein the can.

According to the network multifunction peripheral of the invention according to claim 1, by selecting a user at the time of fax transmission from the device main body, the completion of transmission of the fax transmission is notified to the selected user by a pop-up display. Even if you return to your seat after completing the operation, you can easily know that the fax transmission is complete.

According to the network multifunction device of the first aspect of the invention, when the transmission is completed, the destination information, the communication result, and the transmission original are stored in the apparatus main body, and the transmission original is displayed on the monitor screen of the terminal device from the pop-up screen. Since it can be displayed, it is possible to easily confirm what kind of document has been transmitted, and it is possible to send a fax to another destination using the image, or to perform retransmission.

  Embodiments of a network multifunction peripheral according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration example of a system including a network multifunction device, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the network multifunction device.

  In the network configuration diagram shown in FIG. 1, 1 is a network multifunction device, 2, 3, 4... Are personal computers, 5 is a public switched telephone network (PSTN), 6 is a LAN (Local Area Network), and 7 is an Internet network. is there. The network multifunction device 1 has functions of a copy mode, a printer mode, and a fax mode, and also has a mail transmission function, and is connected to the PSTN 5 and the LAN 6, and a plurality of personal computers 2, 3, 4,.・ ・ Is connected. The LAN 6 is also connected to the Internet network 7, and the network MFP 1 can send and receive mail via the Internet network 7.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the network multifunction device 1. As shown in the figure, the network multifunction device 1 has a CPU 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, and a display. An operation unit 14, a reading unit 15, an image memory 16, a recording unit 17, a codec 18, a modem 19, a network control unit NCU 20, a network board 21 and a LAN interface (I / F) 22 are configured. Connected.

  The CPU 11 controls each part of the hardware of the network multifunction peripheral 1 via the bus 23 and executes various programs based on the programs stored in the ROM 12. The ROM 12 performs various programs and operations necessary for the operation of the network multifunction peripheral. Operation messages and the like are stored in advance. The RAM 13 is composed of an SRAM or the like and stores temporary data generated when the program is executed.

  The display / operation unit 14 includes a display unit that displays an operation state of the digital multifunction peripheral or displays an operation screen of various functions, and a plurality of keys for operating the digital multifunction peripheral. As described above, the display unit 31 includes an LCD display unit 31 constituting a display unit and a number of operation keys. The LCD display unit 31 is provided with a touch panel switch, and by pressing an item part displayed on the LCD display unit 31, a corresponding item can be selected and a function can be executed.

As operation keys, a numeric keypad 32, a start key 33, a reset key 34, a stop key 35, a plurality of one-touch dial keys 36, a cross key 37, a return key 38, a set key 39, a FAX switching key 40, a copy switching key 41, Various keys such as a scanner switching key 42 and a login key 43 are provided. The login key 43 is a key as terminal selection means, and is pressed when the user selects his / her personal computer.
Note that some or all of these operation keys can be substituted by the LCD display unit 31.

The reading unit 15 includes a reading document placing table such as an auto document feeder (ADF) or a flatbed scanner (FBS), reads a document with a scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs dot image data converted into black and white binary. .
The image memory 16 is configured by using a DRAM or the like, and stores image data to be transmitted or received image data or image data read by the reading unit 15, and a recording unit 17 is a printer device such as an electrophotographic system. And printing out received data, copy original data, or print data transmitted from an external personal computer.

  The codec 18 encodes and decodes in accordance with a predetermined protocol. In order to transmit the image data of the read original, the codec 18 is encoded by the MH, MR, or MMR method, and decodes the image data received from the outside. Also, encoding and decoding are also performed in correspondence with the TIFF method, which is an image format generally used as a file that can be attached to an e-mail.

  The modem 19 is connected to the bus 23 and has a function as a fax modem capable of facsimile communication. The modem 19 is also connected to the NCU 20 connected to the bus 23. The NCU 20 is hardware that closes and opens an analog line, and connects the modem 19 to the PSTN 5 as necessary.

  The LAN interface 22 is connected to the LAN 6 and receives data from an external personal computer or a signal from the Internet network 7 via the LAN 6, while transmitting signals and data to the LAN 6. Perform interface processing such as protocol conversion.

  The network multifunction device 1 has the above-described configuration. During facsimile transmission, document image data is read by the reading unit 15, compressed by the codec 18, and stored in the image memory 16. The compressed image data is read from the image memory 16, modulated by the modem 19, and transmitted from the NCU 20 to the communication partner through the PSTN 5. At the time of facsimile reception, the received image data is demodulated by the modem 19, stored in the image memory 16, decoded by the codec 18, and printed by the recording unit 17.

  On the other hand, FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the functions of the network board 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the network board 21 has a TCP / IP protocol control unit 51, an HTTPD control unit 52, a homepage management unit 53, and an image management unit. 34, a transmission information management unit 55, each of which includes a CPU, a ROM, a memory such as a RAM, a magnetic disk (hard disk) storage device, and the like.

The TCP / IP protocol control unit 51 controls TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol), and the HTTPD control unit 52 uses the data stream transfer function of the TCP / IP protocol control unit 51 to perform HTTPD (Hyper Text Transfer). Protocol Deamon) function is executed, and requests from WWW (World Wide Web) browsers such as personal computers 2, 3, 4 are processed.
Note that HTTPPD is a daemon that provides the functions of an HTTP server, and is used when a web server is operated on a UNIX (registered trademark) operating system.

  In addition, the homepage management unit 53 outputs a homepage file to the HTTPD control unit 52 in response to a homepage request from the HTTPD control unit 52, and the image management unit 54 scans a fax transmission image, a scan by an operation from the network multifunction peripheral 1 main body. In addition to storing and saving images such as images, fax / mail received delivery images, etc., in response to a request from the HTTP PD control unit 52, the saved image list information is converted into a file in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) format and converted to HTTP D Information output to the control unit 52 and input from the HTTPD control unit 52 is analyzed, and processing such as transfer and deletion of a stored image is performed.

  On the other hand, the transmission information management unit 55 stores and manages transmission information such as a transmission destination and a communication result at the time of fax transmission by an operation from the main body of the network multifunction peripheral 1. As shown in FIG. Folder for storing communication log, sender name, e-mail address, notification setting storage area to set whether to notify the user of the communication result at the time of fax transmission, whether to store the transmission information at the time of fax transmission Is stored. The notification of the communication result and the setting for storing the transmission information can be set by the display / operation unit 14 of the network multifunction peripheral 1 or by each user from the web browser screen of the user's personal computer.

Next, the operation in the case of executing fax transmission by operation from the network multifunction peripheral 1 main body or Internet fax transmission will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the user presses the fax key 40 of the display / operation unit 14 after setting a document to be facsimile-transmitted in the reading unit 15 of the network multifunction device 1, the CPU 11 of the network multifunction device 1 starts the program of the flowchart shown in FIG. First, it is determined whether or not the login key 43 has been pressed (step 101).

  When it is determined that the login key 43 has not been pressed, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the start key 33 has been pressed after inputting the transmission destination (step 102), and has determined that the start key 33 has not been pressed. Returning to step 101, if it is determined that the start key 33 has been pressed, the original set on the reading unit 15 is scanned, and fax transmission or Internet fax transmission is executed (step 103). Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the transmission is completed (step 104). When the transmission is completed, the program is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 101 that the login key 43 has been pressed, the CPU 11 displays the user information list shown in FIG. 7 on the LCD display unit 31 of the display / operation unit 14 (step 105). As shown in the figure, registered user names are displayed in the user information list, and by pressing any one, it is possible to log in with the user name.

  After displaying the user information list, the CPU 11 determines whether or not a user has been selected on the user information list screen of FIG. 7 (step 106). After the input, it is determined whether or not the start key 33 has been pressed (step 107). If it is determined that the start key 33 has been pressed, the original set on the reading unit 15 is scanned and sent by fax or Internet fax. Transmission is executed (step 108).

Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the transmission is completed (step 109). When the transmission is completed, the CPU 11 refers to the information stored in the transmission information management unit 55 of the network board 21 to determine the login user. It is determined whether or not the communication result notification setting is enabled (step 110), and if it is determined that the communication result notification setting is enabled, the communication result and the login user information are transmitted via the UDP / IP packet via the LAN. Broadcast transmission is performed to the LAN 6 through the interface 22 (step 111).
Note that UDP is an upper protocol of IP, belongs to the transport layer, and does not have the functions such as connection management, response confirmation, sequence, window control, and flow control that TCP has. There is no guarantee, but the load is low and the operation is fast.

When each of the personal computers 2, 3, 4, etc. receives the above notification, it determines from the logged-in user information whether the notified content is addressed to itself, and if the notification is addressed to itself The pop-up screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer.
As shown in FIG. 8, the pop-up screen includes a button indicating that the fax transmission has been performed normally, and a “transmission information display” button for displaying the transmission information and a “close” instruction button for closing the pop-up screen. When the user clicks the “transmission information display” button, the transmission document list shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the monitor screen.

  When this communication result notification is completed or when it is determined in step 110 that the communication result notification setting is invalid, the CPU 11 refers to the information stored in the transmission information management unit 55 of the network board 21. Thus, it is determined whether or not the transmission information storage setting of the logged-in user is valid (step 112). If it is determined that the transmission information storage setting is enabled, the CPU 11 stores the fax transmission information such as the transmission destination and the communication result in the transmission information management unit 55 of the network board 21 (step 113), and then transmits the transmission information. The image is converted into the TIFF format by the codec 18 and stored in the image management unit 54 of the network board 21 (step 114).

As described above, when the communication information storage setting is enabled, a fax document transmitted in the past is stored in the network multifunction peripheral 1, so that the fax document transmitted in the past can be reused. The operation when the user transmits the same document as the stored fax document will be described below.
When a user wants to read a fax document transmitted in the past, the user starts a WWW browser on the personal computer, and accesses, for example, by specifying the IP address of the network MFP 1 on the WWW browser screen displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer 2. When this is done, the HTTPD control unit 52 of the network board 21 detects this, reads the homepage file described in HTML from the homepage management unit 53, and transmits the personal computer 2 via the TCP / IP protocol control unit 51, the LAN interface 22, and the LAN 6. Forward to.

When the user selects and gives an instruction to display a list of documents from this home page, the list display instruction information is transferred to the network multifunction peripheral 1 via the LAN 6, and the HTTPD control unit 52 of the network board 21 detects this. As a result, the HTTP PD control unit 52 instructs the image management unit 54 to transfer the document list, and the image management unit 54 transmits the transmission information read from the transmission information management unit 55 and the transmission image data stored in the image management unit 54. The stored document list information is created based on the stored image information and other stored image information, converted into an HTML format file, and transferred to the personal computer 2.
As a result, the document list screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer 2.

  As shown in FIG. 9, at the top of this document list list screen, a scan image, a transmission document, a reception document, a shared reception document, a bulletin board, a circulation document, and a processing request document switching tab, “transmission”, “retransmission” Function selection buttons such as “”, “print”, “download”, “delete”, “bulletin board”, “circulation”, “processing request” are displayed. In the lower part of the document list screen, in the case of a transmission document, a destination name, a communication result, a document classification, the number of pages, a transmission date and time, and the like are displayed. Further, by clicking the button of details of each document, the document, for example, the transmitted fax image is displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer, so it is possible to confirm what image has been transmitted.

If you want to send a document to the same destination by fax or Internet fax, check the document you want to send on the above document list screen and click the “Resend” button. It is sent again to the same destination. If you check the sent document and click the “Send” button, the send dialog screen will be displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer 2. Send the same document to another destination by fax or Internet fax. Can do.
In addition, since the document list screen of FIG. 9 is displayed by clicking “transmission information display” on the pop-up screen of FIG. 8, the transmitted fax image can be confirmed from the pop-up screen, It is possible to transmit the transmitted image again to the same destination, or to send a fax or Internet fax to another destination.

  As described above, according to the network multifunction peripheral of the present invention, if the user has set notification of the communication result in the network multifunction peripheral, the user can select the user when sending the fax from the network multifunction peripheral, thereby transmitting the fax. Is notified to the user's personal computer by a pop-up display, so that the user can easily know that the fax transmission is completed even if the user returns to his / her seat after completing the transmission operation.

  In addition, if the user sets transmission information storage to the network multifunction device, the transmission information such as the destination information and communication result and the transmission image are stored in the network multifunction device body when the transmission is completed. Since the transmission information can be displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer from the browser screen, it is easy to check what kind of original has been sent, and the image can be used to send a fax to another destination or re-send. You can send.

  In the above embodiment, the “transmission information display” button is displayed on the pop-up screen so that the document list screen can be displayed. However, the “transmission image display” button is displayed on the pop-up screen, and the image transmitted by fax is displayed. Can also be displayed.

It is a figure which shows the network structural example of the system provided with the network multifunction device. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a network multifunction device. It is a figure which shows the detail of the display and operation part of a network multifunction device. It is a functional block diagram of a network board in the network multifunction peripheral. It is a table | surface which shows an example of the content of the transmission information memorize | stored for every user. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when fax transmission is performed by an operation from the network multifunction peripheral body. It is a figure which shows an example of the user information list displayed when a login key is pressed down. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the monitor screen of a personal computer when transmission is completed. It is a figure which shows an example of a document list list display screen.

Explanation of symbols

1 Network MFP 2, 3, 4 PC 5 PSTN
6 LAN
7 Internet 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 Display / Operation Unit 15 Reading Unit 16 Image Memory 17 Recording Unit 18 Codec 19 Modem 20 NCU
21 Network board 22 LAN I / F
23 Bus 43 Login Key 51 TCP / IP Protocol Control Unit 52 HTTPD Control Unit 53 Home Page Management Unit 54 Image Management Unit 55 Transmission Information Management Unit

Claims (1)

A network multifunction device connected to a terminal device via a communication network,
Selecting means for selecting a user, storage means for storing fax transmission information and a transmission document, and control means for controlling fax transmission,
When the user is selected by the selection means, when the fax transmission from the device main body is completed, the control means stores the destination information, transmission information such as a communication result and the transmission original in the storage means, and is selected. A communication result pop-up screen is displayed on the monitor screen of the user terminal device, and when the display of transmission information is instructed on the pop-up screen, the control means displays the transmission information on the monitor screen of the terminal device, A network multifunction device characterized in that a transmission original can be confirmed and retransmitted by the transmission information .

Images