JP4300735B2 - Network equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to transmission of data attached to an e-mail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As the network device, a scanner or a peripheral device having a scanner function is used. In such a device, image data obtained by scanning is transmitted as it is attached to an e-mail. On the receiving side, an e-mail attached with an image file is received from a mail server using general mail software.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In general, image data obtained by scanning is considerably larger in data size than text-based e-mail. In the conventional network scanner, when image data is sent to a plurality of parties using the same mail server, the large image data is copied by the number of people in the mail server. For this reason, a great load is applied to the mail server. In the above description, scan image data has been described. However, other data may similarly impose a heavy load on the mail server.
[0004]
An object of the present invention is to reduce the load on a mail server when image data is sent to a plurality of parties via a network.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The network device according to the present invention is a network device connected to a LAN including a mail server, and a creation means for creating an e-mail attached with a file to be transmitted, and a destination address of the file to be transmitted are within the LAN determination means for the determination whether the client of the mail server, if it is determined by the determining means and the destination address is a client of the mail server in the LAN, the file is transmitted to the client, or the When the creation unit determines that the mail with the file attached is stored in the storage unit, and the determination unit determines that the destination address is not a client of the mail server in the LAN, the mail server First mail transmitting means for transmitting the mail created by the creating means Upon receiving a reception request from the client of the mail server in the LAN, to send an email the file attached by said creation means is taken out from the storage means the file or storage means email for the client And a second mail transmission means for taking out and transmitting the mail. In the network device having the electronic mail transmission function, it is delivered to the user of the mail server in the LAN without actually sending the file attached mail to the mail server. The load on the mail server is reduced by storing the file itself or creating and storing a mail attached to the file and not sending it to the mail server.
[0006]
In the network device, preferably, the mail transmission means further acquires the mail addressed to the client from a mail server and stores the mail stored in the storage means or the mail stored in the storage means. Together with the client. Because it has a mail receiving proxy function, users can receive mail as usual using ordinary mail software without being aware of anything special.
[0007]
In the network device, the file is, for example, an image file.
[0008]
The network device preferably further includes a scanner for obtaining an image by scanning a document, and the image file is a file of an image obtained by the scanner .
[0009]
A program to be executed by a computer according to the present invention includes a step of determining whether a transmission destination address of a file to be transmitted is a client of a mail server in the LAN, and a case of determining that the file is a client of the mail server in the LAN. , Storing a file to be sent to the client, or creating and storing a mail with the file attached , and determining that the destination address is not a client of a mail server in the LAN, Sending a mail with the file attached; and receiving a reception request from the client of the mail server in the LAN, taking out the stored file and creating and sending a mail with the file attached; Or the stored mail for the client And extracting and transmitting the message.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a multifunction peripheral device (multifunction peripheral MFP) 10 connected to a network (LAN) 20. The peripheral device 10 is connected to a plurality of client computers 30 and a mail server 40 via a network (LAN) 20. Although not shown, the LAN 20 is further connected to an external network. In the scan to e-mail mode, the peripheral device 10 operates as a network scanner having a scan image e-mail transmission function.
[0011]
The configuration of the multi-function peripheral device 10 is the same as that of the prior art. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a scanner unit 100 that scans a document and reads an image, and a print engine unit 102 that receives print data and prints it on paper An interface unit (communication device) 104 that communicates with the outside, an operation panel 106, a storage device 108, and a controller 110 that controls them. The storage device 108 is, for example, a hard disk device, and also functions as a data storage unit that stores scanned images, mail address lists, print data, and the like. The controller 110 controls the scanner unit 100 to read a document, process the obtained scanned image data, and send it as an e-mail attachment via the interface unit 104. The controller 110 also receives print data from the outside via the interface unit 104, creates raster data, and controls the print engine unit 102 to perform printing. The multifunction peripheral device 10 operates as a network scanner, a network printer, or the like. Hereinafter, the operation as a network scanner will be mainly described. A program for operating the controller 110 is stored in, for example, a ROM (not shown) or the storage device 108 in the controller 110. Further, a mail processing program 120 described below is stored in the storage device 108.
[0012]
As will be described later, the mail processing program 120 in the peripheral device 10 includes a scanned image storage function, a mail reception proxy function, and an electronic mail composition function. The storage device 108 stores a mail address list of users in the LAN. When image data is read by the scanner unit 100, an image file obtained by scanning is stored in a user mailbox (data storage unit) in the storage device 108 assigned to each address when the image file is transmitted to a user in the LAN. The scanned image file is stored as an email attached. On the other hand, each computer 30 includes mail software 32. The user of the computer 30 changes the setting of the mail receiving server in the setting of the mail software 32 from the original mail server 40 to the peripheral device 10. Therefore, when the user requests mail reception using the mail software 32, the request is sent to the peripheral device 10. In response to this, the peripheral device 10 takes out an e-mail attached with the stored scanned image file and sends it to the user. The data to be stored may be only the file body. In this case, when the image data is read by the scanner unit 100, the image file obtained by the scan is stored in a user mailbox (data storage unit) in the storage device. When there is a mail reception request from the user, the stored image file is taken out and attached to the e-mail. Then, the electronic mail is transmitted.
[0013]
Next, mail composition at the time of mail reception in the peripheral device 10 operating as a network scanner will be described with reference to FIG. When transmitting the scanned image, the controller 110 analyzes the destination (transmission destination address) of the scanned image and refers to the address list in the storage device 108 to determine whether or not the other party is the user of the mail server 40 in the LAN 20. Determine whether. If it is determined that the user is the mail server 40, the scan image is not transmitted, and the mail attached with the image file obtained by the scan is synthesized and stored in the user mailbox (data storage unit) in the storage device 108. Or store the image file itself (scanned image storage function). Thereby, the load of the mail server 40 is reduced in the transmission of the scanned image.
[0014]
Sending an email with an image file attached is as follows. The user of the computer 30 changes the setting of the mail receiving server from the original mail server 40 to the peripheral device 10 by the setting of the mail software 32. When the user performs a receiving operation on the scanner 10, the peripheral device 10 goes to the mail server 40 on behalf of the user to get a normal electronic mail sent to the mail server 40 (mail reception proxy function). Further, if there is an image mail addressed to the user in the data storage user mailbox assigned for each address in the storage device 108, the image mail is sent together with the e-mail received from the mail server 40 (e-mail and Synchronization function). When the scanned image itself is stored, the file of the scanned image is taken out, an e-mail attached with the file is created, and sent together with the e-mail received from the mail server 40. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the user of the computer 30, it seems that a plurality of mails are received from the mail server 40 in a normal manner, rather than mails that were in different places. That is, the user can receive the scanned image file by e-mail without being aware of anything special. These processes are performed according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 described below.
[0015]
FIG. 4 shows a flow of the image processing program at the time of scanning image transmission. When the scanning of the original by the scanner unit 100 is completed, first, the transmission destination address of the e-mail to which the image file obtained by scanning is attached is checked (S100). If it is determined from the address list in the storage device 108 that the other party is a user of the mail server 40 in the LAN 20 (YES in S102), the image file obtained by scanning is not transmitted to the mail server 40. An attached electronic mail is created and stored in a user mailbox assigned to each address in the storage device 108 (S104). Alternatively, when storing the image file itself obtained by scanning, the image file is stored in the user mailbox. If the user is outside the LAN 20, an e-mail attached with an image is transmitted as usual (S106).
[0016]
FIG. 5 shows the flow of the image processing program when there is a mail reception request from the user. When there is a reception request, the mail addressed to the user is acquired from the mail server 40 (S200). That is, go to get mail on behalf of the user. Next, it is determined whether or not there is a mail attached with the image file addressed to the user in the storage device 108 for data storage (S202). If there is, the mail with the attached image file is taken out (S204). Alternatively, when the image file itself obtained by scanning is stored, the image file is taken out and an e-mail attached with the image file is created. Then, the mail with the image file attached is combined with the mail received from the mail server 40 (S206), and the mail is transmitted (S208).
[0017]
FIG. 6 shows an example of signal transmission / reception by the above-described processing when POP3 is used as the mail reception protocol. The setting of the mail receiving server in the setting of the mail software 32 of the computer 30 is changed from the original mail server 40 to the peripheral device 10. It is assumed that there is one mail in the mail server 40 and one mail with a scanned image attached in the scanner 10. First, when the mail software 32 sends a TCP connection request to the mail server 40 via the peripheral device 10, the peripheral device sends a TCP connection request to the mail server 40 correspondingly. Correspondingly, the mail server 40 transmits the POP server name to the peripheral device, and the peripheral device 10 transmits the POP server name to the mail software 32. Further, the mail software 32 sends a password to the peripheral device 10, and the peripheral device sends a password to the mail server 40. In response to this, the mail server 40 sends a user confirmation response to the peripheral device 10, and the peripheral device 10 sends a user confirmation response to the mail software 32. With the above processing, the connection between the devices is established.
[0018]
Next, the mail software 32 requests the peripheral device 10 for a mail list, and then the peripheral device 10 requests the mail server 40 for a mail list. Correspondingly, the mail server 40 notifies the peripheral device 10 that there is one mail, and the peripheral device 10 notifies the mail software 32 that there are two mails. The mail server 40 sends the first name (for example, 319) to the peripheral device 10, and the peripheral device 10 sends the first and second names (for example, 1200000) to the mail software 32.
[0019]
Next, when the mail software 32 requests the peripheral device 10 to acquire the first mail, the peripheral device 10 requests the mail server 40 to acquire the mail. In response to this, the mail server 40 notifies the peripheral device 10 of the transmission of the mail, and the peripheral device 10 notifies the mail server 40 of the transmission of the mail. Further, the mail server 40 transmits the mail text to the peripheral device 10, and the peripheral device 10 transmits the first mail text to the mail software 32. Next, when the mail software 32 requests the peripheral device 10 to acquire the second mail, the peripheral device 10 notifies the transmission, and then the second mail body (with the scanned image) is sent to the mail software. 32.
[0020]
Next, when the mail software 32 requests the peripheral device 10 to delete the first mail, the peripheral device 10 requests the mail server 40 to delete the mail. As a result, the mail server 40 deletes the mail and reports it to the peripheral device 10, and the peripheral device 10 reports the deletion of the first mail to the mail software 32. Next, when the mail software 32 requests the peripheral device 10 to delete the second mail, the peripheral device 10 deletes the second mail and reports it to the mail software 32.
[0021]
Finally, when the mail software 32 notifies the peripheral device 10 of the end of connection, the peripheral device 10 notifies the mail server 40 of the end of connection. In response to this, the mail server 40 informs the peripheral device 10 of the consent, and the peripheral device 10 informs the mail software 32 of the consent.
[0022]
In the above-described embodiment, transmission of an image read by the scanner unit 100 has been described. Generally, an image file or a document file including an image is transmitted in the same manner as an e-mail. It can be processed.
[0023]
In addition, when sending a file that is not an image file attached to an e-mail, for example, when sending a print file attached to an e-mail, the same is achieved by providing an e-mail storage function and an e-mail receiving proxy function. It can be processed.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
Since mails with attached files to a large number of other parties are not sent to the mail server in the LAN at the same time, the load on the mail server can be reduced.
[0025]
In addition, the user can receive a mail with a file attached in synchronism with sending a reception request to a mail server using general mail software as before.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a network diagram including a network scanner. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a multifunction peripheral. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of mail composition when receiving mail. FIG. 4 is a process flowchart when sending a scanned image. Processing flowchart when receiving mail [Figure 6] Diagram of data transmission when POP3 is used as the mail reception protocol [Explanation of symbols]
10 peripheral devices, 20 networks, 30 client computers, 32 mail software, 40 mail servers, 100 scanner units, 108 storage means, 120 mail processing programs.

Claims (5)

A network device connected to a LAN including a mail server ,
A creation means for creating an email with the file to be sent,
A determination means that the destination address of the file to be sent to determine whether the client of the mail server in the LAN,
If it is determined by the determining means and the destination address is a client of the mail server in the LAN, the file is sent to the client, or the mail the file attached by said creating means in the storage means Storage means for storing;
A first mail sending means for sending the mail created by the creating means to the mail server when the destination address is judged not to be a client of the mail server in the LAN;
When receiving a reception request from the client of the mail server in the LAN, the file is taken out from the storage means, and the mail with the file attached is transmitted by the creation means, or the mail for the client is sent from the storage means A network device comprising: a second mail transmission means for taking out and transmitting. The mail transmission means further obtains mail addressed to the client from the mail server and transmits the mail stored in the storage means or the mail stored in the storage means to the client. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the network device is characterized in that:   The network device according to claim 1, wherein the file is an image file.   The network device according to claim 1, further comprising a scanner that scans a document to obtain an image, wherein the image file is an image file obtained by the scanner. Determining whether the destination address of the file to be sent is a client of a mail server in the LAN;
If the destination address is determined to be a client of the mail server in the LAN, to save the file to send to the client, or stored to create a mail attached with the file, the destination When it is determined that the address is not a client of the mail server in the LAN, sending an email with the file attached to the mail server ;
Upon receipt of a reception request from the client of the mail server in the LAN, the stored file is taken out and a mail with the file attached is created and sent, or the stored mail for the client is taken out Step to send and
Program for causing a computer to execute the.

Images