JPH01135153A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the trouble of setting a relay station by selecting a relay station corresponding to each district group based on a telephone number of a stored relay station and relaying information to each destination station in a district group corresponding thereto from its relay station. CONSTITUTION:A telephone number of a relay station is stored in advance in a facsimile equipment, and plural destinations to be set are divided into district groups based on the telephone number in case of the relay multiple address transmission and a destination station coincident with the telephone number of the relay station is selected from the destination stations in each district group as the relay station and picture information and destination information are sent to the relay station and they are relayed to each destination station in the corresponding group. Thus, each destination station is grouped accurately by districts and a proper relay station corresponding to the district is selected automatically. Then a trouble that the operator discriminates the geographical location of each destination station and sets the relay station is avoided.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field] The present invention relates to a facsimile device.

[Prior Art] When transmitting the same manuscript to a large number of remote destinations concentrated in a particular region, a transmitting station transmits the image information of the manuscript and the destinations to a relay station appropriately set within the region. Relay broadcast transmission is often performed, in which telephone number information is once transmitted, and then the relay station makes a call to each destination and transmits image information.

This relay broadcast transmission has the advantage that communication charges can be saved compared to the case of direct transmission from the originating station to each destination.

By the way, in order to save communication charges in this way, the operator of the originating station must set up an appropriate relay station that is close to each destination. For this reason, for example, if a relay station that is far away from each destination is mistakenly set, there is a risk that communication charges will increase.

To prevent this, conventionally, when performing relay broadcast transmission, the operator had to judge the geographical location of each destination one by one, making it troublesome to set up appropriate relay stations.

[Objective] It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus that solves the above-mentioned problems and eliminates the trouble of setting up a relay station.

[Configuration] For this purpose, the present invention stores the telephone numbers of relay stations in advance, and when transmitting relay broadcasts, multiple destination stations are divided by region based on the telephone numbers of the destination stations. Divide into groups, select the relay station corresponding to each regional group based on the relay station phone number stored above, and send the image information and destination information to the relay station to send the image information and destination information to the corresponding regional group. This system is characterized by relaying and broadcasting image information to each destination station.

Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a scanner 1 reads an original image and extracts image information of a predetermined resolution, and a plotter 2 records the image information on recording paper.

The encoding and decoding unit 3 encodes image information to be transmitted and decodes received image information. The image memory 4 temporarily stores image information to be transmitted in the case of storage and transmission.

The network control device 5 performs predetermined call origination and incoming call operations by acquiring a line, sending out a selection signal which is an originating optical telephone number, detecting an incoming call, and the like.

The modem 6 modulates and demodulates image information and transmits the same, and also transmits various procedure signals in transmission control procedures.

The communication control unit 7 controls the network control device 5 and the modem 6 to execute facsimile transmission according to a predetermined transmission control procedure.

The operation display section 8 displays operation guidance and the like, and in accordance with the guidance, performs various operations for causing the facsimile apparatus to perform predetermined transmission/reception processing.

The system memory 9 stores the telephone number of a relay station set in advance, the telephone number of a destination station in the case of relay transmission, and the like.

The system control section 11 is composed of a microcomputer system, and controls each section mentioned above to execute predetermined operations of the facsimile machine.

The facsimile apparatus of this embodiment has the above configuration and is used as one facsimile station in a facsimile system consisting of facsimile stations each having a facsimile apparatus installed therein. Further, this facsimile station serves as a transmitting station, and relay broadcast transmission is performed by appropriately setting relay stations.

When performing relay broadcast transmission, the facsimile machine of the relay station must be equipped with a relay transmission function.

In this embodiment, the telephone number of a relay station equipped with a relay transmission function is registered in advance in this facsimile machine. Therefore, before using this facsimile machine, first, the telephone number of each relay station nationwide in the facsimile system is checked, and the telephone number is registered from the operation display section 8.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the system memory 9 stores, for example, the telephone numbers of relay stations throughout the country as relay station telephone number information.

Next, when performing relay broadcast transmission using this facsimile machine, as shown in FIG. Enter the destination phone number (process 22)
.

As a result, the telephone numbers of each destination entered above are stored in the system memory 9 (process 23), and the scanner 1 is activated to read the image information, which is then stored in the image memory 4. (Process 24).

Next, the first two digits of each stored telephone number of each destination are compared with each other, and, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is classified as Gn (process 25).

The area code at the beginning of a telephone number is determined by region, so by dividing destinations into destinations that have the same number of digits at the beginning, regional groups that are geographically close to each other are formed. .

Next, transmission processing is performed to the destinations in each group. That is, first, a variable i is set to 1 (process 26), and the number of destinations in group Gi is checked (process 27).

Here, when the number of destinations is multiple (N of process 27),
Next, it is determined whether or not there is a relay station indicated by the relay station telephone number information shown in FIG. 2 among these destinations (process 28).

Here, if there is a relay station (Y in process 28), its telephone number is set in the network control device 5, and a call is made to the relay station (process 29). When the relay station responds, it transmits other destination telephone numbers in the group and instructs relay broadcasting (process 30), and then transmits the image information stored in the image memory 4 (process 31). ). As a result, the original image is output at the relay station, which is one destination, and the image information is relayed and broadcasted from the relay station to other destinations.

On the other hand, if there is no relay station in group Gi (N in process 28), the variable j is set to 1 (process 32), and a call is made to one destination j in group Gi (process 33). When the destination responds, in this case, the image information is transmitted as usual (process 34).

Now, assuming that the number of destinations in group Gi is m, next, variable j and the above m are compared (process 35).
. Here, if the variable j and the above m do not match (processing 35
N), the variable j=j+1 is incremented (process 36), and the above process is repeated (proceed to process 33). As a result, image information is transmitted to each destination.

On the other hand, if there is one destination in the group Gl (Y in process 27), the above transmission process is similarly executed only once, and the image information is transmitted to that destination.

When such processing of group Gi is completed, variable i and n, which is the number of groups, are compared (processing 37).

Here, if variables j and n do not match (N in process 37)
, the variable i=i+1 (process 38), and the process returns to process 27.

As a result, the same transmission process as described above is performed for each group G1 to Gn.

As a result of this process, for example, as shown in FIG. will now be sent.

As described above, in this embodiment, the telephone number of the relay station is stored in the facsimile machine in advance, and when transmitting a relay broadcast, multiple destinations are set based on the telephone number. Divide into separate groups, select the one that matches the telephone number of the relay station from among the destination stations in each regional group, and use it as a relay station, and send the image information and destination information to that relay station. The data is then relayed to each destination station within the corresponding group.

As a result, each destination station can be accurately classified by region, and an appropriate relay station according to the region can be automatically selected. Therefore, the operator does not have to go through the hassle of determining the geographic location of each destination station and setting up relay stations.

Furthermore, since an appropriate relay station is definitely selected, communication charges can be reliably reduced compared to the case where the transmission is directly sent from the originating station to each destination.

Note that in the above embodiment, one destination station within a regional group is used as a relay station, but it goes without saying that the relay station does not have to be the destination. In addition, when dividing each destination into regional groups and determining a relay station, the first two digits of the telephone number are checked, but this may be three or more digits. It is also possible to prepare a table showing the correspondence between the terminals and the terminals, and refer to the table to divide the terminals into groups or to determine the relay stations.

Further, instead of setting the relay station telephone number in advance, it is also possible to set whether the relay transmission function is available or not when registering one-touch dialing or speed dialing.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, the telephone number of the relay station is memorized in advance, and when transmitting a relay broadcast, multiple destinations are assigned to the area based on the telephone number. Divide into different groups, based on the relay station phone number memorized above,
By selecting a relay station corresponding to each regional group and having that relay station relay transmission to each destination station within the corresponding regional group, each destination can be accurately divided by region and Since the appropriate relay station according to the region is automatically set, the operator can
The hassle of determining the geographic location of each destination and setting up relay stations is eliminated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing relay station telephone number information stored in advance, FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart showing transmission processing, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing grouping of each destination, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of transmission processing. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Scanner, 2... Plotter, 3... Encoding and decoding unit, 4... Image memory, 5... Network control device, 6...
...Modem, 7.Communication control section, 8.Operation display section, 9
. . . system memory, 11 . . . system control unit. Figure 1

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) By transmitting image information and destination information to a relay station within each facsimile station where each facsimile machine is installed and instructing the relay station, the image information is transmitted from the relay station to each destination station. In a facsimile machine equipped with a relay broadcast transmission function, a relay station telephone number storage means stores a plurality of preset relay station telephone numbers, and a relay station telephone number storage means stores a plurality of preset destination stations based on the destination station telephone numbers. destination station classification means for classifying destination stations into regional groups; relay station selection means for selecting a relay station corresponding to each regional group based on the plurality of stored relay station telephone numbers; 1. A facsimile apparatus comprising: relay broadcast transmission means for transmitting image information and destination information to each destination station in a corresponding regional group. (2) The facsimile apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the relay station selection means selects one destination station within the regional group and sets it as the relay station.