JPH0374869B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a facsimile device equipped with a polling function.

As facsimile devices become more widespread, in addition to one-on-one communication between specific parties via facsimile, one-to-multiple communication between one information center and multiple parties requesting that information is becoming widespread. It has reached this point. A facsimile broadcasting device is a device that can automatically send one piece of information in document form to multiple recipients simultaneously or continuously. It is something to do. However, since the above-mentioned broadcasting device is generally expensive, it is not economical if it is used relatively infrequently.

The present invention is intended to enable the above-mentioned one-to-multiple communication by utilizing the polling function provided in many general facsimile devices. This can be achieved by improving the equipment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a transmitting section of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a document reading mechanism in the transmitting section.

In FIG. 2, a plurality of documents A for transmission are stacked and placed on a document placement plate 1, and their presence is detected by a document presence/absence detector 2 consisting of a limit switch, and also by a feed roller 3. being fed forward. Of these documents A, only the lowest document is fed out by the stationary belt 4 and the rotating friction roller 5 and sent to the document reading section 6. The reading section 6 is provided with a light source 7 that illuminates the surface of the sent document A, and the light emitted from the light source 7 is reflected on the surface of the document as shown by the dashed line.
The light enters the photoelectric converter 8 through the lens, and the text of the document A is read. Further, a document passage detector 9 is provided in the reading section 6 across the path of the document A. The detector 9 consists of two photoelectric switches, one of which is a light emitter 9a and the other a light receiver 9b. When the document A is not in the reading area 6, the light from the light emitter 9a is transferred to the light receiver 9b as shown by the dashed line. receives the light, and when the original A comes to the reading area 6, the light is blocked and does not reach the light receiver 9b.

Returning to FIG. 1, the image signal output from the photoelectric converter 8 is counted as each run length indicating white or black by the RL counter 11, and the run length is counted by the next encoder 12. After being converted into a run-length code, it is further modulated by a converter 13 and passed through a converter 14 to the telephone line 1.
5 is sent out. 16 is a telephone, 17 is a known incoming call detector, 18 is an operation key, and 19 is a
A procedure controller consisting of a microcomputer equipped with ROM and RAM controls the communication procedure according to commands from the operation keys 18 and a predetermined program.

The area within the broken line 21 is a newly added part according to the present invention, and the part within the broken line 21 is removed and the document presence/absence detector 2 and the procedure controller 19 are directly connected to the conventional facsimile transmitter. Equivalent to.

In the device according to the invention, the procedure controller 19
Its two output terminals are connected to the flip-flop 22 and the register 23, respectively, and the register 23
is further connected to the document presence/absence detector 2, operation key 18, and counter 24. counter 2
4 is also connected to a document passage detector 9, and the respective outputs of the counter 24 and flip-flop 22 are supplied to two inputs of an OR gate 25, respectively. The output of the gate 25 is supplied together with the output of the document presence/absence detector 2 to two input terminals of an AND gate 26, and the output of the AND gate 26 is input to the procedure controller 19. flipflop 2
2 is automatically switched to set or reset depending on whether the procedure controller 19 instructs normal transmission or polling transmission, and outputs 1 in the case of normal transmission and 0 in the case of polling transmission.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram when polling transmission is performed using the above-mentioned facsimile device, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the communication procedure in that case.

In FIG. 3, a facsimile device F according to the present invention is placed at one center that transmits specific information, and facsimile devices f ₁ to fm are placed at a plurality of receiving sides that receive information from the center, respectively. The center facsimile device F and the receiving facsimile devices f ₁ to fm form one communication system that is connected to each other by telephone lines via an exchange (not shown). It is assumed that the above-mentioned center transmits the same information to each receiving side, and the information is written on n sheets of manuscript _A1 . The operator at the center will send the above n sheets of manuscript before sending.
A ₁ is copied using an appropriate copy machine to create a total of m copies of originals A1 to Am, and the originals A ₁ to
Each part of Am is put together, stacked, and placed on the original plate 1 of the facsimile machine F described above. The operator then uses the facsimile machine F.
The user operates the operation key 18 to set the number n of originals per copy in the register 23, and performs other operations for polling transmission, thereby completing the preparation for polling transmission.

On the receiving side, each device calls the center's facsimile device F at an appropriate time to communicate, but for the sake of explanation, the facsimile devices f ₁ to fm on the receiving side communicate with the center in the order of f ₁ to f ₂ , f ₃ ...fm. Communication shall take place.

When receiving a telephone call from the first facsimile device f ₁ on the receiving side, the incoming call detector 17 of the center facsimile device F detects the call signal and activates the procedure controller 19 . Next, the procedure control unit 19 resets the flip-flop 22 and sets the counter 2 while keeping the numerical value n stored in the register 23 in the register 23.
4, and then switch the converter 14 to the facsimile transmitter side. Thereafter, the procedure controller 29 transmits a called station identification signal (CED) and a digital identification signal (DIS) from the modulator 13 via the converter 14 and the line 15, and also receives a digital transmission command (DTC) from the receiving side. After that, it transmits a digital command signal (DCS), a training check signal (TCF), and receives a reception readiness confirmation signal (CFR). At this time, the output of the flip-flop 22 remains 0, but the counter 24 outputs a signal 1 indicating that the stored value is not 0, and the document presence/absence detector 2 outputs a signal 1 indicating the presence of a document. Therefore, each output of the AND gate 25 and the OR gate 26 indicates 1. The procedure controller 19 is the AND gate 26
After confirming that the output of A 1 is 1, the image signal transmission circuit from the reading mechanism and the photoelectric converter 8 to the modulator 13 shown in _FIG . The lowest manuscript among Am is sent first. At this time, the document passing detector 9 detects the end of the document and emits one pulse, and the counter 2
Subtract 1 from the number n in 4. If n-1≠0 and there is a document on the document placement plate 1, the output of the AND gate 26 will remain 1, so the procedure controller 19 confirms that the output is 1 and sends the multipage signal. (MPS) is sent, and when a message confirmation (MCF) is received, the next document is sent in the same manner as above. These transmission operations are continued until the numerical value in the counter 24 counts up and reaches 0, and this procedure is performed by repeating the broken line 27 in FIG. 4. When the value in the counter 24 is gradually subtracted to 0, the AND gate 26
Since the output of is 0, at this point the procedure controller 1
9 stops the driving of the reading mechanism and the image signal transmission circuit. Next, the controller 19 transmits an end of procedure signal (EOP) and a reception completion signal (MCF).
After receiving, send a line disconnection signal (DCN),
Furthermore, the converter 14 is switched to the telephone 16 side to terminate communication with the first facsimile device f _{1 , so that the device f 1 on} the receiving side transfers the document A ₁ on the center side.
Obtain records corresponding to .

The communication between the center and the receiving side described above is carried out in the same way for other second, third, etc. facsimile devices f ₂ to fm, and when communication with the last receiving facsimile device fm is completed. The output of the document presence/absence detector 2 becomes 0, and as a result, the register 23
is reset and the entire process of polling transmission is completed, and each facsimile device f ₁ to fm on the receiving side receives n corresponding to each document A ₁ to Am on the center side.
Records are obtained one by one.

When performing normal continuous operation from the facsimile device F on the center side, the procedure controller 19 sets the flip-flop 22 to 1 when the procedure controller 19 is started by operating the operation key 18, so the OR gate 25 is activated. The output is always 1 regardless of the value in the counter 24, so the output is always 1.
The transmission does not stop until all the originals placed thereon are continuously transmitted and the output of the original presence/absence detector 2 indicates 0, and transmission can be performed in the same manner as in the conventional facsimile apparatus.

In addition, if you want to transmit all the sheets of a plurality of originals placed on the original plate 1 to one receiving side without counting the number of sheets, use the operation key 18 to It is sufficient to set the number of sheets in the register 23.

The counter 24 can be easily constructed using known registers, the flip-flop 22, the register 23, and the counter 24 can be implemented by RAM, and the OR gate 25 and the AND gate 26 can be implemented by a microcomputer program.

Furthermore, the example of the device shown in FIG.
Although it is based on the G standard specified by TT,
It goes without saying that the present invention may be applied to other analog mode devices. In addition, in the above example, the number of sheets of original document n for each receiving destination is input each time polling transmission is performed, but the number of sheets of document n
It is also possible to immobilize. FIG. 5 shows a case where the present invention is applied to the analog mode facsimile machine and the number of sheets n is fixed at 1.

In Fig. 5, 31 is a modulator for analog signals, 32
is a tonal signal detector that detects the reception ready signal and reception completion signal from the receiving side, and is indicated by the broken line 33.
The circuit from which the internal circuit is removed corresponds to the transmitting section of a conventional analog mode facsimile machine. The two outputs of the procedure controller 19 are supplied to a first and second flip-flop 34, 35, respectively;
The output of each flip-flop 34, 35 goes into an OR gate 25, the output of the gate 25 goes into an AND gate 26 together with the output of the document presence/absence detector 2, and the output of the AND gate 26 is supplied to a procedure controller 19. The first flip-flop 34 corresponds to the flip-flop 22 in the example of FIG. 1 and performs the same function. The second flip-flop 35 corresponds to the counter 24 in the example of FIG. 1, and the register 23 is unnecessary.

When performing polling transmission in the apparatus shown in FIG. 5, when an incoming call from the receiving side is detected, the procedure controller 19 resets the first flip-flop 34, sets the second flip-flop 35, and switches the converter 14 to transmit a facsimile. Switch to the side. Next, the controller 19 activates the modulator 31 to send out a phase signal, and confirms that the output of the AND gate 26 is 1 when the tonal signal detector 32 detects the reception ready signal from the receiving side. Then, the reading section and the image signal transmission circuit are activated to transmit the first document. Next, when the document passing detector 9 detects the end of the document, the reading section is stopped, and the modulator 31 transmits a page end signal.
Thereafter, when the tonal signal detector 32 detects a reception completion signal from the receiving side, it resets the second flip-flop 35, confirms that the output of the AND gate 26 is 0, and switches the converter 14 to the telephone 16.
Switch to the side.

This causes the first facsimile device f ₁ on the receiving side to
A single document A ₁ prepared at the center is sent to the recipient, and the same operation as above is repeated for the subsequent second and third facsimile machines f ₂ to fm. One record is obtained for each of the devices f ₁ to fm.

When performing normal transmission, both flip-flops 34 and 35 are set to 1 when the procedure controller 19 is activated by operating the operation key 18, so the document passage detector 9 detects the passage of the first document. Even if the second flip-flop 35 is reset by detecting the output, the first flip-flop 34 maintains the output 1, and therefore the output of the AND gate 26 indicates 1 until the output of the document presence/absence detector 2 becomes 0. All the originals on the original plate 1 are continuously transmitted.

As explained above, according to the present invention, by loading the transmitter with the same number of originals as the number of recipients in advance, it is possible to sequentially poll and transmit one copy of the original to each receiver. can. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to economically communicate instructions in writing between the head office and each branch office without using a broadcasting device or the like, which is extremely convenient.

The counter used in the present invention can be constructed from a flip-flop, a register, a RAM, etc., as described above, and the numerical value given to the counter can be variable or fixed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a document reading mechanism in the device, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining how to use the device, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a polling transmission procedure by the above device, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of the present invention. 24...Counter, 35...Second flip-flop, A, _A1 to Am...Original, F...Facsimile device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a facsimile device equipped with a polling function, a counter is provided that instructs the end of transmission by counting up, and by setting a desired value in the counter, the number of sheets of originals loaded in the transmitter is equal to the number specified above. A facsimile device characterized by transmitting only original documents by polling.