JPH0410859A - Tape recording and reproducing system in facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record and store huge quantity of FAX picture data at not so much cost by using a magnetic tape as a recording medium and recording a synchronization pattern and control information onto the magnetic tape together with the FAX picture data. CONSTITUTION:A main control section 20 consists of a facsimile communication processing means 22, an operation panel detection means 24, a printer drive means 26, a reader drive means 28, a buffer memory 30 and a FAX data processing means 32, and a tape recording and reproducing circuit 12 records a FAX communication data in the buffer memory 30 onto a magnetic tape 14, reproduces the FAX communication data recorded onto the magnetic tape 14 and transfers the data to the buffer memory 30. Moreover, a synchronization pattern and control information relating to the FAX picture data are recorded onto the magnetic tape together with the FAX picture data. Thus, missing of the synchronization pattern and control information and FAX picture data is prevented due to power interruption and the data quantity to be recorded is increased.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention enables recording of transmitted FAX image data (document 1 image data) even when there is no recording paper to be set in a facsimile machine. You can access fax image data sent while you are away from home via a telephone line and transfer it to the facsimile machine at work, or send it to the other party's facsimile machine. FA read by the document reading device when the other party is not in reception mode
The present invention relates to a facsimile device that records/reproduces FAX image data on a magnetic tape in order to store X image data or the like.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, a recording medium used in a facsimile machine for recording/reproducing FAX image data is a semiconductor memory or a hard disk.

Record! 3/For reproduction type facsimile machines, FAX
When recording image data in semiconductor memory, FAX
In addition to the image data, various control information related to the FAX image data necessary for reproduction is also recorded.

Here, the control information indicates whether the format of the FAX image data is normal mode or fine mode, whether it is A4 length or 84 length, recording time (year, month, day, hour, minute), page number, etc.

In the case of hard disks, synchronization patterns are also recorded in addition to control information. What is a sync pattern?
This is to provide synchronization to the read clock generation circuit required during reproduction.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the above-mentioned prior art recording/reproducing type facsimile apparatus has the following problems.

In devices that use semiconductor memory as a recording medium, not only is there a limit in storage capacity, but also recorded contents are lost in the event of an unexpected power outage such as a power outage.

Therefore, if control information is recorded in semiconductor memory and FAX image data is recorded in hard disk, FAX
Although the image data is saved even when the power is turned off, the control information is lost, so the FAX image data cannot be reproduced in the same manner as when it was recorded.

There are methods of adding a hack-up power supply to the semiconductor memory or using non-volatile memory as the semiconductor memory, but this increases the cost.

For those that use hard disks as recording media,
Although there are no problems in terms of storage capacity or loss of data when the power is turned off, the hard disk itself is expensive, making it difficult to adopt it in popular home devices.

Furthermore, whether it is a semiconductor memory or a hard disk, these devices are permanently installed in the facsimile machine and cannot be used interchangeably with other facsimile machines or saved as files. It was simply impossible.

The present invention has been devised in view of these circumstances, and is capable of preventing synchronization pattern data, control information, and FAX image data from being lost even if the power is cut off, and which can record a large amount of data. Moreover, the purpose is to be able to provide it at a low cost.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, the tape recording/reproducing method in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention uses a magnetic tape as a recording medium for FAX image data, and when recording FAX image data,
synchronization pattern data and control information related to image data.
In addition to recording on magnetic tape along with AX image data,
When playing fax image data, synchronization pattern data,
This apparatus is characterized in that control information and FAX image data are read out from a magnetic tape.

<Effect> The effects of the above configuration of the present invention are as follows.

Since a magnetic tape is used as the recording medium, it is possible to record a much larger amount of FAX image data than in the conventional example using a semiconductor memory or hard disk, and it is also inexpensive. Since it is a magnetic tape, it can be taken out and used in other facsimile machines with similar functions, and it can also be saved as a file.

In addition, when recording FAX image data on a magnetic tape, instead of recording the synchronization pattern data and control information required when reproducing the FAX image data on a semiconductor memory, the FAX image data is recorded on a magnetic tape. Since the data is recorded on the same magnetic tape, even in the event of a power outage such as a power outage, the recorded data will not be lost and it will be possible to reproduce the data in the same format as when it was recorded.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a tape recording/reproducing method in a facsimile machine.

In the figure, 2 is a telephone line, 4 is a modem, 6 is an operation panel, 8 is a recording paper printing device, 10 is a document reading device, 1
2 is a tape recording/reproducing circuit in the tape recorder, 14 is a magnetic tape, and 20 is a main control section. The main control unit 20 includes a facsimile communication processing means 22 and an operation panel detection means 24.
, a printing device driving means 26, a reading device driving means 28, a panzer memory 30, and a FAX data processing means 32.

The operation panel 6 provides reception, transmission, and
It gives recording, playback, and other commands. The operation panel detection means 24 detects the state of the operation panel 6 and
This information is transmitted to the AX data processing means 32. modem 4
demodulates the FAX communication data including FAX image data sent from the other party's facsimile device via the telephone line f12 and sends it to the facsimile communication processing means 22, and also faxes the FAX communication data from the facsimile device. The signal is input from the return communication processing means 22, modulated, and sent to the other party's facsimile machine via the telephone line 2. The facsimile communication processing means 22 performs appropriate facsimile communication procedures with the other party's facsimile device,
The FAX image data sent from the other party's facsimile machine is transferred to the FAX data processing means 32, and the FAX image data transferred from the FAX data processing means 32 is sent to the other party's facsimile machine.

The recording paper printing device 8 prints the FAX image data received from the other party's facsimile machine or the FAX image data reproduced from the magnetic tape 14 on recording paper. It drives the recording paper printing device 8 to print the input FAX image data on recording paper. The manuscript reading device ff1o is
The reading device driving means 2B reads the FAX image data from the original.
The document reading device 10 transfers the data to the X data processing means 32.
It is what drives the.

The tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 stores the FAX in the buffer memory 30.
It records communication data on the magnetic tape 14, reproduces FAX communication data recorded on the magnetic tape 14, and transfers it to the buffer memory 30. The Rokutsufa memory 30 temporarily stores FAX communication data from the FAX data processing means 32 and then sends it to the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12, or once stores FAX communication data from the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 and then transmits it to the FAX data processing means 32. It is something that can be sent to.

The FAX data processing means 32 is connected to the operation panel detection means 24.
facsimile communication processing means 22 based on instructions from
The FAX communication data from the printing device driving means 26 and buffer memory 30 are transferred,
It controls the transfer of FAX image data from the printer to the printing device driving means 26 and the buffer memory 30, and the transfer of the FAX communication data from the buffer memory 30 to the facsimile communication processing means 22 and the printing device driving means 26. be.

Next, the operation of the magnetic tape recording/reproducing facsimile apparatus having the above configuration will be explained.

First, to briefly explain the operation of facsimile transmission and reception, when a call is received from the other party's facsimile machine and the line is acquired, facsimile communication is started according to a predetermined procedure. After facsimile communication, fax image data (digital data) is sent from the other party's facsimile device.
will be sent. The received FAX image data is demodulated by the modem 4, and sent to the facsimile communication processing means 22 and the FAX image data.
The data is sent to the recording paper printing device 8 via the data processing means 32 and the printing device driving means 26, and is printed on recording paper.

Further, the FAX image data read by the document reading device 10 is sent to the modem 4 via the reading device driving means 28, the FAX data processing means 32, and the facsimile communication processing means 22.
is modulated and transmitted to the other party's facsimile machine via the telephone line 2.

Next, the operation when the tape recording mode is set on the operation panel 6 will be explained.

■ Received data recording FA
Synchronization pattern data A for synchronizing the reading of image data C (see Figure 2) is set in the buffer memory 30, and then control information B (normal mode or fine mode) regarding the received FAX image data C is set. , A4 length or B
4. Set the length, recording time, page number, etc.)
Next, the FAX image data C sent from the fax communication processing means 22 from time to time is set in the buffer memory 30.

The format of the data thus set in the buffer memory 30 is as shown in FIG.

The synchronization pattern data A provides synchronization to a PLL circuit or the like that generates a clock for reading data from the magnetic tape 14 in the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12, and for example, (1010...). Consists of focus series.

Control information B includes identification code Bl, image data code B2,
It consists of a date and time code B3, a page code B4, and a frame size code B5. The identification code B1 is a delimiter between the previous synchronization pattern data A and the control information f[iB, and indicates that the subsequent information is control information B. Image data code B
2 is a bit (
Yes: 1, No - ○), unused bits (5 bits),
Consists of a bit that identifies whether the FAX image data C is A4 length or B4 length (A4 length: 1, B4 length: 0), and a bit that identifies whether it is fine mode or normal mode (fine: 1, normal 20) . The date and time code B3 indicates the recorded time in month, day, AM/PM, hour, and minute.

Page code B4 indicates the page number of that frame. Frame size code B5 indicates how many lines of image data after control @B are recorded.

FAX image data C consists of EOL and 1 line image data.
EOL indicates the separation between one line image data and another one line image data, and has an RTC at the end indicating the end of the page.

Here, I will explain the frame.

Since the transmission speed of facsimile communication is slower than the recording speed on magnetic tape, in the process of transferring the data set in the buffer memory 30 to the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 and recording it on the magnetic tape 14, the buffer memory 30
The amount of data in it gradually decreases. Once all of the data stored in the buffer memory 30 has been transferred to the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 and recorded on the magnetic tape 14, the recorded data will have no meaning if it is subsequently recorded on the magnetic tape 14. It becomes something that does not exist. Therefore, the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 is temporarily switched to a pause state until a predetermined amount of the next image data is set in the buffer memory 30. Then, when a predetermined amount of image data of synchronization pattern data A, control information B, and FAX image data C are set in the buffer memory 30 again, the transfer to the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 is resumed.

In this way, each time a predetermined amount of image data is sent to the buffer memory 30, the image data is transferred to the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12. In order to switch the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 to the pause state, , FAX data processing means 3
2 constantly monitors the amount of image data in the buffer memory 30, and sets a delimiter in the buffer memory 30 to indicate the end of transfer when a predetermined amount is reached. This delimiter is set in frame size code B5 to indicate the position of EOL associated with the last one line of image data of a predetermined amount of image data.

A collection of data from synchronization pattern data A to the EOL position indicated by frame size code B5 is called a frame. Note that for one frame, whether or not the next frame exists is also recorded in the image data code B2.

As described above, the synchronization pattern data A, control information InB, and a predetermined amount of FAX image data C are sequentially set in the buffer memory 30 as one frame, and transferred from the buffer memory 30 to the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 one frame at a time. The operation of recording on the magnetic tape 14 is repeated. When the amount of image data for one page is smaller than the amount of image data that can be stored in the buffer memory 30 at one time, the image data for one page is treated as one frame.

(2) Recording of Original Reading Data When a FAX original is placed in the original reading device 10 and a tape recording mode is specified on the operation panel 6, the original reading device 10 starts reading the FAX image data C from the FAX original. The FAX image data is sent to the FAX data processing means 32 via the reading device driving means 28. The FAX data processing means 32 receives FAX image data C.
When reading starts, as in the case (2) above, the synchronization pattern data A is first set in the buffer memory 30, then the control information B is set, and finally the FAX data is set.
Set image data C as needed.

Since the document reading speed is also slower than the recording speed on a magnetic tape, the FAX data processing means 32, when a predetermined amount of FAX image data C is sent to the buffer memory 30,
After setting the delimiter in the buffer memory 30, the synchronization pattern data A, control information B, and FAX image data C for one frame set in the buffer memory 30 are transferred to the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 and recorded on the magnetic tape 14. Record.

As the FAX image data C is transferred, the amount of set data in the buffer memory 30 gradually decreases, while the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 enters a pause state at the delimiter, and thereafter records data for each frame in the same manner. repeat.

Main Varnish Reproduction Study■ When tape reproduction is commanded on the recording paper printing operation panel 6, the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 reads out the data recorded on the magnetic tape 14.First, it reads out the synchronization pattern data A, and this synchronization pattern The tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 is synchronized based on data A. This synchronization allows subsequent data to be read accurately. The synchronization pattern data A is transferred to the buffer memory 30 and sent thereto.

This synchronization pattern data A is sent to the FAX data processing means 32.
is constantly monitored.

Next, the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 reads out the control information B, transfers it to the buffer memory 30, and stores it, and then reads out the FAX image data C as needed and stores it in the buffer memory 30. The FAX data processing means 32 includes a buffer memory 3
The control information B is read from 0 and transferred to the printing device driving means 26. The printing device driving means 26 includes control information l1lB,
That is, fine mode or normal mode, and B
4 length or A4 length, recording time, page number, etc. Then, the recording paper printing device 8 is controlled. iI
F is read out at any time by driving based on B.
The AX image data C is printed on recording paper in the same manner as when it was recorded on the magnetic tape 14.

Since the printing speed of the recording paper printing device 8 is slower than the reproduction speed from the magnetic tape 14, the amount of data of FAX@data C sent to the buffer memory 30 gradually increases, but when the delimiter is reproduced, Tape recording and reproducing circuit 12
Switch the playback operation to the pause state. When all of the FAX image data C in the buffer memory 30 has been printed, the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 is switched to the reproducing operation state again, thereby repeating printing of the FAX image data C frame by frame.

(2) Reproduction Communication By setting on the operation panel 6, it is also possible to transmit the FAX image data C reproduced from the magnetic tape 14 to the other party's facsimile machine. Synchronous pattern data A, control information B, and FAX read from the magnetic tape 14 by the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 and set in the buffer memory 30
The FAX data processing means 32 transmits the image data C to the other party's facsimile machine via the facsimile communication processing means 22, the modem 4, and the telephone line 2. In this case too,
In response to the fact that the communication speed is slower than the reproduction speed, the tape recording/reproducing circuit 12 is paused by the delimiter in the same manner as described above.

(2) Remote Reproduction It is also possible to read out the FAX image data C from the magnetic tape 14 in response to a call from the facsimile machine at the destination and transfer it via the telephone line 2 to the facsimile machine at the destination.

As described above, since the magnetic tape 14 is used as a medium for recording the FAX image data C sent via the telephone line 2 by facsimile communication and the FAX image data C read by the document reading device 10, the semiconductor memory It is possible to record a much larger amount of FAX image data than the conventional example using a hard disk or hard disk, and it is also inexpensive. It is also possible to take out the magnetic tape and treat it like a file, or use it in another facsimile machine having the same functions as this magnetic tape recording/reproducing facsimile machine.

Furthermore, when recording the FAX image data C on the magnetic tape 14, the synchronization pattern data A and the control information IB that are necessary when reproducing the FAX image data C are not recorded in the semiconductor memory, but are stored in the FAX image data. Since the data is recorded on the same magnetic tape 14 on which C is recorded, even if a power outage such as a power outage occurs, the recorded data will not be lost.

<Effect of the invention> According to the present invention, the following effects are achieved.

Since a magnetic tape is used as the recording medium and the synchronization pattern data and control information are recorded on the magnetic tape together with the fax image data, the recorded data will not be lost even in the event of a power outage such as a power outage. Not only can it be reproduced in the same format as when it was recorded, but also a huge amount of fax image data can be recorded and saved without much cost.

In addition, by recording and saving fax image data on tape, you can save space and reduce the amount of paper used.
It is possible to improve usability and reduce running costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 relate to one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the main parts of a tape recording/reproducing system in a facsimile machine, and FIG. 2 is a data format.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A magnetic tape is used as a recording medium for FAX image data, and when recording FAX image data, synchronization pattern data and control information related to FAX image data are faxed.
In addition to recording on magnetic tape along with image data, FA
A tape recording/reproducing method for a facsimile machine, characterized in that synchronization pattern data, control information, and FAX image data are read from a magnetic tape when reproducing X image data.