JPH04111673A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce number of times of revision of the original mode and to effectively utilize the continuous transmission function by revising the transmission order of transmission files so that transmission files of a same original mode are consecutive. CONSTITUTION:A control section 1 implements control processing of each section and a system memory 2 stores various data to execute a processing program. A parameter memory 3 stores information specific to a G3 facsimile mode. A scanner 4 reads an original picture with prescribed resolution and a plotter 5 prints out the picture. An operation display section 6 operates the equipment. A coding decoding section 7 codes and compresses a picture signal, decodes the picture information into original picture signal and a picture storage device 8 stores lots of picture information coded and compressed. A G3 FAX MODEM 9 realizes a MODEM function and is provided with a low speed MO DEM function to communicate a transmission protocol signal and a high speed MODEM function to communicate picture information. A network controller 10 is used to connect the equipment to a public telephone line network and is provided with an automatic incoming and outgoing function.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a facsimile device having a serial transmission function for transmitting one or more accumulated transmission files set to the same destination in one transmission operation. Regarding.

[Prior Art] Generally, in Group 3 facsimile machines, a destination is designated for each original to be sent, and the transmission operations for these originals are performed independently.

On the other hand, before transmitting image information, Group 3 facsimile devices negotiate with the other device regarding transmission functions such as modem speed, image size, or image reading line density. The exchange of information for
Since this is done using a low-speed modem function (CCITT Recommendation V, Recommendation Dem; data rate is 300 bps), it takes a relatively long time to exchange the information.

Furthermore, since the calling operation when calling the other party's device also takes time, a relatively large proportion of the time required for one transmission operation is spent other than actually transmitting image information.

Incidentally, for operational reasons, image information may be transmitted a large number of times to the same destination, and the urgency of image information transmission is usually not so high.

Therefore, conventionally, facsimile machines have been put into practical use that have a serial transmission function that stores images of transmitted documents and transmits one or more stored and transmitted files with the same destination set in a single transmission operation. .

By using this serial transmission function, multiple transmission files to the same destination can be sent in one transmission operation, so compared to repeating each transmission operation independently, the Since the time required for negotiation with the other party's device can be reduced, the overall transmission time can be shortened.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, such conventional devices have the following disadvantages.

In other words, if the document modes of consecutive transmission files are different, when the image information transmission of one transmission file is finished and the image information transmission of the next transmission file is switched, a negotiation operation is performed to change the document mode. This caused the inconvenience that the effect of the 1-column communication function could not be achieved significantly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus that can effectively utilize the serial transmission function.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a transmission order changing means for changing the transmission order of transmission files so that transmission files in the same original mode as the first selected transmission file are consecutive. be. Also, if you sequentially select stored and sent files that have the same destination as the first selected file, and the number of selected files exceeds the specified number, additional stored and sent files that have the same destination will be added. In some cases, the apparatus is equipped with a transmission order changing means for changing the transmission order of the transmission files so that transmission files of the same document mode are consecutive within a prescribed number including the first selected transmission file.

[Operation] Therefore, the transmission order of the transmission files is changed so that the transmission files of the same original mode are consecutive, so the number of times the original mode is changed can be reduced, and the serial transmission function can be used effectively. can.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a Group 3 facsimile machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a control unit 1 performs control processing of each part of the facsimile machine and facsimile transmission control procedure processing, and a system memory 2 stores control processing programs and processing programs executed by the control unit 1. The parameter memory 3 is used to store various types of data required when executing the fax machine, and constitutes the work area of the control unit 1. The parameter memory 3 is used to store various types of information specific to this group 3 facsimile machine. It is.

The scanner 4 is for reading original images at a predetermined resolution, the plotter 5 is for recording and outputting images at a predetermined resolution, and the operation display section 6 is for operating this facsimile device. It consists of various operation keys and various displays.

The encoding/decoding unit 7 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal, and the image storage device 8 encodes and compresses the encoded and compressed image information. This is for storing a large amount of image information in a different state.

The group 3 facsimile modem 9 is for realizing the group 3 facsimile modem function, and has a low-speed modem function (V, 2) for exchanging transmission procedure signals.
1 modem) and a high-speed modem function (V, 29 modem, V, 27ter modem) mainly for exchanging image information.

The network control device 10 is for connecting this facsimile device to the public telephone line network, and has an automatic call originating and receiving function.

These control unit 1, system memory 2, parameter memory 3, scanner 4, plotter 5, operation display unit 6, encoding/decoding unit 7, image storage device 8, group 3 facsimile modem 9, and network control device 10 is connected to a system bus 11, and data exchange between these elements is mainly performed via this system bus 11.

Furthermore, data is exchanged directly between the network control device 1o and the group 3 facsimile modem 9.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the operation display section 6. As shown in FIG.

In the figure, a start key 68 is used to input a command to start the transmission/reception operation of this facsimile machine, a stop key 6b is used to input a command to stop the operation of this facsimile machine, and a numeric keypad 6C
is for entering numerical information such as a telephone number.

The function keys 6d are for specifying various functions of this facsimile machine, such as data registration to the one-touch dial function, and the memory keys 68 are for specifying various functions of this facsimile machine, such as data registration to the one-touch dial function.

The one-touch dial key 6f is used to specify a memory transmission operation, and the one-touch dial key 6f is used to operate a one-touch dial function that specifies a destination with a single key operation.

The liquid crystal display 6g is for displaying various messages from this facsimile machine to the operator.
The YES key 6h is used to enter a negative answer to the guidance message displayed on the liquid crystal display 6g, and the NO key 61 is used to enter a negative answer to the guidance message displayed on the liquid crystal display 6g. This is for inputting.

In this embodiment, when the transmission image information is stored in the image Wi 108, the control section 1 forms a file management table FMT as shown in FIG. 3(a) and stores it in the system memory 2.

This file management table FMT includes document number information BN for identifying the transmitted file, destination information CN for storing the designated destination, transmission mode information MD for storing the designated transmission mode, and transmission designation. It manages transmission specified time information TM for storing the time, transmission result information RZ for storing the transmission result, page number information MP for storing the number of pages, and transmission image information of the first page. It consists of a first page pointer FP that points to the page management table.

Here, as destination information CN, when a destination is specified using the speed dial function or one-touch dial function, the operated dial code is used, and when the numeric keypad 6c is used directly, the dial code is used. The operation details of the numeric keypad 6c are stored. Further, as transmission mode information, information indicating confidential transmission, time specified transmission, broadcast transmission, etc. is stored. Further, as the transmission result information RZ, information indicating transmission standby, transmission OK, transmission NG, etc. is stored, and normally, at the time this file management table FMT is generated, information indicating transmission standby is stored. .

Further, when storing transmission image information in the image storage device 8, the control section 1 forms a page management table PMT as shown in FIG.

This page management table PMT includes ID information PID for identifying each page management table PMT, page reference number information PP for storing the reference number of the page managed by that page management table PMT, and one-stroke information. Line density information PLD for storing the line density of the image information, size information Sz for storing the size of the image information, start address information AD indicating the beginning of the storage area occupied by the image information in the image storage device 8, and its storage area. The data amount information PDT indicates the size of the page, and the next page pointer PNP indicates the page management table PMT that manages the image information of the next page.

Here, Ii! ! ! The standard linear density (
STD) is 3,85 (books/+am), or optional linear density (DTL) is 7,7
(book/m++) is set. Also,
Information indicating A4 size or B4 size is set in the size information SZ. Furthermore, information indicating that the page is the last page is set in the next page pointer PNP of the page management table PMT that manages the image information of the last page for each transmission file.

FIG. 4C shows a transmission management table LMT that is referred to when a transmission function is used to transmit a plurality of transmission files to the same destination in one transmission operation. Note that in this example, 1
Up to four transmission files can be sent during one transmission.

This transmission W management table LMT includes destination information CAL for the transmission destination, order information ORD for the order from 1 to 4, document number BNo for the transmission file to be transmitted in each order, and the transmission file. It consists of line density information LDN indicating the line density of the image information of the file, size information SZ indicating the size of the image information of the transmission file, and other mode information END indicating the other mode information.

FIG. 4 shows an example of processing that the control unit 1 executes during standby.

In the standby mode, the file management table FMT stored in the system memory 2 is checked, and the transmission result information RZ is set with information that warns of waiting for transmission, and the specified transmission time information side is set before the current time. Is there a file whose time has been set, that is, whether there is a file that is ready to be sent?

Alternatively, it monitors whether an incoming call has been detected or whether an operation input has been made to the operation display section 6 (judgments 101, 102, 103).
).

When the result of judgment 10 is YES, a predetermined transmission process is started; when the result of judgment 102 is YES, a predetermined incoming call process is started; and when the result of judgment 103 is YES, a predetermined transmission process is started.
When it becomes ES, processing for the input operation is executed (determination 104).

FIG. 5 shows an example of processing at the time of transmission.

First, the control unit 1 executes a transmission management table creation process (process 201) for forming a transmission management table LMT.

In this transmission management table creation process, as shown in FIG. The item of the specific file management table) is set to the corresponding item of the first (=n9th) element of the serial communication management table LMT (process 302).

In other words, the contents of the destination information CN in the specific file management table FMT are transferred to the destination information CA in the transmission management table LMT.
L contains the contents of the document number information BN of the specific file management table FMT, and the page management table PMT corresponding to the first page pointer FP of the specific file management table FMT.
The contents of the line density information PLO and the contents of the size information psz of the document number information BNo of the element whose order information ORD is 1 are
, linear density information LDN and size information SSZ, respectively.

Next, a process 303) of searching whether there is another file management table FMT in which the same content as the destination information CN of the specific file management table FMT is set in the destination information CN, such a file management table FM is performed.
T (hereinafter referred to as dependent file management table) (the result of judgment 304 is YES), the value of variable n is set to 1.
The item of the dependent file management table FMT is set to the corresponding item of the nth element of the serial file management table LMT in the same manner as described above (process 306).

Next, it is checked whether the value of the variable n is equal to the specified value NM, which is the maximum number of files to be transmitted in one transmission operation (determination 307), and when the result of determination 307 is No, Returning to process 303, the next dependent file management table FMT is searched.

When processing for transmission files to the same destination is completed and the result of determination 304 is NO, or.

When the necessary information is set in all the elements of the transmission management table LMT and the result of judgment 307 is YES, check whether the value of the variable n is 2 or more (
Judgment 308), when the result of judgment 308 is YES, the order of each element of the correspondence management table L is changed so that the second and subsequent elements of the correspondence management table LMT have the same original mode as the first one. Change (process 309). When the result of determination 308 is NO, processing 309 is not performed.

When the transmission management table LMT is formed in this way, the destination of the destination information CAL in the transmission management table LMT is called (202), and the non-standard function identification signal NSF and the digital identification signal are responded to from the transmission device. DIS is received (process 203).

Next, the process 204) sets the value of the variable n to 1, the process 205) takes out the first (=nth) element of the transmission management table LMT, and the document mode is determined.

The transmission function (transmission mode) to be used at that time is determined based on the determined original mode, the identification information notified from the other device, and the transmission function equipped on the own terminal, and the content of the determination is Forms a non-standard function setting signal NSS for notification and sends it to the partner device (process 206
).

Then, a predetermined modem training procedure is executed at the modem speed set at that time (process 207), and the page management referenced by the first page pointer FP of the file management table FMT corresponding to the n-th element of the transmission management table LMT is performed. A chain of page management tables PMT starting from table PMT is followed, and image information for one page is transmitted (processing 208).

Next, based on the contents of the next page pointer PNP of the page management table PMT corresponding to the image information transmitted at that time, it is determined whether there is image information of the next page (determination 209), and the result of determination 209 is When becomes YES,
The page management table PMT corresponding to the next page pointer PNP is read out to check whether the document mode of the next page is the same as the document mode of the immediately previous page (determination 210).

When the result of judgment 210 is YES, processing 2 is performed to send a multi-page signal MPS as a post-message signal.
11) After receiving a response signal from the partner device (process 212), the process returns to process 208 and transmits the image information of the next page.

When the result of judgment 210 is NO, process 2 sends a message end signal EOM as a post-message signal.
13) After receiving the response signal from the partner device (process 214), process 215) to ensure that the non-standard function identification signal NSF and digital identification signal DIS sent from the partner device are received, return to step 206, and proceed to the next page. Send image information.

When the result of judgment 209 is No, it is checked whether the document whose transmission has been completed at that time is the last element of the transmission management table LMT (judgment 216).

When the result of the judgment 216 is NO, a process 217) of increasing the value of the variable n by one is performed in the transmission management table LMTO.
The original mode is determined based on the linear density information PLD and size information PS2 of the page management table PMT referenced by the first page pointer FP of the file management table FMT corresponding to the n-th element, and the determined original mode is the previous one. Check whether it is the same as the original mode of the page (determination 219).

When the result of judgment 219 is YES, processing 2 is performed to send the multi-page signal MPS as a post-message signal.
20) After receiving the response signal from the partner device (process 221), process 2 to set the transmission result at that time in the transmission result information RZ of the corresponding file management table FMT.
22) Returning to step 208, the image information of the first page of the next transmission file is transmitted.

When the result of judgment 219 is NO, process 2 sends a message end signal EOM as a post-message signal.
23) Process 224 the response signal from the partner device in an appropriate manner.
), process 225) to set the transmission result at that time in the transmission result information RZ of the corresponding file management table FMT.
, non-standard function identification signal NS sent from the partner device
Process 226 to receive F and digital identification signal DIS.
), the process returns to step 206 and the image information of the first page of the next transmission file is transmitted.

When the transmission of all transmission files in the transmission management table LMT is completed and the result of judgment 216 becomes YES,
Process 227) to send the procedure end signal EOP as a post-message signal, process 228) to receive the response signal from the partner device, process 228) to set the transmission result at that time in the transmission result information RZ of the corresponding file management table FMT.
29), and sends a disconnection command signal DCN (processing 230).
, process to restore the line 231), transmission management table LM
T is deleted (process 232).

In this way, image information is transmitted using the serial transmission function.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the document numbers BNo for which "short 10 (speed dial function 10)" is set in the destination information CN are Bol, BO2, BO3, BO4.
, BO5, and BO6 are stored in the image storage device 8, and their size information SSZ is A.
4. B4. A4. B4. For A4, A4, when all the linear density information LDN is STD, when the file management table FMT with document number BNo 801 becomes ready for transmission, in this case, the file management table FMT with document number BNo BOI is determined as the specific file management table FMT, and the document number BNo is 802. BO3,80
The file management table FM-4 of No. 4 is selected as the dependent file management table FMT.

In addition, since the document number 803 is the same document mote as the document mote of the transmission file whose document number BNo is BOI, in this case, as shown in FIG. It is formed.

That is, in this case, the order of the elements of the transmission management table LMTI is that the document numbers BNo are Bol, BO3, BO2,
Sorted in order of BO4.

Therefore, when transmitting one-stroke information, first
After the destination registered in is called, the document number BNo.
The transmission function is set based on the original mode of the image information of the BOI, the image information is transmitted, and then the document number BN
Image information with o as BO3 is transmitted.

Since the document mode of the image information of the next transmitted document number BNo. BO2 is different, in this case, a message end signal EOM is sent to change the document mode. Then, the transmission function is set again based on the document mode of the image information whose document number BNo is BO2, and the document number BNo is set to BO2.
After the image information of 2 is sent, the document number BNo becomes BO4.
image information is sent.

Furthermore, when the image information transmission of this queue management table LMTI is completed, the queue management table LMTI is deleted, and then, as shown in FIG. is formed.

Then, in the same manner as described above, the connection management table LMT2 is
The image information of the transmission file registered in is transmitted.

In this way, in this embodiment, when multiple transmission files are transmitted using the serial transmission function, the transmission files with the same original mode as the first transmission file are continuously transmitted, so the number of mode changes is reduced. Therefore, the time required for image information transmission can be shortened.

By the way, when the transmission file shown in FIG. 7(a) is stored in the image storage device W8, there are three other documents in the same original mode as the first document, so these can be sent in one transmission. If you can send by sending, you can further reduce the sending time.

In this case, 1. For example, as shown in (d) and (e) of the same figure, the document number BNo is Bol, BO3, BO5, BO6.
Send '7 file to first transmission management table LMTI'
and other transmission files to the next transmission management table L.
It is best to register it in MT2'.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a process for creating a connection management table according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is capable of rearranging the elements of the connection management table.

In this transmission management table creation process, first, the variable n is set to 1.
(processing 401), and setting the item of the specific file management table to the corresponding item of the first (=n0th) element of the serial transmission management table LMT (processing 402).

Next, in the process 403) of searching for the existence of the dependent file management table FMT, if there is a dependent file management table (the result of judgment 404 is YES), the third
Correspondence document candidate information RDT as shown in Figure (d) is formed (processing 405).

This correspondence document candidate information RDT includes a document number BNo, linear density information LDN, size information SSZ, and a change flag CF indicating that the document mode has been changed within one document.
Consists of L and other mode information END.

Then, it traces the chain of page management tables PMT starting from the page management table PMT referenced by the first page pointer FP of the dependent file management table, and checks (determines) whether or not the original mode is changed in the transmitted file. 4o6), when the result of judgment 406 is YES, the change flag C of the correspondence document candidate information RDT is
FL is set (process 407). Next, the value of the variable n is increased by one (process 408), and the process returns to process 403 to search for the next dependent file management table.

If a new dependent file management table is not found and the result of judgment 404 is No, check whether the number of variables n is greater than the specified value NM (judgment 409), and the result of judgment 409 is YES. Sometimes, Retsushinsho FM
The items of T are set in the same way as above, and the correspondence document candidate information RD is
Among T, select (NM-1) ones for which the change flag CFL is not set and
It is registered in each element after the th element (processing 410).

Then, process 411) to change the order of each element of the series management table MT so that the second and subsequent elements of the series management table LMT have the same original mode as the first element.
The correspondence document candidate information RDT registered in the correspondence management table LMT at that time is deleted (process 412).

Further, when the result of the judgment 409 is NO, processing is performed to register the correspondence document candidate information RDT in the second and subsequent elements of the correspondence management table LMT (413), and processing is performed to delete the correspondence document candidate information RDT (414). , connection management table LM
The order of each element in the transmission management table 1M is changed so that the second and subsequent elements of T have the same original mode as the first element (processing 415).

Through this process, for example, when six transmission files to the same destination are stored in the image storage device 8 as shown in FIG. 9(a), the transmission management table as shown in FIG. 9(b) is first created. LMT3 is formed, and then a serial transmission management table LMT4 as shown in FIG. 4(c) is formed.

Therefore, if there are more files to be sent to the same destination than can be sent in one transmission, the transmission efficiency is improved because the files are grouped together so that the mode does not change during the first transmission. .

By the way, as shown in FIG. 10(a), six transmission files to the same destination are stored in the image storage device 8.
If the original mode of each of the three sent files is the same,
For each original mode, the same figure (b) and (C
) The transmission efficiency of serial transmission can be further improved by forming the transmission management tables LMT5 to LMT6 as shown in FIG.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the maximum number of files that can be transmitted in one series transmission is set to 4, but it is also possible to send even more files in one series transmission. , the present invention can be applied in the same way.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the transmission order of the transmission files is changed so that the transmission files of the same original mode are consecutive, so the number of times the original mode is changed can be reduced. This has the effect of making it possible to effectively utilize the chain communication function.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a Group 3 facsimile device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an operation display section, and FIG. 3(a) is a schematic diagram showing an example of a file management table. Figure 1 (b) is a schematic diagram showing an example of a page management table, (c) is a schematic diagram showing an example of a correspondence management table, and (d) is a schematic diagram showing an example of correspondence document candidate information. Schematic diagram, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing during standby, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing during transmission, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of transmission management table creation processing, and FIG. ) is a schematic diagram showing an example of a transmission file stored in the image storage device, (b) is a schematic diagram showing an example of a transmission management table, and (c) is a schematic diagram showing an example of a transmission file management table.
) is a schematic diagram illustrating a chain management table that is formed following the chain management table shown in FIG. A schematic diagram illustrating a connection management table formed following the connection management table in d), FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another example of the connection management table creation process, and FIG. 9(a) is an image storage A schematic diagram showing another example of transmission files stored in the device; FIG. Schematic diagram illustrating a connection management table formed subsequent to the management table, 1st
Figure 0 (a) is a schematic diagram showing yet another example of transmission files stored in the image storage device, Figure 0 (b) is a schematic diagram showing another example of the transmission management table, and Figure 0 (C) is a schematic diagram showing another example of the transmission file. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a chain management table that is formed subsequent to the chain management table in FIG. 1... Control unit, 2... System memory, 8... Image storage device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a facsimile machine equipped with a serial transmission function that sends one or more accumulated transmission files set to the same destination in a single transmission operation, a transmission file in the same original mode as the first transmission file selected 1. A facsimile apparatus comprising a transmission order changing means for changing the transmission order of transmission files so that the files are consecutive. (2) Save and send files that have the same destination set,
In a facsimile machine equipped with a serial transmission function that sends up to a specified number of files in one transmission operation, the accumulated transmission files that have the same destination as the first selected transmission file are sequentially selected, and the selected number is the specified number. If the number of files to be sent is greater than , and there are additional stored and sent files that have the same destination set, the number of send files will be changed so that there are consecutive send files with the same original mode within the specified number, including the first selected send file. A facsimile device comprising a transmission order changing means for changing the transmission order.