JPH04167673A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a transmitter to surely transmit communication contents by setting the time when confidential reception contents stored in a picture memory is automatically erased. CONSTITUTION:The number of days for automatic erasing is changed by the operation of an operation part 9, so that, for example, automatic erasing is executed in a day from Monday to Wednesday, and it is executed in three days when a user leaves hit office on Friday. Then, contents of confidential reception are printed on Monday, and the utilization efficiency of a picture memory 7 is not damaged on weekdays. In such a manner, communication contents of confidential reception are not always automatically erased from the picture memory 7 when one day elapses, and the time when they are erased can be set in accordance with the condition of a receiver. Thus, the receiver surely receives the confidential communication without affecting upon the utilization efficiency of the picture memory 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and particularly to a facsimile machine equipped with a confidential reception function.

(Prior Art) Confidential communication is used in facsimile communication when the sender wishes to inform only specific individuals of the communication content. When a sender sends a facsimile communication using confidential communication, the content of the communication is not printed immediately, but only a message indicating that it was received confidentially is printed, and a specific individual enters a pre-registered PIN number to save it to the image memory. You can print out the stored communication content.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) The capacity of the image memory built into a facsimile machine is limited, and if the image memory is occupied by confidential communication images for a long time, it may interfere with the sending and receiving functions. Become. Therefore, after one day has elapsed since a confidential reception was made, the accumulated contents of the image memory are automatically deleted and a non-delivery notification is returned to the sender in order to improve the efficiency of the image memory.

However, due to circumstances, the recipient may have to be away from the facsimile machine for a long time, and the contents of the communication could be automatically deleted without printing. If there is no delivery, re-communication is necessary, and non-delivery notifications are always delivered to the sender (
This was not always the case, and there were times when a communication movement occurred.

The problem could be solved by increasing the capacity of the image memory, but large-capacity memory elements are expensive, and it was not economical to install them only for confidential communication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus having a confidential reception function that can reliably transmit communication contents to a sender.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a facsimile machine having a confidential reception function, by making it possible to set a time for automatically erasing confidential reception contents stored in an image memory. Configured the device.

(Effects) Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the following effects are achieved.

According to the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, the contents of a confidentially received communication are not necessarily automatically deleted from the image memory after one day has passed, but the time for deletion can be set according to the recipient's circumstances.

Therefore, according to the facsimile device of the present invention, even if you are away from the facsimile device for a long period of time, you can set it so that automatic deletion does not occur until the time when you can use the facsimile device. You can ensure that the recipient is informed of the contents of the confidential communication, and if there are no special circumstances, you can set it to automatically delete it in one day as usual, so that it does not interfere with other functions of the facsimile machine. can do.

(Example) The illustrated embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of main parts of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

In the same figure, the control device l includes CPU2, ROM3, RA
M4, the program stored in ROM3 is RA
The data is read into M4 and sequentially executed by CPU 2 to control the facsimile machine.

5 is a code/decoder that encodes and decodes image signals, and 6 is a communication control device connected to a telephone line. 7
is an image memory that stores image signals, and 2 is used for boat fishing.
56 DRAM can store images of about 10 A4 sheets. 8 is a printer, 9 is an operation unit including a dial, and 10 is a display unit such as a liquid crystal screen.

First, the procedure for setting the number of days for automatic deletion will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

(Step 1) A person who wishes to set the number of days for automatic deletion operates the operation unit 9 to call up the function for changing the number of automatic deletion days.

(Step 2) A message appears on the display unit 10 asking whether the number of days for automatic deletion may be changed. If no changes are required, input the change and exit.

(Step 3) When changing, specify the number of days by operating the operation panel 9,
The specified number of days is stored in the RAM 4, and the setting is completed.

For example, if you receive a confidential reception on a Friday night at work, and the number of automatic deletion days is fixed to 1, the contents of the image memory 7 that received the confidential reception will be automatically deleted on Saturday night, and if you come to the office on Monday, the contents of the image memory 7 will be automatically deleted on Saturday night. I can't even know the contents. Furthermore, if the number of days is always fixed to 3 days, confidential communications can be received and received even in such cases, but on weekdays when sending and receiving are frequently performed, the contents of confidential communications occupy the image memory 7. Moreover, the usage efficiency of the image memory 7 deteriorates.

However, if you can change the number of days for automatic deletion as in this embodiment, for example, you can set it to automatically delete in one day from another day of the week to Thursday, and then automatically delete it in three days when you return from work on Friday. By changing the setting to erase, the contents of confidential reception can be printed on Mondays, and the image memory usage efficiency will not be impaired on weekdays.

Next, the operation of the facsimile machine when receiving a confidential communication will be explained with reference to FIG.

(Step 4) The line is connected when the calling party rings the bell.

(Step 5) Based on the code of the received signal, it is determined whether the communication is confidential or not. If the communication is not confidential, normal reception is performed.

(Step 6) If the communication is confidential, confidential reception is executed.

Specifically, the received contents are stored in the image memory 7 without being printed immediately, and the confidential address is also stored in the RAM 3.

(Step 7) The date and time when the communication content should be deleted from the image memory 7 is stored in the RAM 3 by referring to the number of days designated for automatic deletion stored in the RAM 3.
to be memorized.

(Step 8) The printer 8 prints a message indicating that the confidential reception has been received along with the addressee.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile machine after confidential reception.

(Step 9) The facsimile machine is in a standby state. In the standby state, if there is an incoming call or transmission, it can be executed immediately.

(Step 10) During the standby state, if the operating unit 9 is operated to print the contents of the confidential communication, the printer 8 prints out the communication. Specifically, the user calls up the confidential communication printing function and inputs the password.

(Step 11) If there is no key human power, it is counted whether the date and time at which the confidential communication should be deleted has been reached. If it has not been reached, the standby state continues.

(Step 12) When the deletion date and time has come, the contents of the confidential communication are automatically deleted from the image memory 7. Furthermore, the contents of confidential communications that have been printed out are automatically deleted. After automatic deletion, the standby state continues.

As described above, the facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment can reliably receive and receive confidential communications without affecting the usage efficiency of the image memory 7.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of essential parts of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the process of setting the automatic erasing date and time in the same embodiment, and FIG.
The figure is a flowchart showing the process of confidential reception, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process of printing confidential reception. l...control device, 2...CPU, 3...ROM,
4...RAM, 7...image memory, 8...printer, 9...operation section, 10...display section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A facsimile device having a confidential reception function, characterized in that a time period for automatically erasing confidential reception contents stored in an image memory can be set.