JPH04178062A - Facsimile adaptor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record a communication data onto a magnetic tape and to retrieve or print out a required document onto reception paper at a required time by providing an I/F circuit able to use a DAT form magnetic tape device as an external device between a communication line and a facsimile equipment. CONSTITUTION:When a command of magnetic tape reception of a DAT-MS device 7 is given by an input device 4, a controller 3 controls a changeover device 5 to form a loop comprising a signal detector 2, a MODEM circuit 8 in an I/F circuit 13 and a communication line 1. Then the controller 3 controls RAMs 9,10 storing tentatively a communication data from a facsimile equipment at a sender side to allow the device 7 to make reception to a magnetic tape via an SCSI circuit 12. When the device 4 is used to give a command of retrieval of the device 7, a communication data by one sheet each received at first and 2nd from the magnetic tape is stored tentatively in the RAMs 9,10, displayed on a display device 14 and printed out on reception paper as required. Thus, a required document is obtained as required and the device 7 is used for other purpose.

Description

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

[Conventional technology]

Facsimile machines are widely used as a means of sending and receiving documents between departments and companies. There are a wide variety of such devices, and some of them incorporate a recording/playback device or a telephone, and can store data received from the telephone or facsimile device on a recording device such as a tape recorder, regardless of whether it is a digital signal or an analog signal. Furthermore, the playback is performed on the stored i, and the identification of whether it is 77 digit data or voice is stored in the first recorded content, and the signal is detected and the playback content is transferred to either the telephone or facsimile device. It automatically determines whether to output the signal, and the playback signal is then sent to the telephone or 7-axis device.
This is the first time that a facsimile machine can print on received paper. Note that Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-242449 is cited as a related device of this type.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the conventional facsimile machine mentioned above. In Fig. 2, 1 is the telephone port II.
Communication lines such as i, 6 a facsimile machine, 15 a telephone, 61 a recording device built into the facsimile 6, and communication lines! The facsimile signals received via the facsimile machine 11 are mutually received by a modem provided in the facsimile machine 16, and the signals are recorded in the recording device 61.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Such conventional facsimile machines with a recording device incorporate a recording device such as a tape recorder into the same device, so (a) the voice sent from the communication line and the ! It only records the
Management between data is difficult. (b) Analog recording is rounded, making it impossible to retrieve data from an optical facsimile device at high speed; (C) The recording device must be a dedicated device; recording may be performed by connecting an external storage device such as a computer; There were problems such as not being able to send the documents created using the fax machine as is to the other party's facsimile machine.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a DAT-format magnetic tape device (hereinafter referred to as DAT-MS) used as an external storage device for computers.
The object of the present invention is to provide a means for using a 77kushimi') device as an external storage device. D
A'! '-M! 9 was developed as an external storage device for computers, and it is digitally recorded.Since the search information of 6 woodworkers is recorded together with the user data, the search speed is fast, and the storage capacity is small. It also has a large capacity of approximately 1 gigabyte per tape roll (60 m).

[Rounding method to solve the problem]

To achieve the above object, the present invention features a facsimile adapter device that is installed between a communication line and a facsimile device and has a built-in interface with a DAT-MS.

The facsimile adapter device is equipped with a communication data signal detection circuit similar to a facsimile device, which identifies it as a facsimile signal and sends this signal to the modem and DA'!
'-The facsimile signal is sent to DAT-M! through the interface circuit with the MS! Store in 3. A 5csx interface, which is a common interface for computer terminals, is provided as an interface with the DAT-MS.

By using 5C3I as the ear j'-7Ace for DAT-MS, Wi-Fi can be easily connected not only to DAT-MSa and this facsimile adapter device, but also to devices such as PCs.
! This makes it possible to use it not only for facsimile signals but also for regular data communications.

In the facsimile adapter device, DA'! '-M
By providing a switching device that can connect S and a facsimile machine, DA'! '-It is also possible to output and print the facsimile signal stored in the facsimile machine using the facsimile machine.

[Effect]

According to this, the 7-axis jlJ sent from the calling party
By operating the input device to input device communication data,
By selectively connecting the receiver's facsimile device and the interface circuit for recording on the magnetic tape of the DAT-MS by selecting one of them, the facsimile device records i&paper (document) and DA'! '-MS
With magnetic tape knowledge, each can be received.

Furthermore, since the contents of communication data recorded on the latter magnetic tape cannot be viewed as is, it can be searched by operating an input device, and if necessary as a document, it can be searched.
The searched data can be sent to a facsimile machine and output as a document on recording paper.

Also, by disconnecting the DAT-MS from the facsimile adapter device and connecting it to a converter, etc.,
Data from the combiner can be recorded on magnetic tape in normal use.

Furthermore, the recorded data (materials) can be sent directly to the other party using a facsimile adapter device.

In addition, by using the facsimile adapter device as described above, the DAT-MS can be used as a facsimile receiving terminal and as a storage device for a computer, etc.

Furthermore, although this involves changing the facsimile machine, it is also possible to expand the range of use of the DAT-M3 by allowing communication between the 7A/7M adapter device and the facsimile machine. The facsimile device and the facsimile adapter device are basically connected through the same communication line. Therefore, if the communication line is disconnected within the facsimile adapter device and a line connecting the modem in the facsimile device and the facsimile device is formed using a switching device, communication with a normal facsimile adapter device can be performed.

For this communication, the facsimile adapter device detects an abnormality in the facsimile device, and when the facsimile device is abnormal (e.g. out of paper), the switching device automatically connects the communication line to the DAT-MS. By doing so, it is possible to eliminate communication failures due to paper cuts, etc. This communication does not need to be performed all the time, and may be performed after the facsimile device receives the facsimile signal.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to pipe drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile adapter device equipped with this embodiment. Figure 1 #C, communication side 111
#i, caller) A telephone line or a dedicated communication line that sends the transmitted signal; a signal detection device 2 that detects when an incoming signal is sent; signal detection device 2;
The control device 3, which starts activation according to the input device 4 that specifies the receiving device, receives the recording paper (not shown) of the 7-axis device 6 or the DAT-118 device 7.
Decide whether to receive a magnetic tape (not shown), and the communication side! 11
Controls the switching device 5 that changes the connection to the . In addition, a modem circuit 8 is capable of transmitting and receiving tonal signals sent from a device (not shown) on the calling party's side and mutual communication of data, and a digital signal that is an output signal of the modem circuit 8 is recorded on a magnetic tape. DA' to record! '-M! Standardized SCSI circuit 12 that communicates with 9 devices, buffer RAMs 9 and 10 that temporarily store the 5C3I circuit 12O output signal among the output signals of the modem circuit 8, and operation timing of the modem circuit 8 and 5C8I circuit 12. A di-interface circuit 13 is constructed by a controller 11 that takes the following steps. In addition, a display device 14 records information on magnetic tape and displays the search for communication data, the number of received messages, etc., and a facsimile device (not shown) of the other party uses a factor device 6 to send documents to the other party. If the 7-axis dialing device 6 is of a manual dialing type, the telephone number of the communication line of the other party is dialed using the telephone set 15. In addition, if the facsimile device 6 is an automatic dialing system,
In many cases, a telephone is built into the facsimile machine 6, and in that case, the telephone 15 is not necessarily necessary, and the communication side I11 to be connected is a dial type, pusher 7
Either expression can be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed example of the switching device 5. The switching device 5 is composed of easily operable contacts (for example, relays, etc.), and the contacts 1a to 1c are used to connect the communication line to the facsimile. The contacts 2a to 2C are contacts for switching between the facsimile device 6 and the modem circuit 8 and selecting the facsimile device 6 and the modem circuit.

Contact operations in various operation modes will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

(A) The case of recording paper reception and document transmission by the facsimile device 6 will be explained.

When the input device 4 instructs the facsimile device 6 to receive recording paper using a switch type, touch type, tablet type, etc., the control device 3 makes a judgment and displays on the display device 14 a notification that the received paper has been received. 0 display device taFi,
It can be displayed using an LED lamp method, a liquid crystal method, or a cathode ray tube method. Further, the control device 3 controls the switching device 5, and controls the signal detection device 2 and the facsimile device 6.
Connect and communicate! Loop with 11 (communication times 1i
11-signal detection device 2-fixed contact 111-movable contact 1a
- Movable contact 2) - Fixed contact 2b - Facsimile device 6)
to form. After this, it's time for communication! When an incoming signal from 11 is received, the signal is detected by signal detection device 2. At the same time, the telephone (not shown) in the facsimile device 6 or the bell of the telephone 15 rings, and the facsimile device 6 starts outputting the received paper.

Further, in the one-contact configuration, a document can be sent by dialing the number of the destination facsimile device (using the telephone 15) and switching the facsimile device 6 from receiving operation to sending operation.

(B) The case of reception and transmission to the magnetic tape by the DAT-MS device 7 will be explained.

Input device 4! D. When the DAT-ms device 7 is instructed to receive a magnetic tape, the control device 3 determines that the display device 14
Inform the receiver that the receiver is receiving magnetic tape. Furthermore, the control device 6 controls the switching device 5, connects the signal detection device 2 and the modem circuit 8 in the interface circuit 13, and connects the communication line 1 in a loop (communication line 1-fixed contact 1b-
Movable contact 1a - movable contact 2 & - fixed contact 2C - modem circuit 5 - scsx circuit 12 - DA Q MS device 7) are formed. Thereafter, when an incoming signal from the communication line 1 is received, the signal detection device 2 starts activation. The control device 6 controls the controller 11 in the interface circuit 15 and instructs the modem circuit 8 to enter the reception mode. Accordingly, the modem circuits exchange tonal signals sent from the calling party's facsimile machine and mutually communicate data, and convert analog communication data into digital signals. The controller 11 stores this digital signal temporarily in a buffer RAM 9. 1o is controlled by B, and DA'f
'-M3 While timing the operation of the 5c31 circuit 12 that intercommunicates with the device 7), the interface circuit 13 outputs the DA'l'-M! 9 device 7 starts receiving operation to the magnetic tape.

Furthermore, by simply changing the operation setting of the modem circuit 8 from reception mode to transmission mode without changing the contact configuration, DA'
! -M! 9 Device 70 Data stored on a magnetic tape in a personal computer or the like can be transmitted to a facsimile machine of the other party.

(C) A case will be described in which the content of communication data received on the magnetic tape of the DAT-M3 device 7 is searched.

When the input device 4 is input and the DAT-S device 7 instructs the control device 3 to start a search operation, the control device 3 first displays a message indicating the start of search on the display device 14V. 5CSI circuit 1 of interface circuit 15
2, the first autumn's communication data received from the magnetic tape of the DA'F-MS device 7 is transferred to the RAM 9, and
The second received communication data for the September-Autumn equinox is temporarily stored in the RAM 10.

Furthermore, the data in the RAM 9 is read by the controller 11.
The information is sent to the control device 15, processed, and the searched contents are displayed on the display device 14). Again, the DAT-M8 device 7 receives the communication data of the ninth and autumnal equinox into the RAM.
9 is temporarily stored.

As a result, previously stored data in RAM 9 is erased. By repeating this operation, the searched contents can be displayed one after another on the display device 14.

(D) A case will be explained in which the contents of the retrieved communication data are output as a document on recording paper.

This is when the contents of the communication data temporarily stored in RAM9 or RAM10 are displayed on the display device 14.
The switching device 5 is controlled by the input device gL4 to the control device 3, and the loop (DAT-MS device 7, interface circuit 15, and facsimile device 6) is controlled.
$ device 7-9C3I circuit 12-modem circuit 8-fixed contact 1c-movable contact 1a-movable contact 2a-fixed contact 2b-facsimile device 6) are formed to instruct the modem circuit 8 to enter the transmission mode. Furthermore, the control device 3 sends the facsimile device 6 to: RAM? Alternatively, the contents of the data stored in the RAM 10 can be transmitted and the facsimile device 6 can be automatically output as a written Japanese document without any modification.

(B) Facsimile') A case where an abnormality (paper outage, etc.) occurs in the facsimile device 6 will be explained.

The facsimile machine 6 is activated by an incoming signal, ie, by a number of ringings (eg, typically two to four times). The signal detecting device 2 detects the number of incoming signals, the control device fi5 counts the number of times, and the control device fi5 monitors whether the 7-ac-7-jelly device 6 has entered the receiving operation of the received paper.

When the facsimile machine 6 cannot start receiving operation because there is no paper to receive, or when reception is not possible due to an abnormality in the receiving operation,
The control device 3 increases the number of incoming signals (for example, more than Miro)
When an abnormality in the axis device 6 is detected,
The control device 3 controls the switching device 5 to connect the signal detection device 2 and the O modem circuit 8 in the interface circuit 15, and also connects the signal detection device 2 to the O modem circuit 8 in the interface circuit 15, and connects the communication circuit 111 to the loop (communication circuit 11-signal detection device 2-fixed contact 1). ) - Movable contact 1a - Movable contact 2
a-Fixed contact 2C-Modem circuit 8-5C31 circuit 12-
A DAT-MS device 7) is formed.

Further, the modem circuit 8 is set to the reception mode, and the controller 11 automatically switches to the magnetic tape reception mode of the DAT-MS device 7 while interfacing with the 5csx circuit 12. At the same time, the control device 3 notifies the display device 14 that paper reception has been switched to magnetic tape reception, and displays that the facsimile device 6 is having poor reception.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, an interface circuit is provided between the communication line and the facsimile device to convert the signal into a signal that can be recorded on the magnetic tape of the facsimile device and the DAQ-MS device, and one of them is selected and the switching device operates the interface circuit. It is equipped with a device that connects to the communication line*, and the communication data that was conventionally output from the facsimile machine to the receiving paper can be transferred to DAT.
-Can be recorded on the magnetic tape of the MJ device, so
You can search for only the necessary documents at the required time, or output them to the received paper. Furthermore, depending on the communication data,
It does not necessarily have to be in writing, which also saves on the amount of paper received. Furthermore, when the facsimile device is set to receive, reception on the receiving paper of the facsimile device is naturally limited to the length of the receiving paper.

Therefore, when receiving magnetic tape, it is possible to receive several tens of times more sheets than when receiving paper.

Furthermore, the recording paper of the 7Axismi IJ device is being received! , send the DAT-MS device to facsimile 7 F 7'
It can be used as an external storage device by cutting it out as an external storage device or folding it into another converter.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile adapter according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional facsimile machine, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a method of controlling the switching device 5. be. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Communication line, 2... Signal detection device, 3... Control device, 4... Input device, 5... Switching device, 6...
・7Aximi') device, 7...DAT-MS device, 8
Modem circuit for 9.10=RAli111-ynt o-
12...5csxa path, 15...interface circuit, 14...display device, 15...telephone, 1
6...Facsimile adapter device, 61...Bell sound device built into facsimile device 6, 1a...Movable contact, 1b...Fixed contact, 1C...Fixed contact, 2a...
- Movable contact, 2b...fixed contact, 2C...fixed contact. one two~.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A signal detection device for communication data from a calling party through a communication line, and a signal detection device for connecting the communication data to an external facsimile device or an interface circuit for an external data storage device. It consists of a switching device that performs switching, a control device that controls the switching device and the interface circuit, an input device to the control device, and a display device, and includes a built-in SCSI interface as an interface with the magnetic tape device, and a A facsimile adapter device, wherein the facsimile adapter device is connected to the facsimile device so that the magnetic tape device can be used as an external storage device for the facsimile device. 2. The facsimile adapter device according to claim 1, having a function of detecting the operating state of the facsimile device using a signal line connecting the facsimile device and the facsimile adapter device. 3. The facsimile adapter according to claim 1, wherein communication data is automatically recorded on a magnetic tape device connected to the facsimile adapter device when an abnormality in the facsimile device is detected. 4. The facsimile adapter device according to claim 1, wherein the various kinds of communication data recorded on the magnetic tape device are transmitted to the other party through a communication line. 5. The facsimile adapter device according to claim 1, wherein the contents of communication data recorded in the external storage device are output and printed on the facsimile device connected to the facsimile adapter device.