JPH04277969A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send a document data generated by a wordprocessor or the like without printing out the data by providing a character code input means and a picture data conversion means converting the document data in character codes into a picture data to the facsimile equipment. CONSTITUTION:A character data input section 6 has a floppy drive reading, e.g. a floppy disk. A control information identification section 11 identifies control information from character codes inputted from the character data input section 6 by using a control code as a key and stores the information to a RAM 5. The character and the symbol as the document data are stored in a RAM 5. A telephone number, a transmission designation time and a confidential communication are the control information. The character and the symbol stored in the RAM 5 are converted into a picture data by a character generator 8 and stored in an original storage section 7. A recording section 10 prints out the stored picture data as a picture and sends the data.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine that can transmit document data created by a computer, word processor, etc. based on character codes.

0002

[Prior Art] Facsimile machines are internationally standardized and can be used wherever telephones can be reached, both domestically and internationally.
It can be used to communicate regardless of characters or fonts, making it extremely useful. However, since the communication involves optically reading the image data, reading errors cannot be avoided, and additional reading time is required, such as binary processing of the read data.

[0003] On the other hand, computers and word processors have the great feature of classifying destination, content, date and time, sender, etc., and storing them on floppy disks, allowing them to retrieve and process large amounts of necessary documents at any time. In so-called personal computer communication, it is possible to classify devices by destination, content, etc., and then connect them to a line and communicate using just a key. However, it is not as universal as facsimile, and has the restriction that it can only be used by registered recipients in a specific group.

[0004] Therefore, when communicating document data created with a computer or word processor by facsimile, there is a problem that it cannot be sent unless it is printed out first, which not only requires time and effort for printing, but also reduces image quality. I can't.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device that can directly send document data created by a computer or word processor by facsimile. The purpose is to

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a facsimile machine including a character code input means for inputting a character code consisting of a control code, control information, and document data, and a character code input means for inputting a character code consisting of a control code, control information, and document data, and identifying a control code in the character code. control code identification means; control information identification means for identifying control information in the character code using the control code as a key; image data conversion means for converting at least document data in the character code into image data; The present invention is characterized in that it includes a transmitting means for transmitting data based on the control information.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a line, 2 is a line control unit, 3 is a dial unit, 4 is a ROM that stores programs and fixed information, 5 is a RAM, 6 is a character data input unit, 7 is a manuscript storage unit, and 8 is a character generator , 9 is a document reading section, 10 is a recording section, 11 is a control information identification section, 12 is an operation section, 13 is a display section, and 14 is a main control section (CPU) in charge of overall control of these sections. The manuscript storage section 7 is R
AM5 may also be used.

[0008] The line control section 2 connects to the line 1 in response to a call from the dial section 3. The dial section 3 is equipped with an automatic dialing function, such as a telephone number from a pre-stored one-touch dial or speed dial, or a telephone number identified by the control information identification section 11. The document reading section 9 reads the document set in the facsimile machine as image data, and based on the selection of the operation mode from the operation section 12, it can transmit the data at the same time as the reading or store the read data in the document memory. It is also possible to transmit the information after storing it in the unit 7. In this embodiment, the character data input section 6 has a floppy drive for reading a floppy disk (FD), and reads character code data recorded on the FD. When reading, the file name may be displayed on the display section 13 and selected using the operation section 12, or the file name or file number, etc. may be entered from the operation section 12 to select the file. It's okay. The character data input section 6 is not limited to an FD, and any suitable input means such as an HD or an IC card can be used. If it is large, it may have a built-in word processing function so that character codes can be entered. The control information identification unit 11 identifies control information using the control code as a key from among the character codes input from the character data input unit 6, stores it in the RAM 5, and stores it in the CP
It is executed under the control of U14.

When an FD is used, it is set in the FD drive of the facsimile machine, and when the contents are read, the control code and control information, which will be described later, are identified by the control information identification unit 11 and stored in the RAM 5 as control signals. is memorized. Characters and symbols as document data are also stored in the RAM 5. The stored characters and symbols are converted into pixel-by-pixel image data using a font determined by the character generator 8, and then stored in the document storage section 7. The stored image data can be directly printed out as an image by the recording section 10 or transmitted. The content read by the character data input section 6 can be confirmed on the display section 13.

A method for identifying control codes and control information will be explained. In this embodiment, a Shift JIS file was used as the character code. The control information is surrounded by a control code, and the control code uses "<" at the beginning and ">" at the end. Of course, other symbols may be used, but it is preferable that symbols decided to be used as control codes are not used in the document data. Therefore, in this example, the control information is input in the form of "<...>>" between the control codes.

[0011] Three types of control information will be explained: a telephone number, a designated transmission time, and a confidential communication. telephone number is,
For example, "<03-3123-4567>" is input, and the designated transmission time is entered as "<13:31>". Delimiters such as "-" and ":" may not be input, or if the first code is a numeric code, codes other than the numeric code may be ignored and skipped. Confidential communication is "Confidential" or
Specific symbols such as "<<*>>>" can be used. When the control information identification unit 11 reads the control codes "<" and ">>", the control information identification unit 11 identifies the control information according to the content thereof. If the first number is a number, you can tell that it is a phone number or a designated sending time. In this embodiment, the distinction between the two is determined by the number of digits. That is, if it is 5 digits or less, it is the designated transmission time, and if it is 6 digits or more, it is recognized as a telephone number. When identifying by the number of digits, a one-digit or two-digit numerical code may be used for control information such as confidential communication. For example, the confidential communication may be set as "<04>>". If multiple telephone numbers are entered, broadcast transmission can be performed.

Other identification methods include "-" and ":
”, and in the case of numeric data,
If "-" is present, it may be a telephone number, and if ":" is present, it may be a designated transmission time.

[0013] In order to make the input screen of a word processor or the like easier to understand, it may be combined with a character code indicating the content, such as "<Telephone 03-3123-4567>".

[0014] The control codes are not limited to those described above, but include specifying the line break width when converting character data to image data by the character generator 8, specifying vertical and horizontal writing, and allowing the character generator 8 to have multiple fonts. , specifying the font, a copy command for printing out input character code data, a call request, and other control information can be included as appropriate.

[0015] In order to create such document data including control information using a word processor or the like, the control information is input in the format described above at the beginning, and then normal document data is input. be able to. If the first page is a command page, there is no control information at the top of the document data, which has the advantage of making it easier to determine the format of the transmission status. Although it is possible to create a separate file for the control information, there is a risk that the generality of the word processor format will be lost. Furthermore, the control information does not necessarily need to be placed at the beginning. Even if it is input in the middle or at the end, it can be distinguished from document data by the control code.

Each character code of the read document data is determined by the address located on the page (this is referred to as a macro address) as a row or column, and the image data converted by the character generator 8 is It is stored at the corresponding macro address in the document storage section 7. The character generator 8 converts the entire page into image data and stores it in the manuscript storage section 7. The entire page is converted into image data, such as storing macro addresses where there is no image data as a "white" image. Control information may also be transmitted as image data.

The image data may be stored after data compression is performed by MR/MH encoding or the like as soon as one macro address line (character line) is converted.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the control information is input at the beginning. The flow starts by inserting the FD into the FD drive of the facsimile machine. In Step 1, a file is specified, and in Step 2, reading of character codes from the specified file is started. In Step 3, when the control information identification unit 11 identifies the control code sandwiched between "<<>>" at the beginning of the document, the process proceeds to Step 4, decodes the control code, and stores the command of the control information in Step 5. Next, the process loops to Step 2 to read the next character code, but if control information continues, commands are stored in the same flow. When the reading of the control information is completed, the process moves from Step 3 to Step 6.
The document data read in step p2 is stored, and upon completion of the storage, the process advances to step 7 and the stored command is executed. If there is a specification for time-specified transmission, copying, memory, etc., each procedure is proceeded according to the specification.

Note that it is also possible to read a plurality of files in succession. Control information such as destination is also read for each file, and the file can be sent to a predetermined destination. You can also record sent information on the FD.
It is also useful for management.

Since FDs, IC cards, etc. can be written to and read from, the document input section 6 can be used not only for inputting as described above, but also for reading image data received by facsimile or reading from the original reading section 9. It can also be used to store encoded image data.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a facsimile machine that can directly send document data created by a computer or a word processor by facsimile according to input control information. This method has the effect of allowing high-quality documents to be sent without the need for printing or other effort.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the facsimile machine of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Line 3 Dial section 6 Character data input section 7 Manuscript storage section 8 Character generator 11 Control information identification section 12 Operation section 14 Main control unit (CPU)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Character code input means for inputting a character code consisting of a control code, control information, and document data; control code identification means for identifying a control code in the character code; control information identification means for identifying control information in the character code; image data conversion means for converting at least document data in the character code into image data; and transmission means for transmitting the image data based on the control information. A facsimile device comprising: