JPH04346559A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output the communication control report of a facsimile equipment having plural communication channels in an optional form, e.g. in the order of reception time, the types of channels, etc., in accordance with the needs of users. CONSTITUTION:A facsimile equipment 1 connected to plural circuits contains plural communication control units CCU 3 which are connected to a system control unit 4. The input information are sorted according to the order of reception time, the types of communication channels, the types of connected circuits, etc. A user can select his desired information by pushing key of an operation unit 7 and then outputs the information as a communication control report through a plotter 2.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having a plurality of communication channels that can output a communication management report in any format according to a user's request.

0002

[Prior Art] In a type of facsimile machine that has multiple communication channels, since the multiple communication channels share one printer output device, the reception of information is temporarily stored and accumulated in a large-capacity memory, etc. We use the so-called store-and-away method, in which the information is downloaded and then printed out. In this type of facsimile machine, when recording communication information, the order in which communication information is logged is not the time when reception started, but the time when reception was completed. In particular, in the case of a device that accommodates both G3 and G4 lines, the communication speeds of the two are quite different, so the time when reception starts and the time when reception ends The gap was getting bigger.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] In the communication management report that is output, the important information for the user is the time when reception started, so if the logging is based on the time when reception is completed, the reception time There was a problem in that the information was displayed one after the other, making it difficult to use as information. Additionally, facsimile machines with multiple communication channels
The amount of information received usually increases in proportion to the number of lines. In this case, if all of this reception information were provided as a communication management report, unnecessary records would be displayed for the user. In addition, the content was complicated and the report was difficult to read. Furthermore, there are various ways in which communication management reports are actually used, depending on the user's purpose of use, usage environment, etc. In such cases, the communication management report is output only in a predetermined format without corresponding to each user's usage style. As a result, the report was not very useful to users.

[0004] Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a device that sorts and outputs communication management reports of facsimile machines having a plurality of communication channels according to the time when reception actually starts. shall be. A second object of the present invention is to provide a device that outputs a communication management report for a facsimile machine having a plurality of communication channels by organizing information for each channel. A third object of the present invention is to organize and output a communication management report for a facsimile machine having multiple communication channels by classifying the types of communication lines connected to the channels, such as ISDN, PSTN, DDX, etc. The purpose is to provide equipment. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a device that outputs only the necessary information corresponding to the purpose of use of a facsimile device, which is a communication management report of a facsimile device having a plurality of communication channels.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the invention as claimed in claim 1, in a facsimile machine having a plurality of communication channels, when a communication management report is created and outputted from communication record information, files to be written in the communication management report are The first object is achieved by providing means for sorting the order according to the reception time of each file. Claim 2
In the described invention, when creating and outputting a communication management report from communication record information in a facsimile apparatus having a plurality of communication channels, the facsimile apparatus is provided with means for sorting files to be written in the communication management report by each communication channel. The second objective is achieved. In the invention as claimed in claim 3, in a facsimile machine having a plurality of communication channels, when creating and outputting a communication management report from communication record information, a file to be written in the communication management report is created and output by a line connected to each communication channel. The third objective is achieved by providing means for sorting by type. In the invention according to claim 4, in a facsimile machine having a plurality of communication channels, the communication management report output format of the communication record information is arbitrarily selected by an operation switch, an internal software switch, or a hardware switch. The fourth objective is achieved by outputting .

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. 1 and 2 are block diagrams of a facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention. This facsimile device 1 accommodates a plurality of communication control units (CCU) 3 regardless of the type of line 20 to which it is connected. In this facsimile machine 1, a plurality of CCUs 3 share one plotter 2, and therefore a hard disk 5 is provided for storage memory of received files. In addition, the system control unit (SCU)
) 4 is a system internal software switch that can be backed up by a battery, communication contents and communication log (
It has a memory 6 that sequentially stores communication record information). Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be explained.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, a communication log (
communication record information) and store it in the hard disk 5 or battery-backed memory 6. Then, when the user's operation instructs the OPU (operation unit) 7 to output a communication management report, or if other output conditions are set, if the conditions are met, the software is The communication log is developed into image information, and the plotter 2 outputs it as a communication management report.

All operations of this device are controlled by software within the SCU 4. Specifically, ■When taking communication log information, it includes file information such as sending/receiving time, sending/receiving channel number, and CCU connection line 2.
Create it by entering the type 0 (Figure 3). ■On the operation unit (OPU) 7 of the facsimile machine 1, there is a
As shown in Figure 2, keys are provided for "Reception time sort output" 10, "Output by channel" 11, and "Output by line type" 12 to specify the format when outputting the communication management report. The output format of a report can be specified arbitrarily by key input. Reception time sort key 1
By pressing 0, the files are arranged in the order of reception time in the order of file output when outputting the communication management report. When the channel-by-channel output key 11 is pressed, a channel-by-channel communication management report is output. The line type output key 12 outputs a communication management report for each type of line connected by key input. Sort the log files again based on the format specified in ■■, or separate them and configure new log files for each channel or type of connected communication line 20, and output them as print files to the plotter 2. . The communication management report is output by keying in the communication management report output key 13.

[0009] Sorting of each information is executed by software inside the SCU 4, and at this time, various information included in the communication log information is used for sorting. FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of processing inside the SCU 4 in this embodiment. First, specify whether to output for each channel (step 1). This designation is determined by the state of a switch on the OPU 7 or a memory switch inside the system. Here, if you want to output by channel (step 1;
Y) sorts information by channel (step 2)
. Note that if the channels are designated by channel, there is no possibility that the reception times will change, so there is no need to rearrange them in the order of reception time.

[0010] If output is not specified for each channel (step 1; N), it is determined whether output is specified in order of reception time (step 3). When specifying output in order of reception time (step 3; Y), sorting is performed according to reception time (step 4). Next, it is determined whether output is specified for the connected communication line type (step 5). When specifying output for line type (Step 5; Y
) are sorted by reception line type (step 6). After that, a print file is created (step 7) and printed out (step 8), and the process ends. By channel,
If the communication line type is specified, reports will be output for the number of channels or communication line types.

[0011] Figures 5, 6, and 7 are output examples of communication management reports created by sorting information.
．． A specific example of a communication management report is shown in order a, by reception time b, by channel c, and by communication line type d. In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was explained in which the output format when outputting a communication management report is determined based on the key status on the operation panel, but when actually used by a user, the usage format depends to some extent on the purpose of the report. becomes fixed. Therefore, in a system like the one shown in Figure 8, it is possible to expand the software into memory as an internal switch, and refer to this when outputting a communication management report to determine the output format. be. This internal switch is connected to the battery-backed IC in SCU4.
Expand it on memory 8 or hard disk 5 and turn on the power.
Even if it becomes FF, the stored contents are protected, and the contents can be changed from the operation panel by certain operations.

0012

According to the invention as set forth in claim 1, when outputting a communication management report, it is sorted again according to the transmission start time and printed out. Therefore, even when communicating using multiple communication channels with different communication speeds, the reception times are not recorded one after the other, making it possible to provide a communication management report that is very easy for the user to view. . In the invention as claimed in claim 2, since a communication management report is output for each channel used, reception times are not displayed one after another, and the usage status of each channel can be easily grasped. Reports can be provided. In the invention as claimed in claim 3, since a communication management report is output for each type of communication line being used (for example, ISDN, PSTN, DDX), it is possible to output a communication management report that allows easy recognition of the usage status of each used line. can be provided. In the invention as claimed in claim 4, the output format of the communication management report can be arbitrarily changed and output in combination by a simple key operation by the user, and the communication management report is provided in a format that best suits the needs of the user. be able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a log file information storage method.

FIG. 4 shows a specific example of file operations received from each line.

FIG. 5 is an output example of a communication management report created by sorting information.

FIG. 6 is an output example of a communication management report created by sorting information.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the operation panel of the facsimile machine of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an example of report output format allocation using internal software switches.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of processing inside a system control unit (SCU) in an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Facsimile machine 2 Plotter 3 Communication control unit (CCU) 4 System control unit (SCU) 5 Hard disk 6 Memory 7 Operation unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In a facsimile machine having a plurality of communication channels, when creating and outputting a communication management report from communication record information, means for sorting the order of files to be written in the communication management report according to the reception time of each file. A facsimile device comprising: 2. In a facsimile device having a plurality of communication channels, when creating and outputting a communication management report from communication record information, the facsimile apparatus is provided with means for sorting files to be written in the communication management report by each communication channel. A facsimile machine with special features. 3. In a facsimile machine having multiple communication channels, when creating and outputting a communication management report from communication record information, files to be written in the communication management report are created for each type of line connected to each communication channel. A facsimile machine characterized by comprising means for sorting. 4. In the facsimile machine according to claim 1, 2 or 3, the communication management report output format of the communication record information is arbitrarily selected by an operation switch, an internal software switch or a hardware switch. A facsimile device characterized by outputting.