JPH0478257A - Video telephone terminal set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To receive a facsimile picture without interruption of talking by a video phone call by storing a facsimile picture received through a telephone line network different from a specific telephone line network and supplying the picture to a print means when an operation means is operated afterward. CONSTITUTION:A video telephone terminal set is connected to an opposite video telephone terminal set 3 via a digital line network 2. Upon the receipt of a facsimile picture via an analog telephone line network, a facsimile equipment 35a picture data corresponding to a facsimile picture is stored once in a hard disk device 35 together with a date data obtained from a real time clock 33 and the display or the like of a specific picture data is commanded by using a date data as a keyword via a coordinate input device 13, a relevant picture data is read from the device 35 and stored tentatively in a VRAM 31 and a video signal based on the picture data in the VRAM 31 is outputted on a printer 36.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention is capable of communicating with each other through a digital telephone line network and transmitting and receiving moving or still images of people, calligraphy, etc. This invention relates to a videophone terminal device that can be used.

"Prior Art" In recent years, various videophone terminal devices have been developed that are equipped with a video and still image transmission function in addition to the voice transmission function of a normal telephone. In this case, the videophone terminal device includes, in addition to audio signal circuits such as the handset and voice control device used for audio input and output during calls, a camera for taking self-portraits, and documents placed on the table. The document camera that takes the document image, the other party's image transmitted from the other party's terminal (the other party's videophone terminal device), and each image taken by the person camera and document camera of the own terminal (your videophone terminal device). A video signal system circuit consisting of a display CRT monitor, etc. is provided, and a transmission system circuit compresses and encodes the video signal, multiplexes it with audio signals and various data, and transmits it to the digital telephone line network. A cooperating device or the like is provided for transmitting the data to the other party's terminal via the terminal. This allows both parties to talk while looking at the other party's face displayed on their own terminal's monitor screen, making the conversation feel as if they were actually talking face-to-face with the other party.

``A problem to be solved by an invention'' By the way, is there any plan to introduce the above-mentioned videophone terminal device for communication between specific employees within a company? By adding a function to transmit facsimile images of documents, etc., one device can be used as both a videophone terminal device and a facsimile device, making it effective in limited office space. It can be used for. However, if you simply combine a videophone terminal device and a facsimile device, if a facsimile image is transmitted from another third party during a videophone call, the transmission may not be received or the facsimile image may not be received. There was a problem with having to interrupt a telephone call.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a videophone terminal device that can receive facsimile images without interrupting a videophone call.

[Means for Solving the Problems] This invention transmits an image taken by the own terminal to the other party's terminal via a specific telephone line network, and also transmits the image from the other party's terminal via the specified telephone line network. facsimile receiving means for receiving a facsimile image via a telephone line network different from the specific telephone line network and outputting image data corresponding to the received facsimile image; , storage means for storing image data output from the facsimile receiving means, printing means for printing a facsimile image based on the image data read from the storage means, and operation means for instructing printing of the facsimile image; When the facsimile receiving means receives a facsimile image, the image data output from the facsimile receiving means is stored in the storage means, and thereafter, when the operating means is operated, the image data is stored in the storage means. The apparatus is characterized by comprising a control means for reading out the facsimile image and supplying it to the printing means to print a facsimile image.

"Operation" According to the above-described configuration, when the facsimile receiving means receives a facsimile image, the image data output from the facsimile receiving means is stored in the storage means,
Thereafter, when the operation means is operated, the image data is read out from the storage means and the facsimile image is printed by the printing means. Even if there is a transmission of a facsimile image, it is possible to receive the facsimile image without interrupting the videophone call.

"Embodiments" Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a videophone terminal device II according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this figure, a videophone terminal device 1 is connected to a videophone terminal device 3 of the other party via a digital line network 2. For convenience of explanation, one's own videophone terminal device 1 will be abbreviated as the own terminal, and the other party's videophone terminal device 3 will be abbreviated as the other party's terminal.

Here, the external configuration of the own terminal] and the other party's terminal 3 is
As shown in the figure, 4 is a terminal device body, 5 is a handset, 6 is a portrait camera, 7 is a document camera, and 8 is an operation board.

The handset 5 corresponds to a receiver of a general telephone, and is placed on the operation board 8 when not talking. It is used to input and output audio during a call, and is provided with a microphone 9, a speaker 10, and a hook switch 11, as shown in FIG. The person camera 6 is for taking a self-portrait of the person making the call, and is attached to the upper end of the terminal device main body 4. The document camera 7 is for photographing images of documents, drawings, etc. placed on a tabletop, and is supported via an arm mechanism 12 attached to the side surface of the terminal device main body 4 so as to be vertically movable. Both the portrait camera 6 and the document camera 7 are small CO
It is composed of a D camera. The operation board 8 is a coordinate input device with a display function, and is a transparent plate that outputs coordinate data corresponding to the pressed position based on the change in capacitance of the pressed part with the tip of the ben 15. A perspective type coordinate input device W (a tablet 0 and a liquid crystal display device II are provided in a state where they are superimposed on each other).

Next, in the terminal device body 4 (Fig. 1), 20 performs data compression and encoding of the analog video signal and audio signal, multiplexes it with various data, converts it into a 64 kbps digital signal, and sends it to the digital telephone. It is a copier that transmits to the other party's terminal 3 via the line network 2, and has the function of decoding the digital signal transmitted from the other party's terminal 3 into the original analog video signal and audio signal, and converting moving images into one
It also has the function of storing the screen image and transmitting it as a still image, and these functions are controlled by the control signal C1.

21 is an audio control circuit that switches input/output combinations of various audio signals based on the control signal C2, and connects the microphone 9 and speaker 10 in the handset 5, the hands-free microphone 22 and speaker 23, and the co-op 20. Audio signals relating to phone calls are exchanged between the two terminals, and audio signals relating to general television broadcasting supplied from a television tuner 24 (described later) to a monitor speaker 24a are input.

The television tuner 24 receives general television broadcasts supplied via a coaxial cable of a CATV (cable television) network, and outputs audio and video signals of the reception channel specified by the control signal C3. .

25 is connected to its input terminal r, ~ based on the control signal C4.
■Various video signals supplied to the output terminals OI~
0. This is a switcher that distributes and outputs to each of the following. In this case, input terminal 1. A video image signal is inputted to the input terminal 3 through the external video input terminal Tin, a document image signal outputted from the document camera 7 is inputted to the input terminal 3, and a document image signal outputted from the portrait camera 6 is inputted to the input terminal 3. A human video signal is input, and a composite video signal output from a superimpose circuit 29, which will be described later, is input to input terminal 4.
A decoded video signal output from the copier 20 and transmitted from the other party's terminal 3 is input to the input terminal ■, and a reproduced video signal output from the image recording and reproducing device 26, which will be described later, is input to the input terminal ■. A television video signal output from the television tuner 24 is input to the input terminal 7, and a video signal related to a facsimile image output from a controller 30, which will be described later, is input to the input terminal 7. Also, output terminal 0. The video signal output from 0. is supplied to the video output terminal T out, and the video signal output from the output terminal 0. The video signal output from output terminal 03 is supplied to the picture-in-picture circuit 27, the video signal output from output terminal 04 is supplied to the superimpose circuit 29, and the video signal output from output terminal 05 is supplied to the picture-in-picture circuit 27. 20, and the video signal output from the output terminal 01 is supplied to the image recording/reproducing device [26].

The image recording/reproducing device 26 is constituted by a rewritable optical disk device whose recording/recording/reproducing operations are controlled by a control signal C6. And when recording,
The supplied analog video signal for one screen is sequentially converted into digital image data, written to a specified area on the optical disk, and during playback, the data is read from the specified area on the optical disk. Converts a screen's worth of image data to the original analog video signal and outputs it. In this case, the area on the optical disk where image data is written and the area from which it is read can be arbitrarily designated by the control signal C5.

The picture-in-picture circuit 27 is connected to the CRT monitor 2
This is a circuit for simultaneously displaying two large and small screens on the display screen of No. 8, and a small screen 28b is fitted into a part of the large screen 28a and displayed. The CRT monitor 28 is for displaying the other party's image transmitted from the other party's terminal 3 and the self-portrait and document image taken by the person camera 6 and document camera 7 of the own terminal 1. The superimpose circuit 29 is a circuit for synthesizing the computer video signal output from the controller 30 and various video signals supplied via the switcher 25, and the superimpose circuit 29 outputs The composite video signal is supplied to the liquid crystal display device 14 provided on the operation board 8 and the input terminal 4 of the switcher 25.

The controller 30 controls the operation of each part of the terminal device, and stores a CPU (central processing unit W) and various programs used in this CPU), a memory used as a work area, and a plurality of double-sided sections. A VRAM (video RAM) 31 that stores image data of
A video signal (for example, a video signal related to a facsimile image, etc.) based on the image data read out from the RAM 31
The microcomputer system consists of a display controller that outputs data, a battery-backed real-time clock 33 that generates date and time data corresponding to the current date and time, and a microcomputer system that includes various input/output interfaces. Control signals C8 to C are supplied to each section, respectively.

Further, in the figure, reference numeral 32 is a handwriting input recognition device,
When a character is written in the handwriting area on the coordinate input device R13 with the tip of the ben 15 (FIG. 2) and the coordinate data corresponding to the character is sequentially supplied to the controller 30,
The input character is recognized based on the coordinate data output from the controller 30, and the recognized character code is output to the controller 30. 35 is a hard disk device that stores data processed by the controller 30 (for example, image data related to facsimile images, etc.); 36 is a printer that prints out the data processed by the controller 30; 37 is a device that scans documents, etc.; This is an image scanner that converts the image data, which is grayscale information, and supplies it to the controller 30. Also, 38
is a facsimile device that transmits and receives facsimile images via an analog telephone line network different from the Dinotal telephone line network 2, and supplies image data corresponding to the received facsimile image to the controller 30, and also transmits and receives data from the controller 30. The image data corresponding to the facsimile image to be sent is transmitted to the other party's facsimile image via an analog telephone line.

When the facsimile device 35 receives a facsimile image, the controller 30 temporarily stores the image data corresponding to the facsimile image in the hard disk device 35 along with the date and time data obtained from the real-time clock 33, and then 13, when a display curtain of specific image data is instructed using date and time data as a keyword, the corresponding image data is read from the hard disk device 35 and temporarily stored in the VRAM 31,
The display controller is caused to output a video signal based on the image data in the VRAM 31. Further, the switcher 25 is switched so that the video signal regarding this facsimile image is supplied to the CRT monitor 28.

Next, regarding the operation of the videophone terminal device according to the above-described embodiment, the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 and
This will be explained with reference to the liquid crystal display screens shown in FIGS. 6 to 11.

First, when the power is turned on, the controller 30
After initializing each part in step SPI shown in the figure, the process proceeds to step SP2, and the menu screen G! shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14 of the operation board 8. Display. In this case, the controller 30 supplies a computer video signal for displaying the menu screen Gl to the liquid crystal display device 14 via the superimpose circuit 29.

Here, the tip of the pen 15 is selected from among the various operation modes of "Telephone", "Telephone Book", "Drawing/Wave o--TV", and "FAX+" displayed at the upper left corner of the menu screen G1. When "telephone" is pressed, the coordinate data of the pressed part is supplied from the coordinate input device 13 to the controller 30, and each operation mode is designated.In other words, when "telephone" is pressed, the process advances from step SP3 to step SP4. It enters videophone mode to make a videophone call with the other party's terminal 3.
If the phonebook button is pressed, the process advances from step SP5 to step SP6, where the phonebook mode is entered for searching and editing (registering, changing, deleting) the phonebook, and the process proceeds to the next step SP7.
“Menu” shown outside the LCD screen
The phone book mode continues until it is determined that has been pressed. “If Draw/Word Processor” is pressed, step S
Proceeding from P8 to step SP9, the mode enters a drawing/word processing mode for drawing by handwriting input operation, and creating and searching materials using the handwriting input identification bag [32], and in the next step 5PIO, "menu" is pressed. The drawing/word processing mode continues until it is determined that the
The process advances to +2 and enters the TV reception mode for receiving general TV broadcasts, and continues in the TV reception mode until it is determined in the next step 5P13 that "CLEAR" or "MENU" has been pressed. "FAX" has been pressed. 1. Proceeds from step 5P14 to step 5P15, enters the FAX mode to display and print out the received facsimile image, and create a facsimile image to be sent, and then "clear" in the next step 5P16.
This mode continues until it is determined that the "menu" button has been pressed. If none of these operating modes is specified, the process returns from step 5P17 to step SP2 unless the power is turned off.

Here, the operation in the videophone mode in step SP4 will be explained. In this case, it is assumed that a button (not shown) has been pressed and a line between the own terminal 1 and the other party's terminal 3 has been secured.

In this state, the controller 30 executes each process shown in FIG. 4. That is, in step 5P20, the co-op 20 is initialized, and then in step 5P21, the switcher 25 is switched in order to make a person-to-person call, which is a normal videophone call. In this case, a video signal of a self-portrait photographed by the person camera 6 is supplied to one input terminal of the copier 20 and the picture-in-picture circuit 27, while a video signal of the other party's image (transmitted from the other party's terminal 3) decoded by the copier 20 is image)
The switcher 25 is switched so that the video signal is supplied to the other input terminal of the picture-in-picture circuit 27. As a result, the other party's image is displayed on the large screen 28m of the CRT monitor 28, and a part of the small screen 2 of this large screen 28a is displayed.
A self-portrait is displayed at 8b.

Next, in step 5P22, the controller 30 executes each process of drawing/word processing mode, and thereby,
A drawing screen G2 shown in FIG. tJ7 is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14.

Here, operation marks M1-M7 are shown outside the liquid crystal display screen on the left side of the coordinate input device 13 shown in FIG. 7, which are pressed when instructing various operations in the videophone mode.

The operation mark M1 is pressed when making a call using the handset 5, and when this mark M1 is pressed, the microphone 9 and the speaker 10 in the handset 5 become effective. The operation mark M2 is for activating the microphone 22 and speaker 23 for the hand-free phone.
3 is for specifying a person-to-person call in step 5P21.

Further, the operation mark M4 is for specifying a calligraphy call, and when this is pressed, the process proceeds from step 5P23 to step 5P24 shown in FIG. 4, and the switcher 25 is switched in order to make a call.

In this case, the controller 30 supplies the video signal of the document or drawing on the table taken by the document camera 7 to the superimpose circuit 29, and the video signal of the other party's image decoded by the copier 20 and the superimpose circuit 29.
A switcher is provided so that the composite video signal output from the superimpose circuit 29 is supplied to two input terminals of the picture-in-picture circuit 27, and the composite video signal output from the superimpose circuit 29 is supplied to the copier 20. 2
Switch 5. Also, picture-ii-picture circuit 2
7, the size relationship of the composite screen is swapped,
Images such as documents and drawings are displayed on the large screen 2 of the CRT monitor 28.
8a, a part of the small screen 28 of this large screen 28a
The other party's image is displayed in b.

Further, the video signal synthesized by the superimpose circuit 29 is supplied to the liquid crystal display device 14, and the display screen displays a document image S (of a design drawing, for example) captured by the document camera 6, as shown in FIG. and a computer image B based on the image data written into the VRAM 31 of the controller 30 by manual operation.5. B and y are displayed overlapping each other. That is, when a figure is drawn on the coordinate input device 13 of the operation board 8 with the pen 15, coordinate data corresponding to the figure is sequentially supplied to the controller 30. Then, the controller 30 creates image data corresponding to the input figure based on the sequentially supplied coordinate data, writes it into the VRAM 31, and outputs a video signal for displaying the figure. As a result, the computer image B1 shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display bag [14. In this case, the composite video signal output from the superimpose circuit 29 is also sent to the other party's terminal 3, so that a specific portion of the document image S can be shown to the other party by drawing.

In addition, the controller 30 exchanges drawing data with the other party's terminal 3 via the copier 20, and stores the drawing data in the VRAM 31 based on the drawing data transmitted from the other party's terminal 3.
New image data corresponding to the drawing input by the coordinate input device of the partner terminal 3 is written. As a result, the computer image B is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 114 as shown in FIG. It can be pointed out by

Next, the operation mark M5 shown in FIG. 7 is for specifying a still image call, and when this is pressed, the process advances from step 5P25 to step 5P26 shown in FIG. The user instructs the user to create a still image, and also switches the switcher 25. In this case, the still image created by the copier 20 is sent to the other party's terminal 3 and also supplied to one input terminal of the picture-in-picture circuit 27, and furthermore, the video signal of the other party's image decoded by the copier 20 is sent to the other party's terminal 3. The switcher 25 is switched so that the signal is supplied to the other input terminal of the picture-in-picture circuit 27. As a result, the other party's image is displayed on the large screen 28m of the CRT monitor 28, and the still image is displayed on the small screen 28b.

Furthermore, when the mark M6 is pressed, the self-portrait is temporarily displayed on the large screen 28a, and when the mark M7 is pressed, the small screen 28b is erased, the large screen 28a and the small screen 28b are replaced, etc.

Next, symbols E1 to E shown in FIG. 7 are icons that are pressed when instructing various drawing processes and changing the mode in the drawing/word processing mode.

These have the following functions. Icon E1~
E7 is used to specify a drawing method such as pointillist mode (freehand mode), diagonal line mode, empty square mode, and to specify line thickness and color.

Further, the icon E specifies the word processing mode, and the icon E specifies the file processing mode. is pressed when specifying the TV reception mode, and the icon E,
is pressed when transferring drawing data to the partner terminal 3.

Here, when the icon E1° is pressed, the process advances from step 5P27 to step 5P2B shown in FIG. 4, and the television reception mode is entered. In the television reception mode, the controller 30 starts the television tuner 24, causes the CRT monitor 28 to display the video of the general television broadcast received by the television tuner 24, and outputs the audio from the monitor speaker 24a. Furthermore, the switcher 25 is switched so that the video signal and audio signal of these general television broadcasts are sent to the other party's terminal 3 via the copier 20.

The above are the main operations in the videophone mode, and when the call ends in this mode, the process returns from step 5P29 shown in FIG. 4 to step SP2 shown in FIG. 3, and the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14 is changed as shown in FIG. Menu screen C
Becomes I.

Next, the operation in the FAX mode in step 5PI5 shown in FIG. 3 will be explained. In the menu screen G1 shown in FIG. 6, the part labeled "FAX" is
5 and when the mode is designated, each process shown in FIG. 5 is executed. First, in step 5P30, a facsimile device! is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14, as shown in FIG. Received data list screen (initial screen) G consisting of the reception date and time and page number of the data received by 38
3 is displayed. On this screen G3, when the part displayed as "transmission list" is pressed, the process advances from step 5P31 to step 5P32 shown in FIG. When the list is displayed and the area labeled "Receiving List" is pressed, step 5 shown in FIG.
From P33, the process returns to step 5P30, and the received data list is displayed again.

If neither of these "transmission list" and "reception list" is pressed, the process advances to step 5P34. From then on, when any of the operation modes displayed on screen G3, ``Screen display °, ``Print'', ``Fax transmission'', ``Data creation'', and ``Data deletion °, is pressed with the tip of the pen 15, each operation will be executed. mode is specified. In other words, “screen display”
If is pressed, step 5P34 to step SP3
The process advances to step 5, and if data is designated by pressing the data reception date and time or creation date and time, the process advances to step 5P36.

In this step 5P36, the controller 30:
The specified data is read from the hard disk device 35, the read data is converted into a video signal, and the video signal is supplied to the CRT monitor 28 via the switcher 25. As a result, the specified data is displayed in a reduced size on the CRT monitor 28. Also, if “Print” is pressed, step 5P
The process advances from step 5P37 to step 5P38, and when data is designated by pressing the date and time of data reception or the date and time of data creation, the process advances to step 5P39. This step 5P39
, the controller 30 reads specified data from the hard disk device 35 and supplies the read data to the printer 36. As a result, the designated data (the received facsimile image or the facsimile image created for transmission) is printed out by the printer 36. Further, if "FAX Send°" is pressed, the process advances from step SP40 to step 5P41, and here, if the date and time of data creation is pressed to specify data, the process advances to step SP42.

In this step SP42, the destination FAX number input screen (shown in FIG. 10) is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14.
Dial screen) G4 is displayed. From the numbers 0 to 9 displayed on this screen G4, press the destination phone number in order, and finally press the ◎ mark to proceed from step SP43 to step 5P44, and the specified data will be sent to the facsimile. It is sent to the recipient as an image. Here, in the phonebook mode of step 5P6 (see Figure 3) described above, if the destination fax number has been registered in advance, if you press the "Phonebook" part displayed on screen G4, Search screen G5 shown in FIG. 11, that is, “
The name and fax number of the destination registered with "FAX" as the keyword will be displayed. If you press the desired destination name or fax number, the specified data will be sent as a facsimile image. .

Furthermore, if "Create data" is pressed, step SP
45, proceeds to step SP46, and this step SP4
At step 6, data for facsimile transmission is created. That is, the image data read by the image scanner 37 or the word processing data created in the drawing/word processing mode in step 5P9 (see FIG. It is stored in the hard disk device 35 together with the obtained date and time data.

Also, if “Delete data” is pressed, step 5P4
7 proceeds to step SP4B, and when the data reception date and time or data creation date and time is pressed to specify data, the process proceeds to step SP49, and this step SP49
In the controller 30, the specified data is
The contents stored in the hard disk device 35 are deleted.

In this way, the video telephone terminal device can be used as a facsimile device.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the present invention, when the facsimile receiving means receives a facsimile image, the image data output from the facsimile receiving means is stored in the storage means, and then the operating means operates the At the time when the image data is read out from the storage means and the facsimile image is printed by the printing means, if a facsimile image is transmitted from another third party during a call using the videophone function. Also, the effect of being able to receive a facsimile image without interrupting a videophone call can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a blow diagram showing the electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the external structure of the embodiment, and Figs. 3 to 5 show the operation of the embodiment. Flowcharts for explanation and FIGS. 6 to 11 are diagrams showing display examples of the liquid crystal display device 114 according to the same embodiment. 13...Transparent type coordinate input device (operation means), 1
4...Liquid crystal display device, 28...CRT monitor (display means),...controller (control means), -Hard disk device (storage means),...printer (printing means),... Image scanner, ... facsimile device (facsimile receiving means). 30 ・・ 35 ・ 36 ・ 38 ・・ 1 [3]

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A television that transmits images taken by its own terminal to a destination terminal via a specific telephone line network, and displays images transmitted from the destination terminal via the specific telephone line network. In the telephone terminal device, facsimile receiving means receives a facsimile image via a telephone line network different from the specific telephone line network, and outputs image data corresponding to the received facsimile image; a storage means for storing image data read out from the storage means; a printing means for printing a facsimile image based on the image data read from the storage means; an operation means for instructing printing of the facsimile image; When received, the image data output from the facsimile receiving means is stored in the storage means, and thereafter, when the operation means is operated, the image data is read from the storage means and supplied to the printing means. and a control means for printing a facsimile image.