JPH05122473A - On-vehicle facsimile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the read ending time of an original desired to transmit and to accurately transmit the image information of the original even while a vehicle is running. CONSTITUTION:When it is judged that an instruction to start the reading of an original for transmission is issued, the reading of the original for transmission is started by a reading recording part 8, and all read image data are stored in memory 94. When it is decided that speech with the facsimile of a transmission destination is held and that the instruction to start the transmission of the image data of the original for transmission is issued, the image data stored in the memory 94 is transmitted to the facsimile of the transmission destination via radio equipment. In such a way, since all the image data of the original for transmission are stored once in the memory 94, it is possible to dispense with transmission as reading the data and to shorten a time required for the completion of the reading. Also, since the transmission to the facsimile of the transmission destination is performed based on storage data (image data) in the memory 94, the transmission can be performed without being affected by the vibration of the vehicle, etc.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle-mounted facsimile used by connecting to a radio of a car telephone does not have a memory which is a storage device like a general facsimile. The reason for this is that when a memory, and also a large-capacity memory, is mounted in a facsimile, a large number of memory ICs must be mounted, which increases the size of the facsimile.
This is because it cannot be installed in the vehicle compartment where the installation space is limited.

However, in recent years, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-16634 previously filed by the applicant of the present application, in consideration of the answering machine reception and the battery exhaustion of the facsimile after the ignition key is turned off, the size of the on-vehicle facsimile is small. Some have built-in capacity memory. Since the memory mounted in this in-vehicle facsimile can use only a small capacity memory from the viewpoint of vehicle mountability described above, in consideration of the time of answering machine reception, the small capacity memory is used only as a receiving memory. Become.

Therefore, in the transmission operation of the vehicle-mounted facsimile described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 3-16634, the transmission operation is performed while reading the transmission original, as in the case of the conventional vehicle-mounted facsimile.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No.
In the in-vehicle facsimile described in No. 16634,
Since the transmission operation is transmitted while scanning the original for transmission,
At the time of transmission, the transmission document slowly moves from the document insertion port to the document ejection port, which causes a problem that it takes a long time to transmit the facsimile information. Moreover, if the transmission original is left inserted in the original insertion slot for a long time in this way, for example, when the original is transmitted while the vehicle is traveling, it may be caused by the vibration of the vehicle or the road surface condition. The original document for transmission inserted in is skewed, and accurate facsimile information cannot be transmitted. Therefore, in order to accurately transmit the facsimile information, the time when the facsimile transmission is completed (≈ the time when the transmission original is completely read), that is, the vehicle is stopped for a long time so that the inserted transmission original does not skew. There is a problem of having to do it.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to reduce the reading completion time of a document to be transmitted and to accurately transmit the image information of the document even while the vehicle is traveling. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle-mounted facsimile capable of performing the above.

[0007]

Therefore, in the invention described in claim 1, in a vehicle-mounted facsimile which transmits and receives an information radio wave having image information through a radio, the original document to be transmitted is read, Reading means for obtaining image information, reading instruction means for instructing the reading start of the reading means, storage means for storing the image information obtained by the reading means in response to the instruction of the reading instruction means, and the storage Transmission instruction means for instructing to start transmission of the image information stored in the means, and transmission means for reading out the image information from the storage means and transmitting it to the destination facsimile by an instruction of the transmission instruction means. The present invention employs an on-vehicle facsimile characterized in that it is provided.

According to the second aspect of the invention,
The transmission instruction means is an information telephone from the facsimile of the calling destination.
It also serves as a reception instruction means for instructing reception of waves, and
The image information stored in the
Receiving means for storing image information in the storage means;
The instruction from the transmission instruction means that also serves as the reception instruction means
Whether to instruct reception operation or transmission operation
, Whether the call was started from the callee or a call from me
It is determined that the call is started from the calling party.
If the receiving means is made to perform the receiving operation if
If both are judged to have started the call from us,
And a determination unit that causes the transmission unit to perform a transmission operation.
The in-vehicle facsimile according to claim 1,
To be adopted.

[0009]

With the above construction, in the invention according to the first aspect, the document to be transmitted is formed as image information by the reading instruction means and the reading means, and the image information is temporarily stored in the storage means before being transmitted. Therefore, the time required to read the document to be transmitted is substantially equivalent to the document reading time by the reading means.
Then, in the transmission operation, the image information stored in the storage unit is read by the transmission instruction unit and the transmission unit, and is transmitted to the destination facsimile.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the transmission instructing means also serving as the reception instructing means for instructing the reception of the information radio wave from the facsimile of the call destination, whether the call start side is the call destination or me by the determination means. The reception operation or the transmission operation is determined by, and the reception operation or the transmission operation is performed according to the determination result. Then, in the receiving operation by the receiving means, the image information stored in the storage means (image information corresponding to the document to be transmitted) is erased, and the image information from the calling destination is stored in the storage means.

[0011]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a facsimile 11 has an on-vehicle battery 1 for supplying power, a car telephone radio 2 for transmitting and receiving information radio waves having image data, a car telephone handset terminal 3, and an ignition key switch 10. And are connected respectively.

The inside of the facsimile 11 controls the power supply from the on-vehicle battery 1 to each function block described later and also sets the various functions such as transmission and answering machine, as well as the power control unit 4 for monitoring the battery voltage. The communication unit 9 that demodulates the information wave received by the unit 7 and the wireless device 2, stores the demodulated data in the memory, and decodes the data.
A line control for switching and controlling the use state of the facsimile 11 and the use state of the car telephone, and the reading / recording unit 8 for printing the data decrypted by the communication unit 9 and reading an original document to be transmitted by a line sensor or the like. Part 5
And a system control unit 6 for controlling each of the above functional blocks. Further, the reading / recording unit 8 is provided with a document detection sensor 81 for detecting whether or not a document to be transmitted is inserted into a document insertion port (not shown).

Next, the connection relationship among the above-mentioned in-vehicle battery 1, wireless device 2, handset terminal 3, ignition key switch 10, and functional blocks in the facsimile 11 will be described.

The on-vehicle battery 1 supplies power to each functional block through the power supply line 1a. this house,
Power is constantly supplied to the power control unit 4 and the circuit control unit 5, and the operation unit 7, the reading / recording unit 8, the system control unit 6, the communication unit 9, the wireless device 2, and the handset terminal 3 are Power is selectively supplied by operating the switches 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f.

Here, the above-mentioned switches 1b, 1c, 1
d, 1e, 1f are relay control lines 4b, 4c, 4d,
It is closed or opened by an ON signal and an OFF signal output from the power supply control unit 4 via 4e and 4f.

The power supply control unit 4 is connected to the above-mentioned switches, and is also connected to the ignition key switch 10, the line control unit 5, the system control unit 6, and the operation unit 7. Of these, the power supply control unit 4 and the ignition key switch 10 are a key switch monitoring line 4a, the power supply control unit 4 and the line control unit 5 are a signal line 4h, and the power supply control unit 4 and the system control 6 are a signal line 4g. Then, the power control unit 4
And the operation unit 7 are connected by a signal line 4i.

The line control unit 5 is connected to the power supply control unit 4, the system control unit 6, the radio 2, and the handset terminal 3. Of these, the line control unit 5 and the system control unit 6 are connected by a signal line 5a, and the line control unit 5, the wireless device 2 and the handset terminal 3 are connected by a telephone communication line 5d.

As described above, the line control unit 5 is connected to the wireless device 2 and the handset terminal 3 by the telephone communication line 5d, but the line control unit 5 and the wireless device are connected via the telephone communication line 5d. By mutual communication between the handset terminal 3 and the handset terminal 3, both the operation of the car phone and the operation of the facsimile are performed without interruption.

Further, the line control unit 5 includes a relay control line 5b.
By outputting an ON signal and an OFF signal to the switch 5c via the switch 5c, that is, by outputting a high level signal (ON signal) to the switch 5c and connecting the switch 5c to the terminal 5c ₁ . Alternatively, by outputting a low level (OFF signal) to the switch 5c, the switch 5c
It is switched whether or not c is connected to the terminal 5c ₂ . And
By this switching control, the line control unit 5 connects the transmission / reception signal line 2a of the wireless device 2 and the transmission / reception signal line 9a of the communication unit 9 (that is, in the facsimile use state) or the transmission / reception signal line 2a of the wireless device 2 and the handset. It controls whether or not the telephone line 3a of the terminal 3 is connected (that is, the state of use of a car telephone).

The system control 6 is connected to the power supply control unit 4, line control unit 5, operation unit 7, reading / recording unit 8, and communication unit 9. Of these, the system control 6 and the operation unit 7 are a signal line 6a, the system control 6 and the reading / recording unit 8 are a signal line 6b, and the system control 6 and the communication unit 9 are a signal line 6c.
And 6d are connected respectively. The signal output from the system control 6 to the operation unit 7 via the signal line 6a is a display control signal for controlling the display content of a display unit (not shown) provided in the operation unit 7.

The communication unit 9 is connected to the reading / recording unit 8 by a communication line 8a. Next, the internal configuration of the communication unit 9 described above will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the outline of the internal configuration of the communication unit 9. In FIG. 2, the communication unit 9
Is composed of the circuit described below.

A central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 91 connected to the system control unit 6 by a signal line 6c is
Various controls are performed by a predetermined program. The modem 92 performs modulation / demodulation on the reception signal received by the wireless device 2 and input via the transmission / reception signal line 9a. And
The signal (encoded data) modulated and demodulated by the modem 92 is output to the code decoder 93 via the signal line 9d. In addition,
The modem 92 also modulates / demodulates a transmission signal corresponding to the transmission original read by the reading / recording unit 8.

The operation of the above-mentioned modem 92 is controlled by the CPU 91. That is, when a received signal concerning the formal content (for example, print density, presence / absence of super fine mode) transmitted from the facsimile of the transmission source arrives, the modem 92 modulates and demodulates the signal.
The CPU 91 outputs a control signal to the modem 92 via the signal line 9b so as to output to U91.

Then, when the response contents (the specified print density cannot be ensured, the super fine mode, etc.) to the received signal is transmitted to the facsimile of the transmission source, the transmission signal output from the CPU 91 is modulated and demodulated by the modem 92. After that, the wireless device 2 transmits the facsimile to the sender. This kind of communication between facsimiles is CP
Since it is performed by U91, the CPU 91 controls the output destination of the signal modulated and demodulated by the modem 92.

The code decoder 93 decodes the input coded data into image data and also codes the image data into coded data. The operation for performing the decoding and the encoding is performed by the CPU output through the signal line 9c.
It is set by the control signal of 91.

The data control unit 95 responds to the control signal output from the system control unit 6 via the signal line 6d (the reception switching signal output via the signal line 6d in the process of step 302 described later). , The image data decoded by the encoder / decoder 93 (data input via the signal line 9f) is output to the reading / recording unit 8 via the communication line 8a or the memory 9 via the communication line 9e.
4 (corresponding to storage means). The code decoder 9
The output signal from 3 to the CPU 91 is a signal for notifying the CPU 91 of the decoding or coding status of the code decoder 93 (for example, a signal for notifying which row the decoding is completed). The memory 94 stores coded data corresponding to the received signal or coded data corresponding to the transmitted signal.

Here, the data stored in the memory 94 is encoded data, and the input / output data of the reading / recording unit 8 is image data. Therefore, for example, since the data of the received signal received by the wireless device 2 (data modulated and demodulated by the modem 92) is encoded data, the system control unit 6 reads the encoded data in the data control unit 95 and the recording unit 8 When the output is to be output to, the CPU 91 causes the encoder / decoder 93 to perform decoding into image data. on the other hand,
When the system controller 6 causes the data controller 95 to output the encoded data to the memory 94, the CPU
Reference numeral 91 causes the code decoder 93 to output the encoded data as it is.

Further, for example, when the transmission signal corresponding to the transmission original read by the reading / recording unit 8 is to be temporarily stored in the memory 94, the data control unit 95 causes the system control unit 6 to control the transmission signal. The data (image data) of the transmission signal output from the reading / recording unit 8 is encoded / decodered.
3 to be encoded and then output the encoded data encoded by the encoder / decoder 93 to the memory 94, and the memory 94 stores the data corresponding to the transmission signal.

The operation unit 7 includes a switch S ₁ for instructing reading of a document to be transmitted (by a line sensor (not shown) of the reading / recording unit 8) and a switch S ₂ for instructing to start transmission to a destination facsimile. Has
These command signals are transmitted to the system control unit 6 (FIG. 1),
It is also output to the CPU 91 of the communication unit 9 via the signal line 6c.

Further, the CPU 51 of the line control unit 5 operates from the connection between the handset terminal 3 and the wireless device 2 to the facsimile 1
When the switch 5c is switched to the connection between the communication unit 9 of No. 1 and the wireless device 2, C of the communication unit 9 is used as an information signal indicating the switching.
Output to PU91.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First, the overall operation of transmission will be briefly described. When the operator gives a transmission instruction through the operation unit 7, the line sensor (not shown) of the reading / recording unit 8 photoelectrically converts the image data of the transmission document. The photoelectrically changed image data is transmitted to the communication unit 9 via the signal line 8a, and is transmitted and encoded by the code decoder 93 of the communication unit 9 under the control of the system control unit 6. The coded image data is sent to the modem 92, the transmission / reception signal line 9a,
It is transmitted to the destination facsimile by the wireless device 2 via 2a.

By the operation of the handset 3, the wireless device 2, and the line controller 5 via the telephone communication line 5d,
When it is determined that the transmission destination facsimile telephone line is blocked, the image data transmitted from the reading / recording unit 8 is encoded by the encoder / decoder 93 and temporarily stored in the memory 94. Thereafter, when it is determined that the telephone line of the destination facsimile is opened, the image data stored in the memory 94 is output as it is, and is transmitted to the destination facsimile by the wireless device 2.

Next, the operation in reception will be briefly described. When the line controller 5 detects the arrival of the information wave from another facsimile by the operation of the handset 3, the radio 2, and the line controller 5 via the telephone communication line 5d, the information wave received by the radio 2 is detected. The image data that it has is output to the modem 92 via the transmission / reception signal lines 2a and 9a, and is modulated / demodulated. Then, in accordance with a reception method preset by the operation unit 7 (that is, print output by the reading / recording unit 8 or storage in the memory 94), the data is decoded by the code decoder 93 and output to the reading / recording unit 8. Or output to the memory 94 without any processing.

The image data output to the reading / recording unit 8 is printed out by a printing device (not shown) in the reading / recording unit 8. On the other hand, with respect to the image data stored in the memory 94, when the operator instructs the printout by the operation unit 7,
The image data stored in the code decoder 93 is decoded,
After that, the reading and recording unit 8 prints out.

Next, the detailed operation at the time of transmission, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, will be described with reference to the flowchart (FIG. 3) showing the operation of the CPU 91 of the transmission section 9. In FIG. 3, in step 100, it is determined based on the detection signal from the document detection sensor 81 whether or not the document to be transmitted has been inserted into a document insertion port (not shown). Then, when insertion into the document insertion port is detected, the process proceeds to step 110,
If not, the determination process of step 100 is repeated.

Step 110 corresponding to the reading instruction means
Then, it is determined whether or not the switch S ₁ of the operation unit 7 is pressed by the operator, that is, whether or not the reading start instruction of the transmission document is instructed, and the determination processing of step 110 is performed until the reading start instruction is given. Repeat.

At step 120 corresponding to the reading means, in response to the operation of the switch S ₁ , the reading of the transmission original is started by a line sensor (not shown) of the reading / recording section 8, and the read image data is stepped. Thirteen
By the processing of 0, all are stored in the memory 94.

In step 140, the CP of the line controller 5
Based on the information signal from U51, it is determined whether or not a call is being made with the destination facsimile. The CPU 56 determines whether or not a call is in progress by mutual communication between the line control unit 5, the wireless device 2, and the handset terminal 3 via the telephone communication line 5d (FIG. 1), and the determination result is obtained via the communication line 9e. It is output to the CPU 91 as an information signal. Based on this information signal, the CPU 91 determines whether or not a call is being made with the facsimile of the transmission destination, and step 14 is performed until it is determined that the call is being made.
The determination process of 0 is repeated.

At step 150 corresponding to the transmission instruction means, it is determined whether or not the switch S ₂ of the operation unit 7 has been pressed, that is, whether or not the transmission start of the image data of the transmission original stored in the memory 94 has been instructed. The determination process of step 150 is repeated until the determination is made and it is determined that the transmission start instruction is given.

At step 160 corresponding to the transmitting means,
In response to the transmission start instruction of the switch S ₂ of the operation unit 7, the image data stored in the memory 94 is transmitted to the destination facsimile via the wireless device 2.

Then, in step 170, it is judged whether or not the communication of the facsimile information is normally completed. Generally, in a facsimile, after all the facsimile information is received by the receiving facsimile, it is inspected whether it is normally received and the inspection result is transmitted to the transmitting facsimile (post message response). Therefore, in step 170, it is determined whether or not the communication is normally performed based on the inspection result transmitted from the destination facsimile. And if it is done normally, step 1
If not, the process returns to step 140, and the processes of step 140 and subsequent steps are performed again.

In step 180, it is determined that the communication of the facsimile information is normally performed, and the image data of the original document for transmission stored in the memory 94 is erased, and a series of operations is ended.

As described above, in this embodiment, the image data of the transmission original read by the reading / recording unit is
All the data is temporarily stored in the memory before being sent to the destination facsimile, so the time required to complete reading can be greatly shortened, and the vehicle stop time required when reading the transmission document can be shortened. .. This reading completion time requires about 1 minute for the conventional apparatus when comparing the apparatus of the present embodiment with the apparatus of the related art which transmits while reading a document for transmission, whereas the apparatus of the present embodiment requires about 1 minute. Then about 10
Seconds is fine.

Further, since the image data is transmitted by using the storage data (image data) stored in the memory 94, the facsimile information can be accurately transmitted without running the document for transmission for a long time. Can be sent. Furthermore, since the car telephone line is a wireless line,
By thus transmitting the image data by the stored data stored in the memory 94, even if the vehicle moves during the facsimile information transmission to deteriorate the radio wave condition and the line is disconnected or the communication is interrupted. There is no need to read the transmission document again.

Next, another embodiment will be described. In addition,
4 and 5, the parts having the same numbers as the step numbers in FIG. 3 indicate the parts equivalent to the step numbers in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the switch S of the operation unit 7
_{When the} operator presses ₁ to start reading the transmission document, as shown in steps 111 and 112 in FIG. 4, the transmission document insertion detection time t by the document detection sensor 81 is a predetermined time T (1 If about 1 second or more), the process may automatically proceed to step 120 to start reading.

Regarding the switch S ₂ of the operation unit 7 in the above-described embodiment, in a normal vehicle facsimile, a transmission start switch and a reception start switch are integrally formed in order to simplify the operation switch. Is configured as.

As in the prior art, the operator can recognize that the transmission operation is currently performed if the transmission original is still inserted in the original insertion port. However, as in the above-described embodiment, the image of the transmission original is displayed. If the data is once stored in the memory, it is difficult to tell at a glance that the transmission operation is being performed.

For example, it is forgotten whether or not the operator has sent the image data stored in the memory because a long time has passed without the image data of the transmission original being transmitted because the communication state with the facsimile of the transmission destination is not established. There is a possibility that it will end up. In this situation, if there is a call from another facsimile that is not the transmission destination and the operator presses the transmission / reception switch to receive the facsimile information from the facsimile of the transmission destination, the operation shown in FIG. Then, it is determined that a call is in progress (it should be determined that a call is being made to the destination fax machine, but it is decided that a call is being made to another fax by receiving from another fax machine). , Step 150 also determines that the switch S ₂ has been pressed.

Therefore, although the receiving operation should be performed by the operator's intention, the actual operation of the facsimile becomes the transmitting operation, and it becomes impossible to receive the facsimile information from the called facsimile. There's a problem.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, in step 200 corresponding to the judging means, it is judged whether the call judged in step 140 is from the calling party or from the facsimile, and the call from the facsimile is made. If so, it can be determined that it is a start instruction of the transmission operation, so the process proceeds to step 160,
If it is from the call destination, it can be determined that it is the instruction to start the reception operation, so steps 200 to 230 described below.
Is received.

That is, at step 210, the buzzer or the like notifies that the stored information (image data of the original for transmission) in the memory 94 is to be erased, and the stored information is erased.
In step 220, reception (memory reception) is started, and in step 230, reception termination processing including determination processing for determining whether or not the received facsimile information is normal is performed, and the operation is terminated.

In this way, the facsimile information from the calling party can be accurately received, and the operator is made to perform the transmission operation again by notifying by the buzzer or the like that the transmission original has not been transmitted. be able to.

[0055]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the time required for reading the original to be transmitted is substantially the same as the time required to read the original by the reading means. As described above, there is no need to perform transmission while reading, and there is an excellent effect that the reading completion time can be shortened.

The facsimile transmission to the destination is performed by reading the image information stored in the storage information and transmitting the read image information. There is an excellent effect that the image information can be transmitted accurately without being affected by the vibration of the vehicle, etc.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the transmission instructing means which also serves as the reception instructing means for instructing the reception of the information radio wave from the facsimile of the call destination, the judging means and the receiving means store the data when the reception is activated. Since the image information stored in the means can be erased and the image information from the call destination can be stored in the storage means, even if the operator misrecognizes (a long time elapses because the call cannot be made to the destination facsimile). However, even if the operator erroneously recognizes that the image information of the document to be transmitted has already been transmitted, there is an excellent effect that the information radio wave from the call destination can be accurately received.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of an internal configuration of a communication unit in the above-mentioned embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a CPU 91 in the communication section.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the CPU 91 in another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the CPU 91 in still another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 wireless device 9 communication unit 11 facsimile 91 CPU 94 memory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a vehicle-mounted facsimile that transmits and receives an information radio wave having image information via a wireless device, a reading means for reading an original document to be transmitted and obtaining the image information, and a reading start of the reading means. Read instruction means for instructing, storage means for storing the image information obtained by the reading means in response to the instruction of the read instruction means, and transmission for instructing to start transmission of the image information stored in the storage means An in-vehicle facsimile comprising: an instruction unit; and a transmission unit that reads the image information from the storage unit and transmits the image information to a destination facsimile by an instruction of the transmission instruction unit. 2. The transmission instructing means also serves as a reception instructing means for instructing reception of an information radio wave from a facsimile of a call destination, and erases the image information stored in the storage means to obtain a call destination. From the callee, the receiving means for storing the image information from the storage means in the storage means and whether the instruction from the transmission instructing means that also serves as the reception instructing means directs the reception operation or the transmission operation Judgment is made based on whether a call has been started or a call has been started from me.If it is judged that the call has been started from the calling party, the receiving means is caused to perform a receiving operation and it is judged that a call has been started from me. The vehicle-mounted facsimile according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit that causes the transmission unit to perform a transmission operation in the case of the above.