JPH05130360A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send a document by the facsimile equipment which has a time specified transmitting function at the time of the cheapest utilization charge. CONSTITUTION:A charge calculation part 7 is provided when the origination time is specified, the charge calculation part 7 selects the time of the cheapest line using charge in the current time to the specified origination time. Then the selected time is changed to the origination time and the document is automatically sent at the changed origination time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine having a time designated transmission function for storing transmission originals once and transmitting them at a designated transmission time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional facsimile apparatus having such a time designation transmission function, when transmitting a document to a partner, previously designates a time to be transmitted and stores document information to be transmitted in a storage section. The document information is automatically read from the storage unit and transmitted to the other party when the designated time comes thereafter.

[0003]

A conventional facsimile machine automatically transmits document information at a designated time. Therefore, when a manuscript is selected at a time with a low telephone charge and the manuscript is sent, the handler checks every time the telephone charge is cheap and specifies this time as the transmission time, which increases the burden on the handler. was there.

[0004]

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a charge calculation for selecting a time with the lowest line usage charge in the time zone from the current time to the designated transmission time. It has a section.

[0005]

When the time with the lowest line usage charge is selected in the time zone from the current time to the designated transmission time, the selected time becomes the transmission time.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. The facsimile machine of this embodiment is
The operation unit 1, the transmission information storage unit 2, the document storage unit 3, the storage unit 4 including the transmission information storage unit 2 and the document storage unit 3, the time management unit 6 for managing the current time, the charge calculation unit 7, the transmission time And a current time, a document management unit 9 for storing and reading document data in the storage unit 4, a document reading unit 11, a coding unit 12, and a communication control unit 13. There is.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. The original 10 is read by the original reading unit 11 and converted into facsimile image information. Then, it is encoded in the encoding unit 12,
It is stored in the document storage unit 3 via the document management unit 9. next,
The calling time and the destination telephone number are input by operating the operation unit 1, and these pieces of information are sent to the charge calculation unit 7. The charge calculation unit 7 reads the calling time information and the destination telephone number (step ST1), and calculates the lowest line usage charge at the designated calling time (step ST2). The method of calculating the minimum charge in the charge calculating unit 7 is calculated by taking the NCC line into consideration, but since the method is well known, it is omitted here.

The charge calculation unit 7 which has calculated the minimum charge at the designated calling time in this way shifts to a time one hour before the designated calling time (step ST3) and makes a comparison judgment with the current time. On the other hand (step ST4), if the time is after the current time, the minimum charge is calculated similarly (step ST5). Then, it is judged whether or not the calculated charge is lower than the lowest charge at the designated transmission time (step ST6), and if it is determined to be low, the transmission time is changed to this time (step ST7). Such processing (steps ST3, 5, 6, 7) is repeatedly executed until the current time (step ST4), and the time of the cheapest charge is obtained. That is, the time zone from the designated transmission time to the current time is divided every hour to calculate the charge at each time, and these are compared with each other to obtain the time of the minimum charge in this time zone. This time is transmitted as transmission time information together with the destination telephone number to the transmission information storage unit 2 and stored therein.

On the other hand, the time comparison unit 8 reads out the transmission time information stored in the transmission information storage unit 2 and the current time information managed by the clock management unit 6 at regular time intervals and compares them. When these times match, the fact is transmitted to the document management unit 9. Manuscript management section 9
Reads out the destination telephone number and the facsimile image information stored in the transmission information storage unit 2 and the document storage unit 3, respectively, based on the coincidence information of the transmission time and the current time,
It is sent to the communication control unit 13 via the encoding unit 12. As a result, the line control is performed in the communication control unit 13 and the facsimile image information is transmitted to the receiving side device 14.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the call origination time is specified, the time with the lowest line usage charge is selected as the time with the lowest line usage charge in the time zone from the current time to the specified origination time. There is an effect that manuscript information is transmitted and the burden on the operator is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the apparatus of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Operation Section 2 Transmission Information Storage Section 3 Original Storage Section 4 Storage Section 6 Time Management Section 7 Charge Management Section 8 Time Comparison Section 9 Original Management Section 11 Original Reading Section 12 Encoding Section 13 Communication Control Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A time management unit for managing the current time, a storage unit for storing a destination telephone number, a transmission time and document information, and a time comparison unit for comparing the current time with the transmission time. In a facsimile machine with a time designated transmission function that reads out and transmits the document information stored in the storage unit at a designated time, selects the time with the lowest line usage charge from the current time to the calling time. A facsimile apparatus comprising a charge calculation unit for changing the transmission time to a time with a low line usage charge and transmitting the document information at the changed time.