JPH05207213A - Picture store and forward exchange - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a picture store and forward exchange in which various data are fetched by a computer with an equipment easily obtained and latest data are acquired without frequent access to a computer net. CONSTITUTION:The picture store and forward exchange 15 provided with an electronic bulletin board function section 17 sending/receiving character form character data to/from a data communication terminal equipment through a communication channel, a picture store and forward exchange function section 16 storing and exchanging picture data, and a picture information conversion section 18 converting the character data from the electronic bulletin board function section 17 into picture data converts the character data written in the electronic bulletin board into the picture data and sends the data to a specific terminal equipment in a facsimile form. Or an electronic mail function section and a character recognition processing section are provided in place of the electronic bulletin board function section 17 and the picture information conversion section 18 to the facsimile equipment, which converts a document received in terms of a facsimile signal into character data and stores the data to a mail box.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image storage / exchange device incorporated in a computer communication network, and in particular, stores and exchanges an image by converting character code data to be subjected to computer communication into image data or vice versa. The present invention relates to an image storage / exchange device having a function to perform.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an image storage / exchange device which transmits / receives data using a communication line, temporarily stores received data, and outputs the data to a terminal device as needed. As a conventional example of such an image storage / exchange device, there is one shown in FIG. The apparatus shown in this figure is a storage and exchange apparatus applied to a facsimile communication apparatus. In this figure, reference numerals 1 and 2 are facsimiles as terminals, 3 is a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as personal computer), and 4 is a personal computer. A modem 5 for modulating and demodulating signals in performing communication is an exchange that connects the facsimiles 1, 2 and the personal computer 3 to the communication line 6. Reference numeral 7 is a facsimile storage / exchange device for storing image data obtained by facsimile communication and exchanging image data with another facsimile terminal. The facsimile storage / exchange device 7 is connected to the exchange 5. The line control unit 8, the facsimile transmission / reception control unit 9, the image storage unit 10 for storing the image data input via the exchange 5, and the storage / exchange control unit 11 for creating the management information of the image communication. Become.

Then, if image data is transmitted from the facsimile terminal 1 or 2 together with an instruction for broadcast or confidential communication, the facsimile storage / exchange device 7 is controlled by the storage / exchange control section 11 to read the read image. Is temporarily stored in the image storage unit 10, and the facsimile terminals 1, 2
Alternatively, the image data is read from the image storage unit 10 according to a request from another terminal connected to the communication line 6, and is sent to the requested party.

On the other hand, in the field of computer communication, there are electronic bulletin board service and facsimile mail service as devices similar to the facsimile storage and exchange device 7. These services handle character code data. For example, in the electronic bulletin board service known in general personal computer communication, the message or title sent through the communication line 6 or the registrant ID is stored in character format on the host computer side, and the bulletin board can be viewed on the bulletin board. The registrant ID of the registered document, the registration date,
By selecting and designating a desired document from the list of titles and the like, the content of the document is received and displayed on the personal computer 3. Also,
In the facsimile mail service, a character format document created by the personal computer 3, a word processor or the like is transmitted to the facsimile of the other party by designating the telephone number of the other party and transmitting it to the mailbox of the host computer.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional facsimile storage / exchange apparatus, since the data handled by the facsimile storage / exchange apparatus is image data, it is not originally incorporated in personal computer communication. It is not possible to freely send and receive data between the facsimile and the personal computer 3 by the facsimile storage and exchange device. And
In the electronic bulletin board service such as personal computer communication, the personal computer 3
It was necessary to check the presence or absence of the latest information by frequently accessing the computer net from the terminal side such as to see the target bulletin board.

Further, even in the electronic mail service, a large and expensive device such as a scanner for inputting image data and a character recognition device must be provided, and it is not possible to cope with the relatively simple personal computer communication. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to be able to take in various data into a computer using a familiar device such as a facsimile or a personal computer and to frequently access a computer network. An object of the present invention is to provide an image storage / exchange device that can obtain the latest necessary data without doing so.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention adds an electronic bulletin board function section or an electronic mail function section to an image storage / exchange apparatus, and also provides character format data and dot format data. The gist is to add a function to easily convert and.

[0009]

With the above structure, the image storage / exchange apparatus can provide the electronic bulletin board service and the electronic mail service used in personal computer communication. When the electronic bulletin board service is provided, the character data sent from the personal computer is taken into the electronic bulletin board function unit and stored in the character information storage unit which is a bulletin board. Then, this character data is converted into image data, and at the same time, the telephone number of the transmission destination is called and sent to the communication line. On the other hand, when providing an e-mail service, the image data sent from the facsimile is taken into the electronic bulletin board function unit, and then this image data is sent to the character recognition processing unit to decode the characters.
Convert to character format data. This character format data is sent to the electronic mail function unit and stored in the character information storage unit which is a mailbox. Then, when the destination side accesses the mailbox with the personal computer, the image data previously sent from the facsimile is displayed on the screen as a character format document or is output.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment when the image storage / exchange apparatus of the present invention is applied to a facsimile communication apparatus. In this figure, the same parts as those of the conventional example shown in FIG.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 15 is an image storage / exchange apparatus in this embodiment, that is, a facsimile storage / exchange apparatus. Facsimile store and exchange device 15 according to this embodiment
Is a facsimile storage / exchange function unit 16 for storing and exchanging facsimile image data, and an electronic bulletin board function unit 17 for providing a bulletin board service to subscribers.
And. The facsimile storage exchange function unit 16
The line control unit 8, the facsimile transmission / reception control unit 9, the image storage unit 10, and the management information for image communication are created, and
The storage / exchange control unit 11 controls writing and reading of image data to and from the image storage unit 10, and an image information conversion unit 18 that converts character data having a font and representing a character code into dot data that is image data. .. Further, the electronic bulletin board function section 17 is a data modem 1 that modulates and demodulates signals in performing personal computer communication and the like.
9, a character information storage unit 20 which is connected to the image information conversion unit 18 and stores character data displayed on the electronic bulletin board in a character code format, and an electronic bulletin board having a bulletin board area for displaying service menu names and the like. The electronic bulletin board control unit 21 performs a response operation to the terminal that has accessed the storage device, and controls transfer of the data in the character information storage unit 20 to the image information conversion unit 18 based on a request from the storage exchange control unit 11. ..

The operation of the facsimile storage / exchange apparatus having such a configuration in the computer network will be described. An exchange 5 in which a computer terminal (not shown) or the like, which is a data communication terminal device, is in the communication network 6.
It is possible to communicate by connecting to the electronic bulletin board function unit 17 inside the facsimile storage / exchange device 15 via the. The internal operation of the electronic bulletin board function unit 17 is the same as that of a normal personal computer communication host computer.
The communication procedure is exchanged between the data modem on the calling side and the data modem 19 on the receiving side, and transmission / reception of character data is started. The electronic bulletin board control unit 21 performs a login process on a computer terminal that has accessed the electronic bulletin board,
The service menu name is displayed, the bulletin board requested by the terminal is displayed, and data writing and reading services are provided. The character information storage unit 20 stores the data on these bulletin boards, and the electronic bulletin board control unit 21 controls the data input / output operation to the character information storage unit 20.

Next, the facsimile transmission operation of character data will be described. When a certain amount of simultaneously updated data is accumulated, the electronic bulletin board function unit 17 reads the character data from the character information storage unit 20 and transfers them to the image information conversion unit 18. The image information conversion unit 18 converts the character data (character code data) transferred using the font contained therein into the image data (dot data) of the facsimile. In addition, the electronic bulletin board control unit 2
Reference numeral 1 stores the facsimile number of a contractor who desires the facsimile transfer of data. The storage / exchange control unit 11 stores the facsimile number of the contractor and the image information conversion unit 1.
The information of the transferred data is delivered to the server. The storage exchange controller 11 temporarily stores the facsimile image data converted by the image information converter 18 as an image file in the image storage 10.

In this way, the facsimile image data stored in the facsimile storage / exchange function section 16 performs the same operation as a general facsimile storage / exchange device. That is, the storage / exchange control unit 11 is connected to the communication line 6 by the line control unit 8 and the facsimile transmission / reception control unit 9, calls the facsimile number of the contractor, and transmits the corresponding facsimile image data.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment when the image storage / exchange apparatus of the present invention is applied to a facsimile communication apparatus. Also in this figure, the same parts as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 25 is a facsimile storage / exchange apparatus in this embodiment. The facsimile storage / exchange device 25 according to this embodiment includes a facsimile storage / exchange function unit 26 for storing / sending facsimile image data, and an electronic mail function unit 27 for storing a mail for a contractor having a mailbox. It is equipped with.
The facsimile storage / exchange function unit 26 includes a line control unit 8 and
A facsimile transmission / reception control unit 9, an image storage unit 10, a storage / exchange control unit 11 that creates management information for image communication, and controls writing and reading of image data to and from the image storage unit 10, and input image data. And a character recognition processing unit 28 for recognizing the characters inside and converting it into character code data. In addition, the e-mail function unit 27
Is a data modem 29 that modulates and demodulates signals in performing personal computer communication and the like, and a character information storage unit 30 that is connected to the character recognition processing unit 28 and serves as a mailbox to store character data in the character code format.
The electronic mail control unit 31 controls the writing / reading of data to / from the character information storage unit 20 while performing a response operation to the terminal accessing the mailbox.

The operation of the facsimile storage / exchange apparatus having such a configuration in the computer network will be described. First, the facsimile reception of a document by the facsimile storage / exchange device 25 will be described.

The user sends the target document by facsimile to the facsimile storage / exchange device 25 through the communication line 6. In this case, a means for instructing the other party (PB tone, mark sheet, etc.) is used for a normal facsimile storage / exchange apparatus. In this case, a request for character recognition processing and a mailbox for storage are instructed. Facsimile transmission / reception control unit 9 is poor in communication procedure processing and data reception processing. Facsimile image data is temporarily stored in the image storage unit 10. The storage exchange control unit 11 transfers the facsimile image data from the image storage unit 10 to the character recognition processing unit 28 in response to the character recognition processing request, the character recognition processing unit 28 develops this into a dot image, and further performs the character recognition processing. Then, it holds the text data by the character code after processing. At the same time, the storage / exchange control unit 11 delivers the ID of the storage destination mailbox to the electronic mail control unit 31. The electronic mail control unit 31 transfers the text data stored in the character recognition processing unit 28 to a predetermined mailbox indicated by the ID in the character information storage unit 30 and stores the text data. That is,
The character information storage unit 30 stores the data in these mailboxes, and the electronic mail control unit 31 controls the input / output operation of these data.

Next, the extraction of mail from the mailbox will be described. A data communication terminal device (not shown) or the like, via the exchange 5 in the communication line 6, the electronic mail function unit 2 inside the facsimile storage / exchange device 25.
7 is connected and communication is possible. The internal operation of the e-mail function unit 27 is similar to that of the host computer side of normal personal computer communication. After the data communication terminal device or the like makes a telephone call to the network and connects to the e-mail function unit 27, the data of the calling side is After the communication procedure is exchanged between the modem and the called data modem 29, transmission / reception is started. The electronic mail control unit 31 performs operations such as login processing and service menu name display for the data terminal device that has accessed the electronic mail function unit 27, and reads and writes the mail in the mailbox requested by the terminal side. Provide service.

After the above-mentioned process, the user accesses the mailbox designated at the time of the previous facsimile transmission, and copies the text data converted into the character code data to the data communication terminal device or the like to perform the character conversion processing. To complete.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the latest information can be received automatically and in real time by facsimile without frequent access to the computer network, time and communication charges can be saved. Further, various effects can be obtained, such as the character code conversion of a document by handwriting or printing, by using a facsimile data communication terminal device without introducing a large-scale device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an image storage / exchange apparatus in which the present invention is applied to facsimile communication.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of an image storage / exchange apparatus in which the present invention is applied to facsimile communication.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional example of a facsimile storage / exchange apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Facsimile terminal 3 Personal computer 4, 19, 29 Modem 5 Switch 6 Communication line 8 Line control unit 9 Facsimile transmission control unit 10 Image storage unit 11 Storage and exchange control unit 15, 25 Facsimile (image) storage and exchange device 16, 26 Facsimile (image) storage / exchange function unit 17 Electronic bulletin board function unit 18 Image information conversion unit 20, 30 Character information storage unit 21 Storage / exchange control unit 27 E-mail function unit 28 Character recognition processing unit 31 E-mail control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic bulletin board function unit that sends and receives character data in character format to and from a data communication terminal device through a communication line, a data storage exchange function unit that stores and exchanges image data, and characters from the electronic bulletin board function unit. An image storage, comprising: an image information conversion unit for converting data into image data; character data of latest information written in a specific bulletin board is converted into image data, and then transmitted to a specific terminal device by facsimile. Exchange equipment. 2. An electronic mail function unit for transmitting and receiving character data in character format to and from a data communication terminal unit through a communication line, a data storage and exchange device exchange function unit for storing and exchanging image data, and a facsimile data format reception. An image storage / exchange device comprising a character recognition processing unit that character-recognizes the received document information to create character-format character data, and an electronic mail control unit that stores the character data after the character recognition processing in an electronic mail box.