JPH0522503A - Facsimile equipment with computer interlocking function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit a computer to easily transfer image data in the integrated facsimile equipment adding the computer interlocking function to a function as the normal facsimile equipment transmitting and receiving the image data through a telephone line. CONSTITUTION:The facsimile equipment 1 is provided with a computer interlocking function connected through a telephone line L to a normal facsimile equipment 1 and connected to a computer PC through a private line L1. It is provided with a mail box 13 temporarily storing image data to be transmitted and received between the computer PC and the facsimile equipment 1 in a mail box 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having a computer interlocking function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a facsimile has been developed and used in which image data is transmitted and received via a telephone line. However, such a facsimile allows a figure which cannot be expressed by words to be transmitted to a distance. Since it can be easily transmitted, it enables efficient information exchange. However, such a facsimile has only a normal facsimile transmission / reception function of simply transmitting / receiving image data to / from another facsimile via a telephone line. Therefore, for example, the received image data is installed in the facsimile. Transferred to a computer installed in a place other than the specified location for display, or the image data read from the transmitted document is processed and modified by a computer, or is managed as a database, or is processed and modified. It was not equipped with the function of sending it to a facsimile machine of another station later.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and has a function as an ordinary facsimile apparatus for transmitting and receiving image data via a telephone line, and is controlled by a computer. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device having a new structure capable of processing image data and transmitting / receiving.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention proposed to achieve the above object has a computer interlocking function which is connected to a normal facsimile apparatus via a telephone line and is connected to a computer via a dedicated line. In particular, the image data transmitted / received between the computer and the facsimile device is temporarily stored in the mailbox.

[0005]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the image data is transmitted and received between the ordinary facsimile apparatus and the ordinary facsimile apparatus according to the ordinary facsimile communication procedure. In addition, the image data is transmitted and received between the computer and the computer according to the command command transmitted through the dedicated line. In that case, the image data is
It is converted into a format that can be identified by the computer. Then, according to the command command transmitted from the computer side, the image data transmitted / received is carried out by designating the box number using the mailbox as the medium, so that the data management of the image data by the computer is easy.

[0006]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an image transmission processing system in which the facsimile apparatus of the present invention is incorporated between a computer and a normal facsimile apparatus. As shown in the figure, the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention
Is connected to a normal facsimile device F via a telephone line L, and is connected to a computer PC via a dedicated line L1. Further, such a facsimile device 1 has a specific memory called a mailbox 13 for transmitting and receiving image data between the computer PC and the normal facsimile device F, and a specific area of the mailbox 13 (for example, , Box numbers # 0 to # 9) are designated to store image data and the like, and image data such as a document read by the image reading unit 11 is subjected to a predetermined conversion, and then the mail box. It is designed to be stored in 13 designated boxes.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the essential parts of such a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.
In the figure, 10 is a signal processing unit composed of a microcomputer for performing signal processing of each unit, 17 is a facsimile transmission / reception control unit for transmitting / receiving image data via a telephone line L, and 14 is a dedicated line L1. A signal transmission unit that transmits and receives image data, command commands, and the like to and from a separately installed computer, and has a function of transmitting and receiving image data to and from a facsimile device F of another station, and an image to and from a computer. It is provided to realize the function of transmitting and receiving data. An image reading unit 11 reads image information from a transmission document and converts the image information into image data.
Reference numeral 2 is a signal conversion unit that converts image data into a plurality of types of encoded data described below, 13 is a mailbox that stores the image data, 15 is a print output unit that prints out the image data on recording paper, and 16 is various operations. It is a key operation unit having a key.

Here, the signal conversion unit 12 uses a compression method widely used for ordinary facsimile communication defined by CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) for image data read by the image reading unit 11. There is M
It can be freely converted into H-encoded data, MH-encoded data with tag bits (compressed image data) or RL-encoded data with tag bits set independently, and can be connected to a connected computer. It can be converted into suitable encoded data and transmitted. Further, the mailbox 13 is composed of an image memory having a sufficient storage capacity, and the management table 13A can store a plurality of image data in an area corresponding to the mailbox number. The signal conversion unit 12 receives the read image data, the received image data, or the image data transmitted from the computer side.
It is possible to compress and store in MH code.
On the other hand, the facsimile transmission / reception control unit 17 includes a protocol detection circuit 17a transmitted via the telephone line L, a protocol generation circuit 17b for transmitting to the telephone line L side, a modem 17c for transmitting / receiving image data, and a telephone line L. And a line control unit 17d for switching connection.

In the facsimile apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the command command and the response signal are transmitted and received to and from the computer side, and the control is performed under the control of the computer. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of the check command and the check response transmitted / received when the computer controls the facsimile apparatus. The check command sent from the computer PC side to the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention includes various environment setting parameters. For example, the box number of the mailbox 13 for storing image data (for example, # 0.
~ # 9), whether or not there is a request to transfer the image data received by the facsimile apparatus 1 side to the computer PC side, as an option, a computer interlocking mode (FIP mode), a normal facsimile communication mode (FAX mode)
Specified information such as start-up, encoding method of image data transmitted / received to / from the computer PC, communication speed, reading accuracy, and the like are included.

The facsimile apparatus 1 can be switched to the computer interlocking mode by the option designation of the check command transmitted from the PC side. When the check command is received from the computer PC side, the check response is returned to the computer PC side. To be done.
This check response is an error message notifying that the check command cannot be decoded or other error has occurred, the mailbox number specified by the check command, the transfer request specified by the check command, and the size of the chart paper. , Reply information such as occurrence of transmission error of data transmitted via the dedicated line and remaining memory of the mailbox is included. in this way,
Since the facsimile device 1 of the present invention is configured to send back the setting result as a check response to the check command for setting the environmental conditions transmitted from the computer PC side, the facsimile device 1 is set to the computer-linked mode. In the meantime, the computer PC side can always control the facsimile apparatus 1 under supervision.

Next, a mail box which is an essential part of the present invention will be described. The mailbox 13 is provided between the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention and the facsimile apparatus F of another station, and between the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention and the computer P.
It temporarily stores data including image data transmitted / received to / from C. Unlike normal memory, a plurality of storage areas called boxes are set to facilitate management on the computer PC side. Storage of data including image data is performed by designating this area. FIG. 4 shows the mailbox 13 and the signal processing unit 1.
It is a block diagram showing the relation between 0 and a management table 13A. In this figure, the mailbox 13 is 000000
˜03FFFF addresses are provided in the volatile memory, and the storage area in the mailbox 13 is # 0 to # 0 according to the management table 13A configured in the volatile memory.
The signal processing unit 10 is managed by assigning a box number of 9, and the signal processing unit 10 writes the data including image data sent from the outside into the mailbox 13 and the data written in the mailbox 13. Is read out according to the management data stored in the management table 13A. Note that the RAM 18c is the signal processing unit 1
0 temporarily stores information such as an empty area obtained by referring to the management table 13A. The basic operation of such a mailbox will be described. 1) Operation when data is written in the mailbox A) When there is a data storage request specifying a box number from a computer PC, a facsimile apparatus F of another station, etc., the signal processing unit 10 refers to the management table 13A,
Determine if the mailbox has free space. That is, by sequentially referring to the start address and end address stored in correspondence with the mailbox number in the management table 13A, an empty area in the mailbox 13 is obtained, and the obtained empty area address is stored in the RAM.
Stored temporarily in 18C. B) As a result of making such a reference, the mailbox 13
If there is a vacant area, the transmitted data is stored in order from the youngest address of the vacant area stored in the RAM 18C, and when the storage of the data is completed, the start of the written box number is started. The address and end address are stored in the RAM 18C. However, if there is no free area in the mailbox 13 or if there is no free area in the middle of data storage, the signal processing unit 10 replies that writing is not possible. C) When the data is written in this way, the signal processing unit 10 stores the start address and end address of the area in which the data is written in the management table 13A in association with the box number designated by the write request. D) However, when the box number is not specified for the data to be stored, the data is stored in the mailbox 1
The start address and the end address are written in a specific box number (for example, # 9) of the management table 13A.

2) Operation when reading out data stored in the mailbox A) When there is a request for reading out data in which a box number is designated from a computer PC, a facsimile apparatus F of another station, etc., the signal processing unit 10 manages Referring to Table 13A,
Determines if the specified box contains data. That is, the start address and end address stored corresponding to the designated box number in the management table 13A are sequentially referred to, and those start address and end address are temporarily stored in the RAM 18c. B) Next, the signal processing unit 10 sequentially reads the data stored in the area defined by the start address and the end address stored in the RAM 18c from the mailbox 13, and the computer P requesting the data.
C, and transmitted to the facsimile device F of another station. C) In this way, after the data is read from the designated box number and the transmission is completed, the signal processing unit 1
At 0, the start address and end address stored corresponding to the box number in the management table 13A are deleted. At this time, the processing data is still stored in the storage area of the mailbox 13 designated by the start address and the end address. However, in this case, as will be described later, the management data in the management table 13A may be additionally registered without being deleted. In the above description, the configuration in which one set of start address and end address is written for one box number in the management table 13A has been described. However, the area where data is written in the mailbox 13 corresponds to one box number. If they are dispersed, the start address and end address for each area are stored in the management table 13A.

Next, the basic operation procedure of the mailbox 13 when transmitting and receiving image data between the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention and the facsimile apparatus F installed in another station will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Explain. When the facsimile device 1 receives a call, a predetermined protocol signal is transmitted and received between the facsimile device F of another station of the transmission source and a handshake is executed, and then image data is received (see steps 200 to 203). .. When the box number of the mailbox 13 to be stored is specified by the facsimile apparatus F of the transmission source for the received image data (for example, confidential reception), the image data is stored in the specified box. (Not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5), if no such designation is made, the data is stored in a dedicated box specified in advance. Then, this data is stored in addition to the data stored in the box number already designated. In this way, after the facsimile device 1 receives the image data,
The computer PC side is notified that image data has been received from the facsimile apparatus F of the other station, and a receive request for inquiring the transmission request on the computer PC side is transmitted. When an answer frame is returned from the computer PC side in response to this receive request, the signal processing unit 10 decodes this answer frame. When the answer frame requests the transfer of the received data, the signal conversion unit 12 converts the image data stored in the dedicated box into a form that can be discriminated by the computer PC and then the computer PC. When there is no such transfer request, the received image data is stored in the mailbox 13 and the program ends. Further, after making a receive request to the computer PC side, if the answer frame is not returned from the computer PC side even after waiting for a predetermined time, the facsimile apparatus 1 side prints out the received image data (however, reception is performed). If the received image data is treated as confidential reception, only the main points of the image data are printed out and the received image data is stored in the mailbox).

In the mailbox 13, the data requested to be written is stored by overwriting the data already stored in the designated box. In addition to the configuration in which it is stored in the mailbox 13, In addition to the data already stored, it may be additionally registered in the designated box. In this case, the data stored in the mailbox is executed by the check command sent from the computer PC side, and the box number of the mailbox is specified as an option specification of the check command sent from the computer PC side. Only when a command is entered, the data stored in the box with the specified number is deleted, and after the deletion, the computer P is deleted.
A response signal is sent back to the C side (see steps 300 to 303 in FIG. 6).

[0015]

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the transmission / reception of image data is controlled under the control of a computer, and the transmission of image data in which a box number is designated by using a mailbox as a medium. As a result, the management on the computer side becomes easy, and a high value-added image transmission processing system in which a facsimile device is integrated and integrated with the computer system can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an image transmission processing system configured by incorporating a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing details of a check command and a check response transmitted / received to / from a computer for performing a computer-linked operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a mailbox.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of image data received from a facsimile apparatus of another station.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of additional registration operation of a mailbox.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for deleting data stored in a mailbox by a check command.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Facsimile apparatus of this invention 10 ... Signal processing part 11 ... Image reading part 12 ... Signal conversion part 13 ... Mailbox 13A ... Management table 14 ... Signal transmission part 15・ ・ ・ Print output unit 16 ・ ・ ・ Key operation unit 17 ・ ・ ・ Facsimile transmission / reception control unit 18 ・ ・ ・ Memory unit L ・ ・ ・ Phone line L 1 ・ ・ ・ Dedicated line PC ・ ・ ・ Computer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Shinichi Tanaka 136 Takeda Mukoyo-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Murata Machinery Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A facsimile device having a computer interlocking function, which is connected to a normal facsimile device via a telephone line and is connected to a computer via a leased line, and has a mailbox. And in this mailbox,
A facsimile device having a computer interlocking function configured to temporarily store image data transmitted to and received from a computer or a facsimile device.