JPH05244382A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily start a call to an operator calling by providing a response signal transmitting part which transmits a signal indicating the response of the operator to a facsimile equipment at an other party side at the time of call response. CONSTITUTION:The signal indicating the operator calling, which is transmitted from a call originating side, is led to a control part 12 through a network controller 23 and a MODEM 24. The control part 12 displays that it is the operator calling in a display device 16. When a call key switch 14 is depressed and the output of a hook detecting part 19 indicates on-hook, the control part 12 connects the contact (c) of the switch 21 to the contact (b). The output from a telephone line part 22 is connected to a speaker 18 and the output of a microphone 17 is connected to the telephone line part 22. Then, the control part 12 allows a response signal transmitting part 11 to generate the signal indicating operator response and transmits the signal to a line 30 through the MODEM 24 or the network controller 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine which starts a call by pressing a call key switch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile apparatus for performing image communication has a function that enables a call during image signal communication. However, on the side receiving a call, after picking up the handset, a call is made. It is necessary to press the switch, and if the call switch is pressed earlier than when the handset is picked up, the line connection is disconnected, and the communication ends without starting the call. Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-56068 proposes a method for simplifying the operation at the start of a call.

In the device according to the above-mentioned proposal, when a call is required on either the calling side or the called side, the call start operation such as pressing the call button is performed on the calling side to call the other side. When the operator responds to the call, the response is displayed by sound or characters.
Then, according to this display, when the handset is picked up, the call starts. When a call is received from the other party, a message to that effect is displayed, and the operation of picking up the handset according to this display corresponds to the call request.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above device is so constructed that, in the call control procedure, if a signal indicating the correspondence of the call is not transmitted from the other party within a predetermined time, it is judged as an error. .. Therefore, if both hands of the called operator are blocked by office supplies, documents, etc., and the handset cannot be picked up within a predetermined time, it does not mean that the communication line or device is abnormal. There was a problem that communication was interrupted due to error processing.

The present invention was devised to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of facilitating the start of a telephone call when an operator calls.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a facsimile apparatus of the present invention is provided with a call key switch provided on an operation panel, a signal indicating a call of an operator is introduced, and the call key switch is pressed. When the call is answered, when the call is answered, the response signal sending unit that sends a signal indicating the operator's response to the facsimile machine on the other side, and when the call is answered and the hook detection unit detects on-hook At this time, a configuration including a speaker to which the voice output of the telephone circuit unit is guided is used.

[0007]

In the on-hook state where the handset is not picked up, when the call key switch is pressed to respond to the call from the operator, the output from the telephone circuit section, which is the output for the call, is guided to the speaker. When the call key switch is pressed, the response signal sending unit sends a signal indicating the operator's response to the facsimile machine on the other side even when the handset is on hook.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical construction of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a line 30 such as a general telephone line is provided.
Is led to a network control device 23 that controls outgoing and incoming calls. The network control device 23 includes a telephone circuit unit 22.
And each of the modems 24 are bidirectionally connected.

The telephone circuit section 22 and the c contact of the switch 21 are connected to each other, and the a contact of the switch 21 and the handset 20, the b contact, the speaker 18 and the microphone 17 are connected to each other.
Each is a bidirectional connection. Handset 2
The output of the hook detection unit 19 that detects whether 0 has been picked up is guided to the control unit 12, and the switch 21
The output from the control unit 12 is applied to the control input of the switch as a control signal for switching the switch.

The operation panel 13 has a call key switch 1
4, an input switch 15, and a display device 16 are provided. The output of the input switch 15, which is a switch group including switches for setting various data such as a telephone number for speed dialing and an instruction to start operation, and the output of the call key switch 14 are both output from the control unit 12. 16 which was introduced in the and is composed mainly of an LCD
An output from the control unit 12 is given to.

An output from the control unit 12 is guided to a printing device 25 for printing on thermal paper, and an output of a reading device 26 mainly including a line sensor for reading an original is sent to the control unit 12. ing. Further, an image storage device 27 having an image memory as a main part, a communication log storage device 28 which is a memory for storing various data relating to communication, a setting storage device for storing initial settings, a telephone number for speed dialing, and the like. Each of 29 is bidirectionally connected to the control unit 12.

Further, inside the control section 12, there is provided a response signal sending section 11 for generating and outputting a response signal for an operator call.

In the above configuration, each of the a-contact, the b-contact, and the c-contact of the switch 21 is shown as a one-circuit configuration in FIG. 1 for the sake of easy understanding of the drawing. Each contact has a two-circuit configuration, and is configured to switch between an analog signal input to the telephone circuit unit 22 and an analog signal transmitted from the telephone circuit unit 22.

The control unit 12 has a software main part, and the response signal sending unit 11 is
Since the function is realized by part of this software, the response signal sending unit 11 is illustrated as a configuration provided inside the control unit 12.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a procedure of a control signal when an operator is called according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an operation when an operator is called according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The operation of one embodiment of the present invention, the construction of which has been described above, will be described below with reference to FIG.

First, the overall operation will be described.

When an incoming signal is introduced from the line 30 to the network control device 23 in the standby state, the control unit 12 sends a control signal to the calling facsimile machine via the network control device 23 and the modem 24. By setting the conditions for image communication. And later
The reception of the image signal transmitted according to the set conditions is started.

The image signal received at this time is set in advance by the input switch 15 and is sent to the printing device 25 or the image storage device 27 for printing the image signal according to the condition stored in the setting storage device 29.

When the image signal is sent to the printing device 25, the image is printed on the thermal paper by the printing device 25, and when the image signal is sent to the image storage device 27, the sent image signal is sent. It is stored in the image storage device 27.

Further, in the communication log storage device 28, as data corresponding to the image signal received at this time, data such as the date and time at that time, the number of pages of the received image signal, the telephone number of the calling side facsimile device, and the like are stored. Remembered.

During the calling operation, the control unit 12 reads the data such as the telephone number stored in the setting storage device 29, if necessary, according to the condition input by the input switch 15. Calling and control signals are exchanged via the network control device 23 and the modem 24.

When the setting of the conditions such as the communication speed using the control signal is completed, the control unit 12 sends the image signal read by the reading device 26 to the modem 24, and the line is sent via the network control device 23. The image signal is sent to 30.
In addition, the data such as the date and time and the number of transmitted pages regarding this communication are stored in the communication log storage device 28.

In the operation at the time of incoming call, which has already been described above, when a PRI-Q signal (indicated by 41 in FIG. 2) indicating an operator call is transmitted from the calling side, this PRI-Q signal 41 is transmitted to the network. Controller 23 and modem 2
4 is guided to the control unit 12, the control unit 12
Displays on the display device 16 that the call is made by the operator, and starts the operation of detecting whether or not the call key switch 14 has been pressed (step S11).

When the call key switch 14 is pressed, it is determined that the call is a response to an operator call, and then the output of the hook detection unit 19 is determined.

In this determination, when the output of the hook detector 19 indicates on-hook, it is determined that the response is from the speaker reception, and the controller 12 sets the c contact of the switch 21 to b.
The output from the telephone circuit unit 22 is connected to the speaker, and the output from the microphone 17 is connected to the input of the telephone circuit unit 22 (step S12,
S13).

In the operation of step S12, when the output of the hook detector 19 indicates off-hook, the operator uses the handset 20 to talk for communication.
The control unit 12 determines that is taken up. Therefore, the control unit 12 connects the telephone circuit unit 22 and the handset 20 to each other by connecting the c contact of the switch 21 to the a contact (step S14).

Further, following the operation of step S13 or step S14, the control unit 12 causes the response signal transmission unit 11 to generate a PIP signal indicating the operator's response, and causes the modem 24 and the network control device 23 to generate it. The PIP signal is sent to the line 30 (indicated by 42 in FIG. 2).

Assuming that the facsimile machine to which the PIP signal 42 is introduced (the facsimile machine on the calling side) is the same as that of the present embodiment, when the PIP signal 42 is received, the control section 12 causes the call key to enter. Waiting for the switch 14 to be pressed, the output of the hook detector 19 is determined (steps S11 and S12). And the hook detector 19
When the output of indicates the on-hook, the c-contact of the switch 21 is connected to the b-contact (step S13), and when indicating the off-hook, the c-contact is connected to the a-contact (step S1).
4).

Then, the rear controller 12 generates the PRI-Q signal and sends the generated signal to the line 30 (indicated by 43 in FIG. 2). Therefore, when the signal 43 is guided to the called-side facsimile machine, the call is started (at this time, the network controller 23 connects the line 30 to the telephone circuit section 22).

When an operator call is first made from the called facsimile machine, this call is notified to the calling facsimile machine as a PIP signal. Therefore, in the facsimile device on the calling side that receives this PIP signal, the output of the hook detection unit 19 is determined after the call key switch 14 is pressed, as in the operation already described, and the switch is performed according to the determination result. 21 connections are controlled. After that, a PRI signal indicating the operator's response is sent to the called-side facsimile machine.

Therefore, in the called side facsimile machine,
Similarly, the output of the hook detector 19 is determined after the call key switch 14 is pressed, and the switch 21 is controlled based on the determination. Then, the call starts.

In the above operation, when the call is set to the reception using the speaker 18, the c contact of the switch 21 is turned on when the handset 20 is picked up in any case of the response to the operator call. Immediately, the control for connecting to the contact a is performed, and the call is changed from the speaker reception to the communication by the handset 20 (this operation is not shown in FIG. 3).

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but in the determination of the call key switch 14 in step S11,
Although the configuration in which the determination period is unlimited has been described, as another configuration, when the call key switch 14 is not pressed within a preset time, it is determined that there is no response from the operator, and the call procedure is terminated. And so on.

[0037]

In the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, when the signal indicating the call of the operator is guided and the call key switch is pressed, a signal indicating the operator's response is sent from the response signal sending section to the facsimile apparatus on the other side. When the output of the hook detection unit indicates on-hook, the voice output of the telephone circuit unit is guided to the speaker.Therefore, as a response operation to the operator call, even if both hands are blocked, Since it is only necessary to press the call key switch using a part of the above, there is an effect that it is possible to easily start a call for an operator call.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure of a control signal when an operator is called according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation when an operator is called according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Response Signal Sending Section 13 Operation Panel 14 Call Key Switch 18 Speaker 19 Hook Detecting Section 22 Telephone Circuit Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A call key switch provided on an operation panel and a signal indicating an operator's response when a call is answered when a signal indicating a call of an operator is guided and the call key switch is pressed. And a speaker to which the voice output of the telephone circuit section is guided when the call is answered and the hook detection section detects on-hook. apparatus.