JPH0556233A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a facsimile device capable of smooth operation. CONSTITUTION:A scanner 5 reading an original and outputting image data, circuits 1 to 3 transmitting the image data to an opponent, a printer 7 printing out the received image data as the original, a memory 4 storing the image data to be transmitted and the received image data, and a display means 6 are provided. The remaining amount of a memory 4 capacity and the data amount of the image data already stored in the memory 4 are displayed on the display means 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art According to a memory storage type facsimile apparatus, at the time of transmission, 1. the original to be transmitted is read by a scanner. 2. The image data of the read document is temporarily stored in memory. 3. Send the image data in the memory to the other party. Is performed. When receiving, 1. Store the received image data in the memory once. 2. The image data in the memory is printed out on paper by the printer. Is performed.

Therefore, according to this memory storage type facsimile apparatus, even if the same original is transmitted to a plurality of parties, the original need only be read once. Further, the transmitted image data can be printed out as an original when necessary. Alternatively, it can be transferred to another facsimile device, and at this time, the image quality is not deteriorated.

[0004]

By the way, this memory storage type facsimile apparatus generally has an alarm,
When the memory is full of image data, it is arranged to be alerted by an alarm.

However, this alarm only informs the user that the memory is full of image data.
That is, the alarm merely indicates that the original cannot be read any more when it is transmitting, and merely indicates that the document cannot be received any more when it is receiving. Therefore, it does not make much sense to consider measures after the alarm is issued.

The present invention is intended to solve such a problem.

[0007]

For this reason, in the present invention, when the reference numerals of the respective parts correspond to the embodiments described later, the scanner 5 for reading the original and outputting the image data.
Circuits 1 to 3 for transmitting image data to a partner, circuits 1 to 3 for receiving image data from the partner, a printer 7 for printing out the received image data as a document,
A memory 4 for accumulating the image data to be transmitted and the image data to be received and a display unit 6 are provided, and the display unit 6 has the remaining capacity of the memory 4 and the data amount of the image data already accumulated in the memory 4. And are displayed.

[0008]

When the original is read or the image data is received, the remaining capacity of the memory 4 and the data amount of the image data already stored are displayed on the display means 6. Therefore, the facsimile machine can be used more smoothly.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, LN is a public telephone line, 1 is a system controller composed of a microcomputer, 2 is an NCU (network control circuit), 3 is a modem circuit, and the line LN is connected to a syscon 1 through an NCU 2. At the same time, the modem circuit 3 is connected between the NCU 2 and the system controller 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes an image memory (memory circuit) that stores transmitted and received image data.
In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, it has a capacity of 512 Kbytes, and the image data is sequentially written in a data compressed state when being transmitted and received.

Further, 5 is a scanner for reading an original to be transmitted, 6 is a display means which will be described later, 7 is a printer for outputting the received image data as an image, 8 is various operation keys, and these means 5-8 are system controllers. Connected to 1. In this case, in this example, the display means 6 is an LCD and, for example, as shown in FIG.
It has a display pixel of 880 dots horizontally. Also, this LCD 6
When a character is displayed, the character is displayed in a size of vertical 16 dots × horizontal 16 dots if the character is a full-width size.

On the right side of the LCD 6, for example, 20%
Area STTS is used as the status display area. In this display area STTS, the operation mode of this facsimile device is displayed, and the remaining capacity of the memory 4 is displayed in the "Memory remaining" section.
In the item of (4), the number of stored pages of the document (the amount of memory 4 used) is displayed. In this case, the remaining capacity of the memory 4 is displayed as a percentage. As shown in FIG. 2, if the data amount of image data in the memory 4 is N bytes,
The remaining capacity of the memory 4 is (512 K−N) / 512 K × 10
0 Displayed as [%].

Further, FIG. 3 shows the display contents of the LCD 6 when the facsimile apparatus is in the standby state. In the case of this figure, "memory remaining: 100%" and "recorded page 00". The remaining capacity of memory 4 is 100%
(No image data is stored at all), indicating that the number of originals to be transmitted or received is zero. Depending on the content of the original, the data amount of the image data is compressed to about 25 Kbytes per page of the original, so that the memory 4 can store the image data of about 20 pages of the original. Become.

Then, the display of the display area STTS is updated at a constant period during reading, transmitting, receiving, and printing of the original, and in particular, "remaining memory" and "number of recorded pages" are displayed. The display of is updated every time the scanner 5 reads a document and receives image data, each time the image data for one page is stored in the memory 4. Also, the memory 4 is processed by the processing of the syscon 1.
Even when the image data of is deleted (this deletion is performed in page units), it is updated page by page.

Further, in areas other than the area STTS of the LCD 6, usage of the facsimile machine at that time is displayed.

At the time of transmission, when the key 8 is operated, the original is read by the scanner 5, and the image data of the original is supplied from the scanner 5 to the syscon 1 to be compressed and stored in the memory 4. Therefore, when the image data of all originals is stored in the memory 4,
When the transmission partner is dialed from the key 8, this is executed by the syscon 1 and the NCU 2 and transmitted to the partner's facsimile machine through the line LN. When the channel is connected to the facsimile machine of the other party, the image data in the memory 4 is read in the order of the read original, and the image data is read through the syscon 1 through the modem circuit 3
To be encoded into a predetermined transmission signal and then N
It is sent to the line LN through CU2.

Further, at the time of reception, the incoming call request from the facsimile machine of the other party is responded by the NCU 2 and the syscon 1, and the channel is opened with the facsimile machine of the other party. Then, the image data encoded into a predetermined transmission signal is transmitted through the line LN, and this signal is supplied to the modem circuit 3 through the NCU 2 and is decoded into the original image data, and this image data is converted into the syscon 1
The data are stored in the memory 4 in the order in which they are transmitted through.

Then, the stored image data is sequentially read out through the syscon 1 and expanded into the original image data. This image data is supplied to the printer 7 and the image data transmitted by the other party is used as a document. Printed out.

Further, when the above-mentioned transmission or reception is performed, in the present invention, the display area ST
Not only is the "remaining memory" and "number of recorded pages" of the TS displayed, but also "every remaining page" and "number of recorded pages" each time one page of the image data of the original is written in the memory 4. Is updated.

Therefore, by comparing the remaining capacity of the memory 4 displayed in the "remaining memory" with the number of stored originals displayed in the "number of recorded pages", how many more originals will be left Since it is possible to predict whether or not the document can be read or received, when it is likely that a document that cannot be read or cannot be received because the memory 4 is full will be displayed, for example, the image data that is no longer needed by operating the key 8 will be displayed. By erasing, the memory 4 is effectively used, and necessary image data is surely stored in the memory 4.

In addition, during transmission or reception, the memory 4
Since it is avoided that the memory 4 becomes full, the chance of encountering an operation interruption error due to the memory 4 becoming full becomes extremely small, and smoother transmission and reception becomes possible.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the memory storage type facsimile apparatus, the remaining capacity and the amount of use of the image data in the memory 4 in the standby state, during the reading of the original, during the transmission, during the reception, etc. Is displayed on the LCD 6, it is possible to grasp overall how many documents can be accessed, etc., and the facsimile apparatus can be operated more smoothly. Also, memory 4
The remaining capacity of the memory is extremely low, or memory 4
When it is almost out of memory, by deleting unnecessary image data, the usable area of the memory 4 can be expanded and the memory 4 can be used more effectively.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of a memory.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display state of an LCD.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 System Controller 2 NCU 3 Modem Circuit 4 Image Memory 5 Scanner 6 Display Means 7 Printer 8 Operation Keys

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A scanner for reading a document and outputting image data, a circuit for transmitting the image data to a partner, a circuit for receiving image data from the partner, and printing out the received image data as a document. A printer, a memory for accumulating the image data to be transmitted and the received image data, and a display means, and the display means, the remaining capacity of the memory for accumulating the image data, and the A facsimile device that displays the amount of image data already stored in memory.