JPH06101786B2 - Equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Outline] In a facsimile machine with an IC memory having a relay broadcast function, some factors may occur after receiving a relay request from a requesting station and before the completion of broadcast to all partner stations. If the power is turned off and the contents of the memory storing the image data are erased, the notification indicating that the file is erased due to the power off is returned to the requesting station.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having a relay broadcast function, and more particularly to a facsimile machine using an IC memory for storing image data.

[Conventional technology]

With the widespread use of facsimiles in recent years, there is an increasing need for a relay broadcast function. A memory for accumulating image data is required for relay broadcasting, and floppy disks, hard disks, IC memories, etc. can be considered as the memory means. Floppy disks, hard disks, etc. have large drive devices, and facsimile devices. Since the size of the whole becomes large, the necessity of using the IC memory that requires a small mounting area is increasing recently.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the IC memory has a drawback that the stored contents are erased when the power is cut off for some reason such as power failure.

The fax machine has a battery-supported memory to provide information about broadcast files, such as the number of files (transmission messages) currently held, whether or not a file has been requested to be relayed, and which file is currently being transmitted. The minimum necessary information is written in the memory. With this function, if the power is cut off, the memory will be read when the power is restored, and the contents of the memory will be printed out, such as when the paper for the facsimile was cut off. You can know However, only the person at the location where the facsimile device is installed knows that the power is cut off, and the person at the requesting station who has requested the relay broadcast to the facsimile device is unknown. Is. Of course, this is inconvenient.

The present invention aims to improve these points and notify the requesting station if the untransmitted file disappears due to power failure and prompt the resending.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides an IC memory unit (3
0) and a non-volatile RAM (18) for storing a management table of the memory unit, the management table is provided with a column (d) for storing the telephone number of the relay broadcast requesting station, and When the power is turned off, the contents of the management table are checked, and if there is an untransmitted relay broadcast file, a means for sending a message to request the resend of the file to the requesting station is provided.

[Action]

If an IC memory is used to store the broadcast file, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the facsimile machine, but the broadcast file will disappear when the power is turned off. Therefore, to restart the relay broadcast, it is necessary to request the requester to resend the file. However, if the telephone number of the requester is stored in the non-volatile RAM, a resend request will be automatically sent immediately using the telephone number. Therefore, it is possible to quickly respond without requiring human labor.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows an outline of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied. 10 is an operation panel unit, 12 is a document reading unit, 14 is a recording unit for recording received image data on paper, 16 is a main control unit, and 18 is file management. Non-volatile RAM that stores tables, etc. (random
Access memory) For example, battery support semiconductor RA
M, 20 are line control units, 22 are modems, 24 are line control devices (N
CU). Further, 28 is a compression unit for image data, and 26 is a decompression unit for compressed image data. 30 is an IC memory unit that stores compressed image data (no battery support, so volatile
RAM), which was a conventional device such as a floppy disk.

The transmission original is read by the reading unit 12, the read image data is compressed by the compression unit 28, and the line control unit 20, the modem 22, the NCU 2
It is sent to the line via 4 and the destination facsimile machine receives it. The received data is received by the reverse route, that is, the line, the NCU 24, the modem 22, and the line control unit 20, and if the data is compressed, it is restored by the decompression unit 26 and given to the recording unit 14, and the received data is printed on the paper. Record. The above is the operation as a normal facsimile, but in the case of relay broadcast, the operation is as follows. That is, the facsimile device of the relay broadcast request source sends the image data together with the control information indicating the broadcast destination to the requested facsimile device via the line, and in the requested facsimile, the line, NCU 24, modem 22, line control unit 20, main unit Control unit 1
6. Once stored in the IC memory unit 30 through the compression unit 28. The number of facsimile machines that request relay broadcast is not limited to one, but there may be many, and there may be multiple transmission data (files) because there may be multiple broadcasts, but all of these files are ICs. The outline (management table) of the contents of the IC memory unit 30 stored in the memory unit 30 is stored in the nonvolatile RAM of the main control unit 16.

FIG. 2 shows the contents of the nonvolatile RAM 18. File a in column a
The columns indicating o.01, 02, 03, ..., The column b indicates the type of file, where 01 is a broadcast and 81 is a relay broadcast. Column c is a file status column, which indicates normal termination at F0 and scheduled transmission (not transmitted) at 01. Columns a to c have a memory capacity of 1 byte, and 01, 81, ... represent hexadecimal 2 digits, and BC
Speaking of DC, it is 00000001, 10000001, .... Even in the conventional facsimile machine, the nonvolatile RAM of the main control unit 16 has a.
Since it has a column c, if the power is cut off, the RAM 18 can be seen to find out how far the transmission has been completed and which file has not been transmitted. However, since there is no information such as the broadcast relay request source (detailed data is in the memory 30 side), it was not possible to notify the broadcast relay request source of the power failure.

Therefore, in the present invention, a column d is provided in the nonvolatile RAM 18 as shown in FIG. 2, and the telephone number of the broadcast relay request source is written in this column d. 03-123-4567 is an example of the telephone number. Is. This way, if the power is cut off, the IC memory section
30 data (files, etc.) disappears, but non-volatile RAM1
The contents of 8 remain, so you can read this contents and know how far the file transmission has ended, which files have not been sent, etc. Can notify the requester.

The main control unit 16 creates a notification indicating that the file has been deleted due to power off based on the management table of the nonvolatile RAM 18,
In this example, the fact that files No. 2 and 3 have been erased is output on paper. Since the relay broadcast file is included in the deleted parentheses file, create a message indicating that the file was deleted due to power off and that you want to resend the same content file, and request this for relay broadcast In the original example, it is sent to 03-123-4567. FIG. 3 shows this processing flow.

Power cut may occur during file transmission, file transmission to some of the broadcast destinations, file transmission to the rest,
It is possible that The IC memory unit 30 has information about how many of the plurality of broadcast destinations have been transmitted, and therefore disappears when the power is cut off, so that the broadcast is restarted from the beginning to all the broadcast destinations. Of course, even such information is stored in the nonvolatile RAM 18
If it is stored in, the data need only be sent to the remaining broadcast destinations when the broadcast is restarted. However, increasing the capacity of the non-volatile RAM causes an increase in power consumption, which causes a problem such as an increase in battery capacity.

[Effects of the Invention] As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention,
A file erasure notification due to power failure is sent to the relay request source immediately after the power is restored, and it is possible to respond to power failure sooner and more reliably than manually, and the reliability of relay broadcasting is improved and the burden on the user is also light. The advantages such as

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of a nonvolatile RAM, and FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a procedure for notifying a relay requesting station of power failure. is there. In FIG. 1, 30 is an IC memory unit and 18 is a non-volatile RAM.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus comprising an IC memory unit (30) for storing a relay broadcast file and a non-volatile RAM (18) for storing a management table of the memory unit, wherein a relay broadcast request is sent to the management table. A column (d) for storing the telephone number of the station is provided, and when the power is turned off, the contents of the management table are checked, and if there is an untransmitted relay broadcast file, a message requesting retransmission of the file is sent to the requesting station. A facsimile machine provided with means for sending to.