JPH06125440A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure the time required for completion of preparations for transmission of the next page. CONSTITUTION:Protocol procedures to play for time at the time of abnormality are set in a setting part 23. When detecting that a document of the next page is not prepared because of an abnormality of supply or the like, a next page preparation detecting part 18 outputs the detection signal to a switching control part 17 and controls it to close a switching part 16. As the result, protocol procedures in the setting part 23 are used instead of protocol procedures in a procedure setting part 22 to control a communication control part 15. Procedures which send EOM to forcibly execute the procedures of a phase B, procedures which send a host message command MPS again in the case of incompletion of preparations of the next page after MCF reception, or the like are set as procedures to play for time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine which can secure a waiting time between pages until the next page of a transmission document can be transmitted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a facsimile apparatus, when transmitting a document having a plurality of pages, it is necessary to be able to identify the page breaks. For this reason, for example, in the case of immediately transmitting a document read by a reading device, it is configured such that after reading the previous transmission document, the next document is moved to the reading position at a predetermined interval.

By the way, the original of the next page may not reach the reading position within the scheduled time provided between the pages due to an original feeding trouble such as a slip. If the document does not reach the reading position within the scheduled time due to such a problem, the facsimile apparatus detects an abnormality and interrupts the transmission.

Regardless of the case where the above trouble cannot be repaired in a short time, if the transmission is interrupted even when there is a possibility of returning to the normal state in a short time, the transmission procedure will be executed again from the beginning. Is troublesome.

Such a problem is not limited to a device configured to transfer a document to a predetermined reading position by an automatic document feeder (ADF). Even when transmitting documents stored in the disk device or image information supplied from the host computer, it may take a long time to prepare the image information for transmission depending on the drive control of the disk device and the communication procedure with the host computer. However, it is possible that an error is detected and transmission is interrupted.

In order to cope with such a problem, there has been proposed a facsimile apparatus in which a preamble of a post message command is lengthened to secure a time until the preparation for transmission of a document on the next page is completed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI 2). -123871).

[0007]

The above-mentioned conventional facsimile machine has the following problems. The sending time of the postamble command preamble is CCITT.
T. According to 30 recommendations, it is specified as 1 ± 0.15 seconds. Therefore, if it is attempted to secure the scheduled time between pages by lengthening the preamble transmission time, the time defined by the above recommendation may be exceeded, and an abnormality may be detected and communication may not be continued. Depending on the partner device, a long time (for example, about 15 seconds) longer than that specified in the recommendation may be set as the preamble waiting time.
This is not a standard. Therefore, there is no guarantee that communication will always continue normally even if a long preamble is sent. In other words, it is difficult to secure a long time between pages depending on the other device, and when the preparation of the transmission document takes an extremely long time, there is still a problem that the abnormality is detected and the communication is interrupted. It was

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device that can secure a sufficient time for preparing the document of the next page regardless of the type of the other party.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve the above problems and to achieve the object, the present invention comprises a preparation detecting means for judging whether or not a transmission document of the next page is in a transmission possible state, A first feature is that the transmission document of the page is provided with a communication control unit that executes a protocol procedure for earning time when the transmission document is not in the transmission enabled state.

A second feature of the present invention is that the protocol procedure for earning time is selected from a plurality of prepared protocol procedures according to a communication mode.

Further, according to the present invention, the type of post message command for sending the judgment by the preparation detecting means,
Alternatively, the third feature is that it is configured to be executed by a combination of a post message command sent and a post message response command received.

[0012]

According to the present invention having the above characteristics, it is possible to secure the time between pages by the time required to execute the protocol procedure for earning time. Moreover, since this protocol procedure is in accordance with CCITT's recommendation, even if the partner machine is a model with special specifications, communication is not hindered to secure the time.

Particularly, in the present invention having the second feature, it is possible to secure the time between pages by selecting the optimum protocol procedure according to the communication mode.

Further, according to the present invention having the third feature, it is judged whether or not the transmission document of the next page is ready only when necessary.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a principal block diagram showing the hardware structure of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a reading device 1 reads a document fed from an automatic document feeder (ADF) 2 and converts it into an electric signal (image information).
The image information is encoded by the encoding / decoding device 3 and then transmitted to the line via the modem 4 and the network control unit (NCU) 5.

The modem 4 has low-speed mode and high-speed mode interfaces. The low-speed mode uses the V.V. 21, the high-speed mode is an interface V. 27 ter, V.I. 29, V.I. Three
3, V.I. It is 17 mag. The NCU 5 controls transmission of dial signals and connection with the network.

The image information read by the reading device 1 can be temporarily stored in the image information memory 6 and can be sent to the line in response to a transmission instruction separately given. On the other hand, the image information received from the outside is recorded by the printing device 7 after being decoded by the encoding / decoding device 3.

The operation / display device 8 includes operation switches for giving an instruction to the facsimile device by an operator,
And a panel such as a liquid crystal display system for displaying the operating state. The ROM 9 stores a program for controlling the entire facsimile device and a program for controlling the modem 4 and the NCU 5. RAM10
Is a work area used to execute the program.

The CPU 11 includes the ROM 9 and the RAM
According to the program and control data stored in 10, and the instruction input from the operation / display device 8, the control process and the transmission control procedure process of the entire facsimile device are executed. Data exchange between the above-mentioned components is performed via the system bus 12.

Further, a host computer 13 and a disk device 14 can be connected to the facsimile device and the image information supplied from these can be transmitted to the partner station.
In addition, the host computer 13 and the disk device 14,
It can be connected via an appropriate interface (not shown).

In the facsimile apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, when transmitting a document over a plurality of pages, there is a document feeding trouble between the pages or it takes a long time to read the image information, and the preparation for transmission is completed. If not, the processing will be described below. In the following, a case will be described where the image information of the document supplied from the ADF 2 is transmitted.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S1, a calling operation is performed. Calling is performed by sending the dialed digits input from the operation / display device 8 to the line via the NCU 5.

In steps S2 to S5, the protocol procedure of phase B is executed. This procedure is based on CCITT Recommendation T. Since this is a standard procedure based on 30, the detailed description will be omitted.

When the steps S2 to S5 are completed,
Reading of the original is started by the reading device 1, and in step S6, image information of the read original is sent. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the image information for one page has been transmitted. If the determination in step S7 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S8, and the presence / absence of the original of the next page is determined based on the output signal of the original detection sensor provided in the ADF 2. The document detection sensor is provided, for example, on a document tray forming the ADF 2.

If it is determined that there is a document in the ADF 2, the process proceeds to step S9, the ADF 2 is driven to start the transfer of the document, and in step S10, the transmission of the preamble is started. In the normal state, the document of the next page is transported to the reading position within the time (1 ± 0.15 seconds) when this preamble is sent. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S8 that there is no document in the ADF 2, step S9 is skipped.

In step S11, it is determined whether or not the preamble has been transmitted. If this determination is affirmative, then in step S12, it is determined again whether or not the document of the ADF 2 is present in order to determine whether or not to end the communication. If there is no manuscript, the process proceeds to step S13 to execute a normal protocol procedure for ending communication.

If there is a manuscript for the next page, step S
Proceeding to step 14, it is determined whether or not the manuscript for the next page is prepared. This determination is made based on whether or not the leading edge of the document is detected based on the output signal of the position sensor provided at the reading position.

If the original has been transferred to the reading position within the scheduled time, that is, within the preamble sending time, step S
Proceed to 15 to send the post message command. Post message command is MPS (multi-page signal)
Or EOM (end of message). Step S16
Now, execute the normal protocol procedure corresponding to these post message commands.

When the post message command MPS is sent after the processing of step S16 is completed, the process proceeds to the beginning of phase C, that is, step S6 after receiving the MCF (message confirmation) from the partner station. On the other hand, when the post message command EOM is transmitted, after receiving the MCF from the partner station, the process proceeds to the beginning of phase B, that is, step S2.

If the original on the next page has not reached the reading position due to a feeding problem such as slippage,
If the determination in step S14 is negative, the process proceeds to step S17, and the post message command EOM is transmitted. In step S18, the protocol procedure corresponding to the post message command EOM is executed, and the beginning of phase B, that is, step S2 is proceeded to.

The post message command EOM is used after the end of image information transmission when the mode is changed, and the post message command MPS is used after the end of image information transmission when the mode is not changed. However, in step S17, the post message command EOM is forcibly transmitted regardless of whether or not the mode is changed in order to secure the time between pages. As a result, the process shifts to the phase B, and the time for preparing the document can be secured only for the time for executing the phase B.

In this embodiment, the protocol procedure is CCIT.
Since it is in accordance with T's recommendation, it is possible to deal with any partner station and surely gain time between pages.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the second embodiment, after receiving the response command to the post message command, it is determined whether or not the document on the next page is in the reading position, that is, whether or not the document is ready to be transmitted, and based on this result, time is earned. Perform the protocol steps in.

In step S20, a calling operation is performed. In step S21, the process of phase B is performed. The contents of this phase B are the same as those in steps S2 to S5.

In step S22, the image information is transmitted.
In step S23, it is determined whether or not the image information for one page has been transmitted. If the determination in step S23 is affirmative, the flow advances to step S24 to determine the presence or absence of the original on the next page.

If there is the original on the next page, step S25.
Proceed to step 2 to start document transfer (start preparation). If there is no original on the next page, the process proceeds to step S30 to execute the normal protocol procedure for ending the communication.

In step S26, a post message command is sent. In step S27, it is determined whether a response command to the sent post message command is received. When the response command from the partner station is received, the process proceeds to step S28, and it is determined whether or not the original of the next page is prepared. If the determination in step S28 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S29 to execute a normal protocol procedure.

If the original for the next page has not been prepared, the determination in step S28 is negative and step S2
Go to 6. Steps S26 and S27 are executed, and the time for this processing can be set as the manuscript preparation waiting time.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the post message command can be repeatedly transmitted until the manuscript of the next page is prepared, and time can be gained.

It is possible to prepare both of the time consuming protocol procedures described in the first and second embodiments, and select and use any one of them. In the third embodiment described below, one of the above two types of protocol procedures is selected depending on the communication mode. That is, when the ECM (error correction mode) communication mode is used, the protocol procedure described in the second embodiment is selected, and in the other communication modes, the protocol procedure described in the first embodiment is selected. .

By providing such selection criteria, the following problems can be avoided. That is, in the protocol procedure described in the second embodiment, although the post message command is actually retransmitted, on the receiving side,
It cannot be determined whether the post message command was retransmitted or the post message command was received without receiving the image information. Since some receivers interpret that the latter case has occurred, there is a problem that the counter indicating the page number of the document is updated regardless of the actual page number. On the other hand, in the ECM communication mode, since the page number information corresponding to the actually transmitted original document, that is, the value of the page counter can be included in the post message command to be transmitted, the above problem does not occur.

A third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S40, a calling operation is performed. In step S41, the process of phase B is performed. In the communication in this phase B, the capabilities of the partner device are detected, and communication modes that match each other are selected.

In step S42, the image information is transmitted.
In step S43, it is determined whether the transmission of the image information for one page is completed. If the determination in step S43 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S44 to determine whether the communication mode is ECM.

If the communication mode is ECM, step S4
If the result of the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S24 (FIG. 4), and a process including a procedure of repeatedly sending the post message command is selected as a protocol procedure for earning time between pages.

On the other hand, if the communication mode is other than ECM, the determination in step S44 is negative and the process proceeds to step S8 (FIG. 3) to force the phase B to be compulsorily transitioned to a protocol procedure for earning time between pages. Select the process to include.

The above embodiment can be modified as follows. That is, in the first embodiment, after it is confirmed that the original of the next page is present, that is, when the determination in step S12 (FIG. 3) is affirmative, whether or not the post message command transmitted from the own station is MPS. Judge "Figure 3
(B) Step S100 ". Then, only when this determination is affirmative, the determination as to whether or not the original for the next page is prepared (step S14) can be executed.

Also, in the second embodiment, when the response command to the post message command sent from the local station is received, that is, when the determination in step S27 (FIG. 4) is affirmative, the post message command sent is The combination of response commands received is MPS-MC
Whether or not it is F is determined and "step S200 of FIG. 4B" is performed. Then, only when this judgment is affirmative, it is judged whether or not the manuscript for the next page is prepared (step S28).
Can be run.

As described above, the procedure of the protocol for earning time between pages is based on the post message command transmitted from the local station, and the combination of the post message command transmitted from the local station and the response command received from the partner station. Can be executed. In other words, it may be necessary to earn time for preparing the original document only when the process shifts to phase C immediately after receiving the post message command response command. Therefore, the protocol for time earning is executed as necessary. You can do it.

Next, the essential functions required for the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the same or equivalent parts. In the figure, the procedure setting unit 22 stores a program and control data for executing a normal protocol procedure. Further, the time earning procedure setting unit 23 stores a program and control data for executing a protocol procedure for securing a time for preparing an original between pages. Usually, communication is performed by the communication control unit 15 using the program and control data of the procedure setting unit 22.

The next page preparation detecting section 18 judges the preparation state of the next page based on the output of a position sensor (not shown) which detects whether the leading edge of the document is at the reading position, and switches the detection signal. It is output to the unit 17.

The image information transmission detection section 19 detects that one page of image information has been transmitted, and outputs an image information transmission end detection signal to the switching control section 17. The switching control unit 17
When the image information transmission end detection signal is supplied, the opening / closing control of the switching unit 16 is performed based on the detection signal supplied from the next page preparation detection unit 18.

That is, when the original of the next page is not prepared, the switching control unit 17 is controlled so as to close the switching unit 16, and the program and control data of the time earning procedure setting unit 23 are sent to the communication control unit 15. Supplied. On the other hand, when the next page original is prepared, the switching unit 16 is opened and the protocol is executed in the normal procedure. The output signal of the image information transmission detector 19 is
Reset when the time-earning protocol procedure is executed.

As described above, the communication mode detecting section 20 may be provided so that the time earning protocol can be selected from a plurality of protocols according to the communication mode. The communication mode detection unit 20 outputs the selection signal SL according to the communication mode determined by the communication control unit 15 through the communication with the partner station. In the time earning procedure setting unit 23, a plurality of time earning protocol procedures are set in advance,
One of them can be selected by the selection signal SL.

Further, the command discriminating section 21 is used to determine whether or not to judge whether the manuscript of the next page is ready or not based on the type of the post message command or the post message command and its response command. Set up. The command determination unit 21 determines the type of post message command or the combination of the post message command and its response command. Based on the determination result, the operation instruction signal Cm is output to the next page preparation detection unit 18 only when the post message command or the combination of the post message command and the response command that requires time consuming measures is detected.

Whether the operation instruction signal Cm is output according to the determination result of the post message command or the operation instruction signal Cm is output according to the determination result of the combination of the post message command and the response command depends on the communication mode. That is, when the communication mode is ECM, the operation instruction signal Cm is output based on the determination result of the combination of the post message command and the response command. In other communication modes, the operation instruction signal Cm is output based on the determination result of the post message command. Output it.

As described above, in the present embodiment, after the image information of one page is transmitted, when the original of the next page is not in the transmittable state, the protocol procedure for time saving is executed and the pages are transferred between pages. I tried to secure the time. In addition,
In the present embodiment, the case has been described in which the document supplied by the ADF 2 is read by the reading device and sent out. However, when the image information stored in the disk device 14 or the image information supplied from the host computer 13 is sent out. Also, the present invention can be similarly applied.

When the image information stored in the disk device 14 is sent out, for example, based on the state of the flag indicating that the planned amount of image information has been transferred from the disk device to the buffer for transmission, It is possible to recognize whether or not the page original is prepared. Further, when the image information supplied from the host computer 13 is transmitted, it is recognized whether or not the original of the next page is prepared based on, for example, a transfer end command of the image information for one page supplied from the host computer 13. can do.

[0058]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the time between pages can be secured by controlling the protocol procedure. Therefore, due to document feeding troubles and control procedures, even if it takes longer than usual to set a document to be sent to the ready state, the next page will not be detected and a communication error will not be detected. You can wait for your manuscript to be ready.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to secure the time between pages by selecting the optimum protocol procedure for earning time according to the communication mode.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 3 and 4, since the execution of the protocol procedure for time saving can be suppressed to the minimum necessary, it is necessary while avoiding an unnecessarily long communication time. In such cases, the time between pages can be secured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main function of a facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ... Modem, 5 ... NCU, 15 ... Communication control unit, 1
7 ... Switching control unit, 18 ... Next page detection unit, 19 ... Image information transmission detection unit, 20 ... Communication mode detection unit, 21 ... Command determination unit 22 ... Procedure setting unit, 23 ... Time earning procedure setting unit,

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus for sequentially sending originals of a plurality of pages to a partner station, a preparation detecting unit for determining whether or not the transmission document of the next page is ready to be transmitted, and a transmission document of the next page. And a communication control means for executing a protocol procedure for time saving different from the normal time when the facsimile machine is not ready to send. 2. A protocol procedure setting means for setting a plurality of kinds of protocol procedures for earning time, a communication mode detecting means for detecting a communication mode determined by protocol communication with a partner station, and a detected protocol mode. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting one of the plurality of types of protocol procedures set according to a communication mode. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination by said preparation detecting means is executed according to the type of post message command to be sent. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination by said preparation detecting means is executed by a combination of a sent post message command and a received post message response command.