JPH0614673B2 - Equipment - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to an image memory capable of storing received image data, and a printer of a type in which image data read from the image memory is recorded on a sheet and thermally fixed. The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having

[Prior Art] Since an early facsimile machine had a low data transmission speed and had a single function, an image was read on the transmitting side, and the encoded and transmitted image signal was immediately decoded and reproduced on the receiving side and directly recorded in real time. Was there. This type of device is uneconomical because it requires constant power supply to the receiving device and must be kept ready for use at any time. Furthermore, even if there is a data transmission request from the transmission side immediately after the power is turned on to the reception side of this type of device, while the reception side printer is in the preheating state and recording is not possible, the transmission side does not However, there is an inconvenience that it cannot read and transmit.

Recent advances in data compression technology have made it possible to transmit a large amount of image information in a short time. Some of the receiving devices are
In order to solve the problem that the reproduction / recording means of its own cannot catch up with such image input information having a substantially large capacity, there is a device provided with a considerable buffer image memory. But,
Even in recent facsimile machines that have advanced in this way, remarkable improvements have been made in terms of image quality improvement, such as an increase in pixel density and halftone expression, but nonetheless, as described above, the printer of the receiving device is preheating. Regarding the problem in use that the transmitting device cannot read and transmit images,
I see no improvement.

The problem in use is specifically shown as follows.
FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining a reception print procedure of a facsimile apparatus having a conventional image memory. In the figure, when a [transmission request] is issued from the image transmission side, the reception side has a communication control procedure for declaring a [reception function]. The contents declared in [Send request] are the encoding method, the document size, the transmission speed, etc. of the sender.
The contents declared in the [reception function] are the encoding method of the receiving side, the recording paper size, the presence or absence of recording paper, and the like. But,
If the receiving device has some inoperable state at the time of receiving the [transmission request], the inoperable state of reception is indicated as the [reception function]. The reception inoperable state is, for example, a case where the thermal fixing temperature of the printer does not reach a predetermined value because the receiving side device is just powered on and the device is in a warm-up wait state. Until the receiving side becomes operable, the sending side device cannot send image data, so the sending side device has a disadvantage that the receiving side device waits for data transmission or the sending side interrupts communication. .

Further, even if the data transfer is surely performed, there is no guarantee that it will be surely reproduced and recorded later.
Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the image data stored with great care is lost without being recorded for some reason.

[Object] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that reduces the power consumption of a heat fixing device.

Therefore, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.

In a facsimile apparatus that decodes coded image data sent via a line to record and output a visible image on a predetermined recording medium, an image recording unit having a fixing device and an incoming call from the line In this case, first control means for starting the loading of the encoded image data sent via the line into a predetermined storage means and starting the fixing device of the image recording means, and the temperature of the fixing device A judgment means for judging whether or not the image recording means is in the image recordable state based on the above, and when the judgment means determines that the image recording means is recordable, the first control means stores the memory. Second control means for decoding the encoded image data stored in the means to start image recording by the image recording means.

[Embodiment] An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 (A) is a block diagram showing the configuration of a main receiving print path of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although not shown, the apparatus of the present embodiment may be a so-called facsimile transmission / reception apparatus that further includes a reading unit for reading a document image and a transmission control unit for the read image data.

In the figure, 1 is a data communication line, 2 is a control board on which a control unit is mounted, 3 is a printer unit of an electrostatic recording type heat fixing system, 4 is preheating of a heat fixing device (not shown) in the printer unit 3. A temperature detection unit for detecting a state, a power controller 5 for controlling power supply to each unit of the apparatus and power supply timing,
Reference numeral 6 denotes an operation panel provided with a power on / off switch of the apparatus main body and notifying means for various states.

In the control board 2, a functional block configuration for executing various functions is shown. Reference numeral 21 denotes a receiving circuit for receiving a communication control message or coded image data from the transmission side device, 2
2 is a transmission circuit for transmitting a response message to the transmission side, and 23
Is an image memory for storing the received encoded image data, 2
Reference numeral 4 is a decoder that decodes the encoded image data read from the image memory 23, and 25 is a control unit that controls the entire apparatus. The control unit 25 is a ROM containing a program
And a RAM required for control, a PIO for inputting / outputting control data, and the like, and is mainly configured by a one-chip CPU. The decoder 24 is a device that decodes and reproduces the coded image data that has been compressed by the run length method and transmitted, and at the same time performs decoding inspection.

The printer unit 3 forms an electrostatic latent image on the charging drum by the reproduced image signal from the decoder 24, applies toner to the electrostatic latent image, develops it, transfers it to plain paper, and then heat-fixes it. It is a thermal fixing type printer. Generally, since it takes some time for the heat fixing device to reach a predetermined temperature after power is supplied, the temperature of the heat fixing device is detected by the temperature detecting unit 4,
A determination signal indicating whether or not the predetermined value has been reached is sent to the control unit 25, and is determined as a condition for starting printing.

The power controller 5 supplies electric power to the printer unit 3 via the line 51 and electric power to the remaining portion via the line 52. In this case, the control board 2 is always supplied with power even when it is not printing, because a [transmission request] may arrive from the transmission side at any time. On the other hand, the thermal fixing device of the printer unit 3 is not supplied with electric power to save electric power while not printing.

The operation panel 6 is a power on / off switch PS of the main body of the apparatus.
W and various state notification means are provided. The notification means
For example, an LED that informs the operator in a visible or audible way when certain conditions described below occur.
And the speaker. Power on / off switch PSW
Is an operation switch for turning on and off the power of the entire apparatus.

FIG. 1 (B) is a circuit diagram of a configuration for controlling power-on and power-off of the entire apparatus, which is included in the power controller 5. In the figure, when PSW is turned to the ON side, the level of the line 61 is HI due to the pull-up resistor R.
It becomes GH, turns on the solid state relay SSR via the NOR gate, and connects the AC input AC-I to the AC output AC-O. Further, when the PSW is turned off, the level of the line 61 becomes LOW due to the contact between the contact and GND, the SSR is turned off via the NOR gate, and the AC-I and the AC-O are cut off from each other. However, even in this case, while the control unit 25 outputs the HIGH level via the line 252 in a certain state described later, the NOR
The gate output is kept at LOW level, and AC-I and AC-
There is no interruption between O.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below. FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining the reception print procedure of the apparatus of this embodiment. When the [transmission request] is issued from the image transmission side, the reception side of this embodiment promptly declares the "reception function" without checking a certain inoperable state. At the same time, when the control unit 25 receives the [transmission request], the line 25
A heater-on signal is sent to the power controller 5 via 1 and power supply to the thermal fixing device is activated via the line 51.
On the other hand, when the sender receives the [Receive function], it receives the [Receive command].
Is transmitted, and then [encoded image data] is transmitted.
Upon receiving the [reception command], the control unit 25 activates the writing of the image memory 23 via the line 253, and subsequently starts the writing of the received encoded image data. The writing is DM
It is performed independently of the control unit 25 using A. The transmitting side transmits [encoded image data] and then transmits [transmission end]. The control unit 25, which has received [transmission end], checks at this time whether the thermal fixing device is under preheating. If preheating is still in progress, [reception confirmation] is returned to notify the transmitting side that the encoded image data is normally received without operating the decoder 24 and the printer unit 3.

This point is different from the conventional example shown in FIG. That is, conventionally, [reception confirmation] is returned after reproduction and recording. This is because the image data decoding inspection by the decoder is performed at the time of reproduction and recording on the receiving side, and the [reception confirmation] is returned as the final confirmation including the presence or absence of an error. On the other hand, also in the case of the apparatus of this embodiment, if the preheating is completed at the time of receiving the [end of transmission], [reception confirmation] is returned after reproduction and recording in the same manner as in FIG. The state where preheating is completed at this point is
For example, this is a case where image printing is continuously performed in response to a continuous print request from the transmitting side. The difference in control depending on the preheating state described above is clarified by the description of the flowchart described later.

Now, according to FIG. 3, the transmitting side that has received the [reception confirmation] is released after transmitting the [communication end]. It is also free to make new communication with other facsimile machines. On the other hand, the receiving side device waits until the preheating of the thermal fixing device is completed even after receiving [completion of communication]. When the preheating is completed and the printer unit 3 becomes recordable, the control unit 25
Activates decoder 24 via line 254,
The printer unit 3 is started via 55. Decoder 2
4 reads the encoded image data from the image memory 23,
The image signal is output to the printer unit 3 while being decoded and reproduced, and the printer unit 3 records the image signal on a sheet. When the recording is completed, the control unit 25 sends a heater off signal to the line 251 to turn off the power supply to the thermal fixing device.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the above-mentioned reception print processing performed by the control unit 25. In step S1, it waits for a [transmission request] from the other party. When the [transmission request] is received, the process proceeds to step S2, and the heater of the heat fixing device of the printer unit 3 is turned on. In step S3, the [reception function] is transmitted to the transmitting side. In step S4, a [reception command] from the transmitting side is waited for. Upon receiving the [reception command], the process proceeds to step S5, and writing in the image memory 23 is activated. In step S6, the transmission side waits for [transmission end], for example, the end of reception of encoded image data for one page. When the [transmission end] is received, the process proceeds to step S7 and the image memory 23
Deactivate writing to. In step S8, it is determined whether or not the preheating is completed. The discrimination is performed by checking the signal from the temperature detecting section 4. When the determination is YES, it means that the preheating is completed. As described above, such a state occurs when continuous printing is performed on a plurality of sheets. The flow advances to step S9 to energize the decoder 24, and starts driving the printer unit 3 in step S10. In this state, the encoded image data read from the image memory 23 is decoded by the decoder 24 and reproduced as an image signal. The image signal is sent to the printer unit 3 and an image for one page is recorded on the paper. The decoder 24 also checks for a decoding error in this section. The control unit 25 executes step S11.
And waits until the series of recording operations described above is completed. At the end of recording, it is also determined whether or not a decoding error has occurred.
Normally, it is normally decoded when it is decrypted without any error, and is reproduced and recorded. Then, the flow proceeds to step S12 to send [reception confirmation]. In step S13, the transmission side waits for [communication end]. When [communication completed] is received, the process proceeds to step S14, and power supply to the heat fixing heater is cut off.

If the preheating is not completed in step S8, the process proceeds to step S15. Such a state occurs when the transmission request from the other party is sporadic. However, there is no waiting for the other device. In step S15, [receipt confirmation] is immediately transmitted. Although it is not known at this point whether or not a decoding error will occur, such processing is allowed due to the redundancy inherent in the image signal. In addition, even if a decoding error is detected later and an abnormality is found in the recorded image, other suitable communication means (telephone etc.)
You can request resend at. In step S16, the transmission side waits for [communication end]. The transmission side device is released after transmitting [communication end]. When the receiving side receives [communication end], the process proceeds to step S17 to limit the power off. That is, the control unit 25 outputs the HIGH level to the line 252, so that even if the operator turns off the PSW thereafter, it is ignored in the power controller 5 and the power does not turn off. In step S18, the notification means is activated. When the heat fixing device is in a state of being unable to record the received image data due to the preheating, it is apparent that the apparatus is not operating, and it is necessary to notify the operator by some means. Specifically, the speaker is activated or the LED is turned on. However, the operator need only be aware of this and no special operation is required. In step S19, the process waits until the preheating is completed. When the preheating is completed, step S2
Proceed to 0 to activate the decoder 24. In step S21, driving of the printer unit 3 is started, and in step S22, the end of recording is awaited. When the recording is completed, the process goes to step S23 to deactivate the notification means. This is because the image memory 23 no longer holds important data to be recorded. Step S24
Then remove the power off restriction. The operator is already PS
If W is set to the OFF side, the power of the device will automatically turn off. If not, the process proceeds to step S24 to turn off the heater of the heat fixing device. Then, the flow returns to step S1 to wait for a [transmission request] from the partner device.

[Effect] As described above, according to the present invention, since the fixing device is started up in response to an incoming call, it is possible to significantly reduce power consumption as compared with a fixing device which keeps the fixing temperature at room temperature.

Also, based on the temperature detection of the fixing device, whether or not the recording unit can record is detected, and after the recording unit receives the predetermined amount of encoded image data, the image data is recorded if the recording unit can record the image data. Even if the start-up of the fixing device is delayed, the received coded image data is held in the image memory, the temperature of the fixing device rises, and the image data can be automatically output when the recording unit becomes recordable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a block diagram showing the configuration of a main receiving print path of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (B) is the turning on / off of power to the entire apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining a reception print procedure of a facsimile apparatus having a conventional image memory, FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining a reception print procedure of the apparatus of this embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the reception print processing performed by the control unit. Here, 1 ... Data communication line, 2 ... Control board, 3
...... Printer section, 4 ... Temperature detection section, 5 ... Power controller, 6 ... Operation panel, 21 ... Reception circuit, 22
...... Transmission circuit, 23 …… Image memory, 24 …… Decoder,
25 ... A control unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus for decoding coded image data sent via a line to record a visible image on a predetermined recording medium and outputting the image, and an image recording unit having a fixing unit, and the line. When an incoming call is received, first control means for starting fetching of encoded image data sent via the line into a predetermined storage means and for starting a fixing device of the image recording means, A determination unit that determines whether or not the image recording unit is in the image recordable state based on the temperature of the fixing unit; and if the determination unit determines that the image recording unit is recordable, the first unit Second control means for decoding the encoded image data stored in the storage means by the control means to start image recording by the image recording means. Shimiri apparatus.