JPH0646271A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the communication speed and to reduce the communication cost by easily re-editing received information and to prevent the deterioration in data quality due to repeated transmission reception. CONSTITUTION:A data attribute automatic recognition section 11 recognizes a pattern of a transmission document A converted into image data by a scanner input section 10 to discriminate the attribute such as a character, a drawing and a photograph. A code conversion section 12 converts the data discriminated to be a character and a drawing into text data and vector data respectively. A transmission section 13 sends a data file coded by the code conversion section 12 to a destination through a communication line 3. A decode section 21 decodes data of a data file received by a reception section 20 into a character in the case of the text data, into a drawing in the case of vector data and into an image in the case of image data respectively. An external storage medium storage section 23 copies data in the data file received by the reception section 20 to a storage medium C as they are.

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 method for transmitting information on paper such as documents and documents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile communication system has been used as a method for transmitting this type of page information. In this facsimile communication method, first, scanning is performed from the beginning of the paper surface to be transmitted, and the paper surface information is binary (white and black).
It is encoded as the image information of. The coded image information is data-transferred via a network such as a communication line and reproduced as paper surface information at the receiving end.

According to such a conventional method of transmitting the page information, since it is transmitted as binary image information, it is difficult to re-edit the received data such as correction, addition or deletion. There's a problem.

Further, since data is transferred as image information, the amount of data communication becomes larger than that of text data, and there is a problem that communication time and communication cost are increased. Further, there is a problem that noise such as dirt is likely to be mixed, and if the scanning accuracy is low, the characters are crushed and become unreadable when the transmission is repeated from the receiver.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is possible to easily re-edit received information, improve communication speed and reduce communication cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus that can be implemented and can prevent deterioration of data quality due to repeated transmission and reception.

[0006]

A facsimile apparatus according to the present invention comprises image data conversion means for converting paper surface information to be transmitted to a destination into image data, and character data and graphic data from the image data converted by the image data conversion means. Extracting means for extracting, encoding means for encoding the character data and the graphic data extracted by the extracting means as text data and vector data, respectively, the image data converted by the image data converting means, and the Transmitting means for transmitting the text data and the vector data respectively encoded by the encoding means to the destination, the image data, the text data and the vector data sent from the transmission source, and the space information and the character, respectively. Data and graphic data Characterized by providing a means for restoring the.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the scanner input unit 10 of the facsimile apparatus 1 reads the paper surface information of the transmission document A and converts it into image data.

The data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 performs pattern recognition of the paper surface information of the transmission document A converted into image data by the scanner input unit 10 and discriminates attributes such as characters, figures and photographs. That is, the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 registers in advance character patterns such as alphanumeric characters, English symbols, kana characters and Chinese characters, and whether the image data input from the scanner input unit 10 matches these character patterns. Determine whether or not. As a result, if the input image data matches the character patterns, the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 determines the image data as “character”.

If the input image data does not match the character patterns, whether the dot connection in the image data represents a straight line, a curved line, or a figure such as a circle. To judge. As a result, if the dot connection represents a straight line, a curved line, a circle, or the like, the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 determines the image data as a “graphic”.

Further, if the dot connection does not represent a straight line, a curved line, a circle or the like, the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 determines the image data as image data such as a photograph.

The code conversion unit 12 converts the data determined as "character" by the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 into a character code of text data and sends it to the transmission unit 13. Further, the code conversion unit 12 encodes the data determined as the "graphic" by the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 into vector data composed of information on the read position (coordinates) and direction on the paper and the length.

Further, the code conversion unit 12 encodes the data determined as image data by the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 into binary information of dots (white and black) and transmits it to the transmission unit 1.
Send to 3.

The transmission unit 13 transmits the data files coded as text data, vector data or image data in the code conversion unit 12 to the destination facsimile machine 2 via the communication line 3.

The receiving unit 20 of the facsimile device 2 sends the data file sent from the sending unit 13 of the facsimile device 1 via the communication line 3 to the decoding unit 21 and the external storage medium storage unit 23.

If the data of the data file received by the receiving unit 20 is text data, the decoding unit 21 decodes the character code of the text data and decodes the corresponding character (alphanumeric character, English symbol, Kana character, Kanji character). Etc.) and pass it to the output unit 22.

If the data of the data file is vector data, the decoding unit 21 restores the corresponding graphics (straight line, curved line, circle, etc.) from the vector data and passes it to the output unit 22.

Further, if the data of the data file is image data, the decoding unit 21 restores the image data to a corresponding image (photograph, etc.) and outputs it to the output unit 22.
Pass to.

The output unit 22 receives on the received document B the alphanumeric characters and the English symbols sent from the decoding unit 21, the characters such as kana and kanji, the straight lines and curves, the figures such as circles, and the images such as photographs. Output to.

The external storage medium storage unit 23 copies the data of the data file received by the reception unit 20 to the storage medium C as it is. The storage medium C is a removable medium (eg, floppy disk) that can be attached to and detached from the device, and is inserted into a machine (not shown) such as a personal computer or a word processor after the data in the data file is copied. To be done.

As a result, in a machine such as a personal computer or a word processor, it is possible to confirm the contents of the received data from the facsimile machine 1 that has been data-copied to the storage medium C and to re-edit the received data.

It should be noted that the facsimile device 2 includes a scanner input unit 10 and a data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 of the facsimile device 1.
And a function corresponding to the code conversion unit 12 and the transmission unit 13, and a function corresponding to the reception unit 20, the decoding unit 21, the output unit 22, and the external storage medium storage unit 23 of the facsimile device 2 are provided in the facsimile device 1. As a result, data files can be exchanged between the facsimile devices 1 and 2.

As described above, the data attribute automatic recognition unit 11 extracts character data and graphic data from the paper surface information converted into image data by the scanner input unit 10,
The extracted character data and graphic data are coded by the code conversion unit 12 as text data and vector data, respectively, and transmitted to the destination facsimile machine 2 and the image data sent from the source facsimile machine 1 The decoding unit 21 restores the text data and the vector data into the paper surface information, the character data, and the graphic data, respectively, and the image data, the text data, and the vector data are respectively stored in the external storage medium storage unit 23 in the portable storage medium C. By storing the received information in the memory, it is possible to re-edit the received information using an editor or word processor software. Therefore, the received information can be easily re-edited, and the re-edited information can be used, so that it is possible to effectively use the document resources and reduce the man-hours for document input.

Further, since character data and graphic data of the transmission data are encoded and transmitted, the data communication amount can be reduced, and the communication speed can be improved and the communication cost can be reduced. At the same time, it is possible to prevent deterioration of data quality due to repeated transmission and reception.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, character data and graphic data are extracted from image data obtained by converting paper surface information to be transmitted to the destination, and the extracted character data and graphic data are extracted. Received by restoring the image data, text data, and vector data sent from the transmission source to paper information, character data, and graphic data, respectively, by encoding them as text data and vector data and transmitting them to the destination. The information can be easily re-edited, the communication speed can be improved and the communication cost can be reduced, and the deterioration of data quality due to repeated transmission and reception can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Facsimile device 3 Communication line 10 Scanner input unit 11 Automatic data attribute recognition unit 12 Code conversion unit 13 Transmission unit 20 Reception unit 21 Decoding unit 22 Output unit 23 External storage medium storage unit A Transmission document B Reception document C Storage medium

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image data conversion means for converting paper surface information to be transmitted to a destination into image data, an extraction means for extracting character data and graphic data from the image data converted by the image data conversion means, and Encoding means for encoding the character data and the graphic data extracted by the extracting means as text data and vector data, respectively, and the image data converted by the image data converting means and the encoding means by the encoding means, respectively. A transmitting means for transmitting the text data and the vector data thus generated to the destination, and the image data, the text data and the vector data transmitted from the transmission source are restored to paper information, character data and graphic data, respectively. And means to Facsimile machine to collect. 2. The writing means for writing the image data, the text data and the vector data sent from the transmission source to a storage medium which is detachable from the own device, respectively. Facsimile machine. 3. The extracting means includes means for determining whether or not the image data is the character data based on a result of pattern recognition of the image data, and the image data including the figure based on a result of pattern recognition of the image data. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising means for determining whether or not the data is data.