JPH07221958A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the facsimile equipment in which the opportunity of call reception is sufficiently reserved even during multiple address transmission utilizing plural lines. CONSTITUTION:When the operator operates an operation display device 3 to command multiple address transmission to m-points, whether or not lines 1, 2 are idle is discriminated. When it is discriminated that both of the lines are idle, the. transmission to 1st and 2nd destinations is started by using the lines 1, 2, and a value '2' is set to a transmission destination number (n). Whether or not a 'transmission end detection flag Fe' set (1) when the transmission to each destination to any line is finished is discriminated and when YES, the flag Fe is reset and when NO, transmission destination points (m) and a transmission finished destination number (n) are compared, and in the case of n=m, it is discriminated that the transmission by the line 2 is finished and in the case of nnot equal to m, the transmission to (n+1)th destination is started by using the line 1 and the transmission finished destination number (n) is incremented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus which accommodates a plurality of communication lines (channels) and simultaneously uses these plurality of communication lines to perform a broadcast transmission to a plurality of partner stations. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus has been proposed which uses a plurality of communication lines at the same time to perform a broadcast transmission to a plurality of partner stations. However, in the conventional broadcast transmission using a plurality of lines, since all the lines are used at the same time, there is a problem that incoming calls and urgent transmission cannot be performed during the broadcast.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-23673, one of three communication channels of two B channels and one D channel which are basic interfaces of an ISDN network is used. When a broadcast transmission to the first destination is started using the channel, 2
The broadcast transmission to the second destination can be started only after a certain time Ta has elapsed from the start of the broadcast transmission to the first destination, and thereafter, the transmission is intermittently performed on each channel. The technique to be carried out is disclosed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the broadcast transmission timing when two lines are used according to the above-mentioned conventional technique. In FIG. 4, "line state 1" and "line state 2" are respectively shown. The timing at which the line 1 and the line 2 can be received is shown by hatching. Further, in "line state 1OR2", the timing at which an incoming call can be received on either line 1 or line 2 is shown by hatching.

[0005]

In the digital communication using the ISDN network described above, each channel shares one registration number, and when a call is made to the registration number, an empty channel of channel 1 or channel 2 is used. You will be automatically called. Therefore, if the above-mentioned configuration is adopted, it is possible to make an incoming call during the period indicated by hatching in "line state 1OR2", so that an incoming call opportunity increases.

However, in a system such as the PSTN network in which a registration number (telephone number) is assigned to each line, it is necessary to select one of the lines in advance to make a call, so that the line 2 is in an idle state, for example. However, there is a problem in that an unconditional increase in the number of call-in opportunities cannot be expected, such that the line 1 cannot be called in if the line 1 being broadcast is called.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and in particular, like the broadcast transmission using the PSTN network, each line used for the broadcast transmission has a registration number. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus that can significantly increase the number of incoming calls even in a system that detects an incoming call for each line.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the present invention, a part of a plurality of lines is provided in a facsimile apparatus which performs a broadcast transmission to a plurality of partner stations using a plurality of communication lines. Means for designating an incoming call priority line, a means for performing intermittent transmission using the incoming call priority line, and a means for performing continuous transmission using a line other than the incoming call priority line. The feature is that the target transmission is executed in parallel.

[0009]

For example, in comparison with the prior art in which an incoming opportunity of ΔTb time is provided between the previous transmission and the current transmission on any line, the above-mentioned configuration allows continuous transmission on lines other than the incoming priority line. The opportunity to receive a call is lost because the call is received. However, if the lost incoming call opportunity ΔTb is distributed among the transmissions on the incoming priority line, the incoming opportunity ΔTd on the incoming priority line can be made sufficiently larger than the conventional ΔTb without delaying the end time of the broadcast transmission. Lengthen (ΔTb <
Since <ΔTd) is possible, the caller side can significantly increase the number of incoming calls by calling the incoming priority line.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a PSTN system to which a facsimile device 20 of the present invention is connected.
A PSTN terminal such as a G3 facsimile device 22 and a telephone 23 is connected to a switching system 21 which constructs a TN network via a communication line 24. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the facsimile device 20, and here, it is assumed that two lines 1 and 2 are connected.

The CPU 1 carries out control processing of the entire facsimile apparatus and facsimile transmission control procedure processing in accordance with a program stored in the system control section 8. RAM2
Is a memory used as a work area for the control program. The operation display device 3 has an operation unit including a keyboard including a ten-key pad and a display unit of a liquid crystal panel (may be a CRT screen), and gives an instruction for the operation of the facsimile apparatus and displays the instruction and the operation state. The reading device 4 reads a transmission document using, for example, a CCD image sensor and converts it into image information of an electric signal. The image information read by the reading device 4 and the received image information are stored in the image storage device 7. The printer 5 prints received image data and the like. The image processing device 6 performs encoding and decoding (compression, decompression) between the image signal and the transmission code.

The system controller 8 comprises a ROM in which a program for controlling the entire facsimile is stored. The communication control unit 9 includes a G3 facsimile communication control program and an interface circuit with the modem 10 and the network control device 11. The modem 10 is a modulator / demodulator having a low-speed modem (V21) for transmission procedure signals and a high-speed modem (V27ter, V29, V33, V17, etc.) for transmitting and receiving image information. The network control device 11 is an interface circuit with a public telephone line and has an automatic call originating / receiving function. Each of the circuits 1 to 9 in the device is a system bus 1
Data is mutually transmitted and received via the two.

The operation of each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the flowcharts. FIG. 3 shows the first of the present invention.
It is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment, for example, C
PU1 executes according to the program stored in the system control unit 8. Further, FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the broadcast transmission timing by the two lines 1 and 2 in the present embodiment. In “line state 2” in FIG. It is shown by hatching.

The present embodiment is characterized in that one of the two lines (line 2) is set as the incoming priority line, and the line 2 is configured to intermittently perform broadcast transmission at a constant cycle.

In step S1, when the operator operates the operation display device 3 to instruct the broadcast transmission to m locations,
In step S2, it is determined whether or not both the line 1 and the line 2 are idle. Here, if it is determined that all of them are empty, the line 1 starts transmission to the first destination in step S3, and the line 2 starts transmission to the second destination in step S4. . In step S5, "2" is set to the number n of destinations already transmitted.

In step S14, it is determined whether or not the "transmission end detection flag Fe" which is set at the time when the transmission to each destination by any one of the lines is set (= 1), and is set. If so, the process proceeds to step S15, and if not set, the process proceeds to step S11.

In step S15, the transmission end detection flag Fe is reset. In step S16, the number m of transmission destinations and the number n of transmission destinations are compared, and if they do not match, it is determined that an untransmitted destination remains. In step S17, it is determined which line the transmission has completed.

Here, if it is determined that the transmission by the line 2 is completed, the Td timer is started in step S19, and if it is determined that the transmission by the line 1 is completed, then in step S18 the ( n + 1) Transmission to the destination is started by the line 1. In step S20, the transmitted destination number n is incremented.

On the other hand, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the Td timer has timed out. If it is determined that the Td timer has timed out, then in step S12 it is determined whether or not the line 2 is idle. If it is empty, the transmission to the (n + 1) th destination is started by the line 2 in step S13, and thereafter, the broadcast transmission is intermittently continued at the interval Td on the line 2 as shown in FIG. It In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, when an incoming call is detected on the line 2 during the Td period and the determination in step S12 is negative, the completion of the reception is waited for and the call to the (n + 1) th destination is reached. Transmission starts.

According to the present embodiment, the line 2 of the two lines 1 and 2 is set as the incoming call priority line, the line 1 is continuously transmitted without generating idle time, and the line 2 is intermittent. Since I tried to concentrate the idle time on the line 2 by sending to, so if I receive an incoming call on the line 2,
It is possible to greatly increase the number of incoming calls without delaying the end time of the broadcast transmission.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, it is explained that when the broadcast transmission is started, the transmission is started simultaneously from each of the lines 1 and 2 after waiting for the two lines to be free, but the present invention is not limited to this. First, as shown in FIG. 7, line 1 is initially
It is also possible to start the transmission only from the beginning and to start the transmission via the line 2 after the elapse of the Td period.

In the above embodiment, the present invention has been described by taking the case of using two lines as an example. However, even if three or more lines are used, as shown in FIGS. If some of the lines are set as incoming priority lines, it is possible to significantly increase the number of incoming calls without delaying the end time of the broadcast transmission.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the same or equivalent processing is executed in the steps given the same reference numerals as above,
The description is omitted.

In this embodiment, after the transmission to the second destination is started, it is judged in step S11a whether or not the even-numbered transmission for the line 1 is completed. That is, for example, in FIG. 11, the transmission to the third destination is the second (even number) transmission for the line 1, so when the transmission to the third destination ends, the even number transmission is completed in step S11a. It is determined that the transmission has been performed, and the transmission via the line 2 is restarted.

Also in this embodiment, similarly to the above, the transmission is continuously performed without generating idle time on the line 1 and the idle time is concentrated on the line 2 by intermittently transmitting on the line 2. Therefore, if the incoming call is received on the line 2, it is possible to greatly increase the incoming call opportunity without delaying the end time of the broadcast transmission. Moreover,
According to this embodiment, a timer or the like is not necessary, so that the configuration can be simplified and the memory can be saved.

In the second embodiment described above, the transmission on the line 2 is restarted when the even-numbered transmission on the line 1 is completed. However, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. It is also possible to detect that the odd-numbered transmission for 1 is completed and restart the transmission on the line 2.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing a procedure for presetting an incoming call priority line in the first and second embodiments.

When an instruction to set the incoming call priority line is detected in step S31, the line number connected to the facsimile machine is displayed on the display section of the operation display device 3 in step S32. Step S33
Then, from the displayed lines, at least one line designated by the ten key operation of the operator is set as the incoming call priority line.

In step S34, the set contents are checked and, for example, all lines are designated as incoming priority lines, or lines which can be transmitted even while the other station is busy, such as a facsimile exclusive switching network. Is designated as the incoming call priority line, step S35
Then, at the same time that the designation is invalidated, a message for re-designating is displayed on the display unit.

In this way, it is possible to prevent all lines or lines with high transmission ability from being set as incoming priority lines, so that it is possible to suppress the degree of incoming call priority and hinder broadcast transmission. It will never come.

By the way, in each of the above embodiments,
It is desirable to notify the caller of the incoming priority line in advance. Therefore, in each of the embodiments, as a cover for a normal facsimile communication, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, a transmission sheet with the telephone number of the incoming call priority line is transmitted, or as shown in FIG. It is desirable to record the telephone number of the incoming call priority line as a header at the upper end of each transmission document.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention. Since the same or equivalent processing is executed in the steps given the same reference numerals as above,
The description is omitted.

In this embodiment, after the transmission to the second destination is started and the number n of transmitted destinations is registered in steps S4 and S5, it is determined in step S51 whether or not an emergency transmission instruction is given. To be done. The emergency communication is an operation mode designated when the transmission is urgent, and can be designated in advance by the operator.

Here, if the emergency transmission is not designated, the process proceeds to step S14, and the same processing as that of the first or second embodiment is executed, but if the emergency transmission is instructed, the step is performed. In S52, it is determined whether or not the transmission to each destination by any of the lines is completed. When the completion of transmission is detected, the number m of transmission destinations and the number n of transmission destinations are compared in step S53, and if they do not match, it is determined that an untransmitted destination remains. In step S54, the line for which the transmission has been completed is determined.

If it is determined that the transmission through the line 1 is completed, the (n + 1) th transmission is performed in step S55.
When it is determined that the transmission to the destination is started by the line 1 and the transmission by the line 2 is completed, the transmission to the (n + 1) th destination is started by the line 2 in step S56. In step S57, the transmitted destination number n is incremented.

According to the present embodiment, by instructing the emergency transmission, it is possible to continuously perform the transmission also from the incoming call priority line. Therefore, when the emergency is required, the quick transmission can be performed.

Some facsimile machines are equipped with, for example, an "TEL / FAX automatic switching function" or an "auto answer delay function" as an automatic incoming call adding function. The "TEL / FAX automatic switching function" means waiting for a CNG signal for a few seconds after the line is closed. If this can be detected, it is judged that the other party is a facsimile machine and automatic reception is performed, and at the same time a CNG signal cannot be detected. For example, it is a function to call an operator. The "auto answer delay function" is a function that does not close the line for a few seconds even if an incoming call is detected, and allows the operator to talk if the operator picks up the handset.

In a facsimile machine having such an automatic incoming call adding function, when an incoming call arrives within a period from the completion of transmission to one destination to the calling of the next destination, the automatic incoming call adding function is activated and transmission is started. There is a possibility that you will not be able to do it. Therefore, if you have an automatic call addition function,
It is desirable that the function works only on the incoming call priority line and not on other than the incoming call priority line.

In this way, the automatic incoming call adding function does not operate even if there is an incoming call on a line other than the incoming call priority line, so that it is possible to quickly shift to the next transmission.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved. (1) According to the invention described in claims 1 to 3, transmission is continuously performed in the plurality of lines other than the incoming priority line without generating idle time, and intermittent transmission is performed on the incoming priority line. By doing so, the free time is concentrated on the incoming call priority line, so that from the calling side's point of view, there is a significant increase in the number of incoming calls by calling the incoming call priority line. (2) According to the invention described in claim 4 or 5, it is possible to prevent all lines or lines with high transmission capability from being set as incoming priority lines. , Broadcasting will not be hindered. (3) According to the invention described in claim 6, since it is possible to continuously transmit even from the incoming priority line by instructing the emergency transmission, quick transmission is possible when an emergency is required. become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a PSTN system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

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

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional broadcast transmission timing.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing broadcast transmission timing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing broadcast transmission timing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing broadcast transmission timing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing broadcast transmission timing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing broadcast transmission timing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing broadcast transmission timing of the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the broadcast transmission timing of the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure for setting an incoming call priority line.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission sheet.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a header.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 3 ... Operation display device, 4 ... Reading device, 5 ... Printing device, 6 ... Image processing device, 7 ... Image storage device, 8 ... System control unit, 9 ... Communication control unit, 10 ... Modem, 11 ... Network control device, 12 ... System bus

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical display location H04N 1/00 104 A (72) Inventor Yukihiko Enoki 3-7-1, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji (72) Inventor Naoji Kido 3-7-1 Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus for performing broadcast transmission to a plurality of partner stations using a plurality of communication lines, wherein a means for designating a part of the plurality of lines as a call receiving priority line and a call receiving priority line are used. And a means for performing continuous transmission using a line other than the incoming priority line, wherein the intermittent transmission and continuous transmission are performed in parallel. Facsimile machine. 2. The means for performing the intermittent transmission comprises means for measuring an elapsed time after the last transmission is completed,
The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the present transmission is started after a lapse of a scheduled time. 3. The means for performing the intermittent transmission comprises a means for detecting the end of either the even-numbered transmission or the odd-numbered transmission by one line other than the incoming priority line, and the transmission at this time is detected at the detection timing. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the facsimile apparatus starts. 4. The means for designating the incoming call priority line invalidates the designation when all the lines are designated as the incoming call priority line. Facsimile machine. 5. The means for designating the incoming call priority line invalidates the designation when the facsimile dedicated line is designated as the incoming call priority line.
The facsimile apparatus according to any one of 1. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising means for designating an emergency transmission, and when the emergency transmission is designated, continuous transmission is performed even on the incoming call priority line. Facsimile apparatus described in 1.