JPH07336471A - Facsimile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively use a transmission/reception data memory of FAX and a file server as the external storage device connected by a network. CONSTITUTION:When judging it based on index information stored in a management information memory 22 and preliminarily determined data transfer reference that transmission/reception data stored in a transmission/reception data memory 20 should be transferred to the file server, a control part 12 transfers transmission/reception data to the file server. When judging it based on transfer information stored in the management information memory 22 and preliminarily determined data taking-out reference that transmission/reception data stored in the file server should be taken out from the file server, the control part 12 takes out transmission/reception data from the file server to write it in the transmission/reception data memory 20.

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 connected to both a network and a public telephone line in which a plurality of electronic equipment terminals including an external storage device for storing information are mutually connected. Facsimile machine.

Here, the transmitted / received data refers to both data transmitted from a facsimile machine to another facsimile machine and data received from another facsimile machine through a public telephone line. Contains textual information or both.

Further, in the present specification, "migrating transmitted / received data" means transferring the transmitted / received data stored in the internal memory of the facsimile apparatus from the internal memory to an external storage device, and "taking out the transmitted / received data". Is the transmission / reception data stored in the external storage device of the facsimile device.
Refers to moving from external storage to internal memory. Furthermore, “transferring transmitted / received data” refers to a content including both of “migrating transmitted / received data” and “retrieving transmitted / received data”.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a method in which an internal memory is provided inside a facsimile machine (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as "FAX"), and transmission / reception data to be transmitted / received by the FAX is temporarily stored in this internal memory. This method is, for example, to temporarily store the transmission data to be transmitted to this internal memory when the other party's FAX cannot be transmitted due to busy or failure, and retry the transmission after a predetermined time has passed, Also, after receiving received data that should be disclosed only to a specific person, the received data is accumulated, and the specified person prints the received data by instructing the FAX to print. It has been. However, the internal memory of the above-mentioned FAX has a small capacity,
For example, when the remaining capacity of the internal memory is small, the amount of data that can be transmitted and received is greatly restricted.

To solve this problem, when the remaining capacity of the internal memory becomes less than a predetermined value, the transmitted / received data is transferred to another FAX connected to a local area network (LAN), and this transfer is performed. A technique for transmitting and receiving data in the above FAX is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-38066.
Are disclosed by

[0006]

However, in the above disclosed technique, the data transfer destination is the internal memory of another FAX and its capacity is also small, so that, for example, the remaining memory of all FAX connected to the LAN. When the capacity is small, the shortage of the memory capacity becomes a problem similarly to the above.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to transmit / receive data stored in the internal memory of the FAX to a large-capacity external storage device connected to the FAX ( The external memory device stores and takes out the data as needed, and the internal memory and the external memory device are effectively used as a storage device for transmitting and receiving data.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a facsimile machine according to a first aspect of the present invention is such that a plurality of electronic equipment terminals including an external storage device for storing information are mutually connected. A facsimile device connected to both a network and a public telephone line, and an internal memory for storing transmission / reception data transmitted / received to / from another facsimile device connected via the public telephone line, and the internal memory A management information memory that stores the index information of the stored transmission / reception data and the transfer information when the transmission / reception data is transferred to the external storage device, and an internal memory input / output that reads / writes the transmission / reception data from / to the internal memory. Means, management information memory input / output means for reading / writing index information and transfer information from / to the management information memory, and the management information memory input / output Based on the index information read by the stage and a predetermined data migration standard, the transmission / reception data stored in the internal memory, a migration determination means for determining whether to migrate to the external storage device, Data transfer means for transferring the transmission / reception data read by the internal memory input / output means to the external storage device when the transfer determining means determines that the transmission / reception data should be transferred to the external storage device. It is characterized by having.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a facsimile machine according to a second aspect of the present invention is the facsimile machine according to the first aspect, wherein the transfer information read by the management information memory input / output means is predetermined. Extraction judging means for judging whether or not the transmission / reception data stored in the external storage device should be extracted from the external storage device based on a data extraction standard, and the transmission / reception data for the transmission / reception data by the extraction judgment device. Data fetching means for fetching the transmitted / received data from the external storage device when it is determined that the data should be fetched from the external storage device.

[0010]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the management information memory input / output means reads the index information stored in the management information memory, and the migration determination means determines the read index information in advance. If it is determined that the transmission / reception data stored in the internal memory should be transferred to the external storage device based on the data transfer standard, the internal memory input / output unit reads the transmission / reception data stored in the internal memory and transfers the data. The transmission / reception data read by the means is transferred to the external storage device.

As a result, the storable capacity of the internal memory is increased. For example, in the case of a transmitted document, it serves as a transmission data temporary storage area for retrying transmission, and in a received document, another facsimile that cannot be received. The internal memory can be effectively used as a temporary storage area for the proxy reception of the apparatus and as a storage area for the confidential reception data in the confidential reception document.

Further, the external storage device also utilizes its large capacity, and is effectively used as an external storage device for a plurality of facsimile devices connected to the network, that is, a large-capacity memory usable by those facsimile devices is added. As described above, the external storage device can be effectively used.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the management information memory input / output means reads the transfer information stored in the management information memory, and the take-out determination means determines the read transfer information in advance. If it is determined that the transmission / reception data stored in the external storage device should be extracted from the external storage device based on the data extraction standard
The data fetching means fetches the transmitted / received data stored in the external storage device from the external storage device, and the internal memory input / output means writes the transmitted / received data in the internal memory.

As a result, even if the transmitted / received data is temporarily stored in the external storage device, it can be finally transmitted from the desired facsimile device to the person who first tried to transmit with the facsimile device. it can.

Further, a person who first transmits from a remote facsimile machine to the facsimile machine can print out the desired facsimile machine.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a facsimile machine (FAX) of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that there are three types of data, that is, a transmitted document, a received document, and a confidential received document. The transmission document refers to the data transmitted by the FAX, and the confidential reception document refers to the data transmitted (received by the FAX) to the FAX that the sender wants to disclose only to a specific partner. This confidential reception document cannot be printed out unless a predetermined printout operation is performed on the received FAX. In addition, the received document refers to data other than the confidential received document in the data received by the FAX.

FIG. 1 shows a token-ring type LAN (local area network) 50 to which the FAX 10 according to this embodiment is connected.

The LAN 50 has a FAX which will be described in detail later.
10, a host computer 30 which is an arithmetic device for performing high-speed arithmetic processing, and a file server as an external storage device which has a large storage capacity and stores and manages arithmetic processing data of the host computer 30, transmission / reception data of the FAX 10, and the like. A network 32 connects a print server 32 for temporarily storing print data to the printer 34 as a printing device and managing the operating status of the printer 34.

The printer 34 is a print server 36.
It is connected to the. Further, the FAX 10 is also connected to a public telephone line 38 connected to a public telephone line network (not shown), and data can be transmitted / received to / from a FAX of an external partner via the public telephone line 38.

Further, FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the FAX 10. The FAX 10 includes a control unit 12 that controls the entire system, an operation panel 14 on which an operator inputs various instructions and various instruction contents for the operator are displayed, a reading unit 16 that reads a document to be transmitted, a received document, and A printing unit 18 that prints out a confidential reception document on a recording paper, and an encoding unit 19 that encodes the transmission data read by the reading unit 16 in a predetermined format.
And the other party's FAX connected via the public telephone line 38.
A transmission / reception unit 24 for transmitting / receiving data to / from, a management information memory 22 for storing transfer information and index information of transmission / reception data stored in the transmission / reception data memory 20, which will be described later, and a received reception document and a confidential reception document or a reading unit 16. A transmission / reception data memory 20 as an internal memory for storing a transmission document read from a document, and a FAX via a connection line 42.
LAN connection unit 26 for connecting 10 to the network 40
And are included.

Of these, the control unit 12 actually
It is composed of a microcomputer having U, ROM, RAM, I / O, etc., and is connected to each of the above parts via a system bus 28. The control unit 12 manages the job flow of each unit.

The operation panel 14 is composed of an input device in which a large number of operation keys are arranged, a liquid crystal display and the like.

The reading unit 16 is a CC for reading a document.
The scanner is composed of a D sensor and a document conveying system.

The printing unit 18 is composed of a high speed printer such as a laser printer or an ink jet printer.

The transmission / reception unit 24 is composed of a modem, an NCU (network control unit) and the like. The LAN connection unit 26 is composed of an adapter or the like that complies with the interface standard for the token ring LAN.

Of the information stored in the management information memory 22, the transfer information is the time or data when the data is transferred (migrated or taken out) between the FAX 10 and the file server 32. Information such as types is shown in FIG.

This transfer information has a plurality of types of information as follows for one transfer.

These are the "transfer time" indicating the transfer time, the "data type" for specifying the data type, and the control unit 1 for specifying the individual transferred data.
“File name”, which is a 5-digit number given by 2, and “Scheduled retrieval time” that is input by the sender when executing transmission reservation, for example, multiple file servers (external storage devices) exist in the network In this case, there are six types of information: a "storage device channel" for specifying the file server storing the data and a "data amount" indicating the capacity of the transfer data.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 showing the control algorithm by the control unit 12.

The control algorithm shown in FIG. 4 and the control algorithm shown in FIG. 5 may be executed in parallel or alternately.

Further, these control algorithms are repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals even if they are once ended.

Further, these control algorithms are based on FA
It starts when a power switch (not shown) of X10 is turned on, and ends when the power switch is turned off.

Further, for example, the conventional F such as the reading of the transmission original by the reading unit 16 and the encoding by the encoding unit 19 are performed.
The basic flow of processing in transmitting or receiving data, which is also provided in AX, is not directly related to the description of the present invention, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

Now, FIG. 4 shows a control algorithm for transferring data from the transmission / reception data memory 20 to the file server 32.

In step 100, the management information memory 2
It is determined whether the index information is stored in 2. If the index information is not stored, the execution of this control algorithm is terminated. If the index information is stored, the index information is read in step 101, and then the process proceeds to step 102.

In step 102 and subsequent step 104, the type of data stored in the transmission / reception data memory 20 is determined based on the index information read in step 101. As a result of the determination, if the document is a transmission document, the process proceeds to step 116, if it is the confidential reception document, the process proceeds to step 112, and if it is the reception document, the process proceeds to step 106.

The processing for each data type will be described below. If it is a transmission document, in step 116, it is determined based on the index information whether or not the data has a time designation. Step 11 if time is specified
If the time is not designated, it is determined in step 118 based on the index information whether or not a redial wait of 10 minutes or more is waiting. If a positive determination is made in step 118, the process proceeds to step 112, and if a negative determination is made,
This control algorithm ends. In reality, after this predetermined time has elapsed, redial is executed under a control algorithm different from this control algorithm. In the case where there is a time designation as described above or when waiting for redial for 10 minutes or more, in step 112, the transmission / reception data memory 2
Data is migrated from 0 to the file server 32. That is,
After the data migration request is issued to the file server 32 and the request is accepted by the file server 32, the data stored in the transmission / reception data memory 20 is read, and the data is transferred via the LAN connection unit 26 to the network 4
The file server 32 connected at 0 moves to the file server 32. Then, in the next step 114, the transfer information in step 112 is recorded in the management information memory 22, and this control algorithm is ended.

If it is a confidential received document, step 112
In the transmission / reception data memory 20 to the file server 3
Transfer the data to 2. That is, a data migration request is issued to the file server 32, the request is accepted by the file server 32, the data stored in the transmission / reception data memory 20 is read, and the data is transferred via the LAN connection unit 26 to the network. The process moves to the file server 32 connected at 40. Then, the next step 114
At, the transfer information in step 112 is recorded in the management information memory 22, and the control algorithm is finished.

If it is a received document, in step 106, the timer function of the control unit 12 is activated in order to measure the timing at which the data is transferred from the transmission / reception data memory 20 to the file server 32 in step 112 described later. In the next step 108, it is determined whether or not the state is a substitute state.

The "substitute state" here is FAX1.
At 0, it means that the already received data cannot be printed out due to paper shortage or trouble of the printing unit 18.

For example, when the FAX 10 is receiving data,
If it is determined in step 108 that it is not in the acting state, the timer function is canceled in step 120,
This control algorithm ends. If it is determined in step 108 that it is in the acting state, step 110
In the proxy state, it is determined whether or not the FAX 10 has exceeded the preset time limit for waiting for print output and is in the time-out state. If the time is not out, the process is restarted from step 108 after a predetermined time has elapsed. If it is in the time-out state, the process proceeds to step 112, in which the transmission / reception data memory 2
Data is migrated from 0 to the file server 32. That is,
After the data migration request is issued to the file server 32 and the request is accepted by the file server 32, the data stored in the transmission / reception data memory 20 is read, and the data is transferred via the LAN connection unit 26 to the network 4
The file server 32 connected at 0 moves to the file server 32. Then, in the next step 114, the transfer information in step 112 is recorded in the management information memory 22, and this control algorithm ends.

In any of the above three types of data, step 112 corresponds to the data migration means of the present invention.

Also, the above steps 102, 104, 1
08, 110, 116 and 118 correspond to the shift determining means of the present invention.

By executing the above control algorithm, "confidential reception document, transmission document with time designation or waiting for redial for 10 minutes or more, and timeout in proxy state", which corresponds to the data migration standard of the present invention, is executed. Is one of the received documents. ”Is determined. Therefore, with respect to the transmission / reception data determined to meet the above-mentioned data transition standard, since the transmission / reception data memory 20 is transferred to the file server 32, the storage capacity of the transmission / reception data memory 20 increases.

Thus, in the case of the transmitted document, it is further used as a temporary storage area for transmission data for retrying transmission, and as a temporary storage area for reception of another facsimile apparatus which cannot be received in the received document. In the confidential reception document, the transmission / reception data memory 20 can be effectively used as a storage area for the confidential reception data.

Further, the file server 32 also takes advantage of its large capacity, and the FAX 1 connected to the network is used.
0 is effectively used as an external storage device, that is, FAX10
The file server 32 can be effectively used as if a large-capacity memory that can be used is added.

Now, FIG. 5 shows a control algorithm for taking out data from the file server 32 to the transmission / reception data memory 20.

In step 200, the management information memory 2
It is determined whether or not transfer information is stored in 2. If the transfer information is not stored, the execution of this control algorithm is terminated. If the transfer information is stored, the transfer information is read in step 202, and then the process proceeds to step 204.

In step 204, it is judged whether the remaining amount of the transmission / reception data memory 20 is within 10% of its total capacity. If it is determined to be within 10%, it is determined that the capacity of the transmission / reception data memory 20 is insufficient, and the data extraction from the file server 32 to the transmission / reception data memory 20 is stopped, and this control algorithm ends.
Further, when it is determined that the remaining amount of the transmission / reception data memory 20 is not within 10%, it is determined in the next step 206 whether the remaining amount of the transmission / reception data memory 20 is larger than the amount of the extraction target data described in the transfer information. To determine. Here, when the remaining amount of the transmission / reception data memory 20 is smaller than the amount of the extraction target data, it is determined that the transmission / reception data memory 20 does not have a margin for fetching the data to the transmission / reception data memory 20, If the retrieval of the data to the transmission / reception data memory 20 is stopped, this control algorithm is terminated, and the remaining amount of the transmission / reception data memory 20 is larger than the amount of the retrieval target data, step 2
Go to 08.

In step 208 and subsequent step 212, the type of data stored in the file server 32 is determined based on the transfer information read in step 202. As a result of the determination, if the document is a transmission document, the process proceeds to step 210, if it is the confidential reception document, the process proceeds to step 214, and if it is the reception document, the process proceeds to step 216.

The processing for each data type will be described below. If it is a transmission document, it is determined in step 210 whether or not the calling time has come. If it is determined that the call time has not come, the process waits until the call time arrives, so the data extraction from the file server 32 to the transmission / reception data memory 20 is stopped, and this control algorithm ends. If it is determined that the calling time has come, the process proceeds to step 216. At step 216, the data is retrieved from the file server 32 to the transmission / reception data memory 20. That is, a data extraction request is issued to the file server 32, and after the request is accepted by the file server 32, the data transferred from the file server 32 via the network 40 via the LAN connection unit 26 is transmitted / received. Write to memory 20. When the extraction of this data is completed, the transfer information relating to this extracted data is transferred to the management information memory 22 in step 218.
Erase from. In the next step 220, the transceiver 2
After connecting the line with the FAX of the other party by 4, the data taken out in step 216 is transmitted, and this control algorithm ends.

If the document is a confidential received document, step 214
At, it is determined whether or not a print instruction is given to the FAX 10. If the print instruction is not given, the data is not taken out from the file server 32 to the transmission / reception data memory 20 in order to keep it stored in the external storage device until the print instruction is given. Finish the algorithm. If a print instruction is given, the process proceeds to step 216. Step 216
Then, the data is taken out from the file server 32 to the transmission / reception data memory 20. That is, a data extraction request is issued to the file server 32, and after the request is accepted by the file server 32, the data transferred from the file server 32 via the network 40 via the LAN connection unit 26 is transmitted / received. Write to memory 20. When the fetching of the data is completed, the transfer information regarding the fetched data is erased from the management information memory 22 in step 218. In the next step 220, the data fetched in step 216 is printed out by the printing unit 18, and the control algorithm is finished.

If it is a received document, in step 216 the transmission / reception data memory 20 is sent from the file server 32.
To retrieve the data. That is, a data extraction request is issued to the file server 32, and after the request is accepted by the file server 32, the data transferred from the file server 32 via the network 40 via the LAN connection unit 26 is transmitted / received. Write to memory 20. When the fetching of the data is completed, the transfer information regarding the fetched data is erased from the management information memory 22 in step 218. In the next step 220, the data fetched in step 216 is printed out by the printing unit 18, and the control algorithm is finished.

In any of the above three types of data, step 216 corresponds to the data extracting means of the present invention.

In addition, the above steps 204, 206, 2
08, 210, 212 and 214 correspond to the take-out determination means of the present invention.

Furthermore, in the above two control algorithms, steps 101, 114, 202 and 218 correspond to the management information memory input / output means of the present invention, and steps 112 and 216 correspond to the internal memory input / output means of the present invention. To do.

By executing the above control algorithm, the "remaining memory capacity of the transmission / reception data memory 20 corresponds to the data extraction standard of the present invention.
0% of the total memory capacity exists, and the remaining memory capacity is larger than the amount of data to be extracted. It is judged whether or not the standard "it is one of the transmitted documents" is met. Therefore, the transmission / reception data determined to meet the above-mentioned data extraction standard is extracted from the file server 32 to the transmission / reception data memory 20.

As a result, even if the above various data are temporarily stored in the file server 32 outside the FAX 10, finally, the person who first transmitted the transmitted document by the FAX 10 transmits the desired FAX 10 from the desired FAX 10. A document can be transmitted, and further, a confidential reception document or a person who has transmitted the reception document from the remote FAX to the FAX 10 can print out the confidential reception document or the reception document to the desired FAX 10.

Further, "the remaining memory capacity of the transmission / reception data memory 20 is 10% of the total memory capacity of the transmission / reception data memory 20.
% Or more, and the remaining memory capacity is larger than the amount of data to be extracted. "Is also performed. Take out from 32,
It is possible to prevent the FAX 10 from becoming inoperable when the transmission / reception data memory 20 is full when the transmission / reception data memory 20 is stored.

[0061]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when the transfer judging means judges that the transmission / reception data stored in the internal memory should be transferred to the external storage device, the data transferring means has the internal memory. Since the send / receive data stored in the external storage device is transferred to the external storage device, the storable capacity of the internal memory is increased. In this case, the internal memory can be effectively used as a temporary storage area for reception of another facsimile apparatus that cannot receive data, and as a storage area for confidential reception data in a confidential reception document. Have the effect.

Further, the external storage device also takes advantage of its large capacity, and is effectively used as an external storage device for a plurality of facsimile devices connected to the network, that is, a large-capacity memory that can be used by those facsimile devices is added. As described above, it also has an excellent effect that the external storage device can be effectively used.

In the facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the take-out determination means determines that the transmission / reception data stored in the external storage device should be taken out from the external storage device, the data extraction means has the external storage device. The transmission / reception data stored in the external storage device is taken out and the internal memory input / output means writes the transmission / reception data in the internal memory, so even if the transmission / reception data is temporarily stored in the external storage device, For the person who first tries to transmit with the facsimile apparatus, the excellent effect of being able to transmit from the desired facsimile apparatus is provided.

Further, for a person who first transmitted from a remote facsimile machine to the facsimile machine, there is an excellent effect that the desired facsimile machine can print out the data.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a network to which a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment is connected.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of transfer information.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a control algorithm by the control unit of FIG. 2 when transferring transmitted / received data from the transmitted / received data memory to an external storage device.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a control algorithm by the control unit of FIG. 2 when fetching transmitted / received data from an external storage device to a transmitted / received data memory.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Facsimile Machine 12 Control Unit (Management Information Memory Input / Output Means, Internal Memory Input / Output Means, Transfer Judgment Means, Data Transfer Means, Extraction Judgment Means, Data Extraction Means) 20 Transmission / Reception Data Memory (Internal Memory) 22 Management Information Memory 32 Files Server (external storage) 38 Public telephone line

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile device, which is connected to both a network and a public telephone line in which a plurality of electronic device terminals including an external storage device for storing information are mutually connected, and which is connected via the public telephone line. Internal memory for storing transmission / reception data to be transmitted / received to / from another facsimile device, index information of the transmission / reception data stored in this internal memory, and transfer information when the transmission / reception data is transferred to the external storage device. And an internal memory input / output unit for reading / writing transmitted / received data from / to the internal memory, and a management information memory input / output unit for reading / writing index information and transfer information from / to the management information memory. The internal memory based on the index information read by the management information memory input / output unit and a predetermined data migration standard. Migration determination means for determining whether or not the stored transmission / reception data should be migrated to the external storage device, and when the migration determination means determines that the transmission / reception data should be migrated to the external storage device And a data transfer means for transferring the transmission / reception data read by the internal memory input / output means to the external storage device. 2. The transmission / reception data stored in the external storage device should be retrieved from the external storage device based on the transfer information read by the management information memory input / output means and a predetermined data retrieval standard. Extraction determination means for determining whether or not, and when the extraction determination means determines that the transmission / reception data should be extracted from the external storage device, data extraction means for extracting the transmission / reception data from the external storage device, The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: