JPH0783419B2 - Fax system - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in facsimile systems.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In recent years, in offices and the like, a facsimile machine has been widely used with the promotion of office automation, but recently, this facsimile machine is connected to a host computer for office work and used as one of terminals. Has been proposed. In this type of system, not only the operation of the facsimile apparatus itself such as reading and scanning an original and transmitting or recording and scanning the received image signal, but also the information processed by a host computer is transmitted using the facsimile apparatus. In addition, it is possible to perform an operation such that the received information is directly introduced into the host computer and processed, which is extremely useful.

However, in the conventional system of this type, generally, the functional units such as the reading scanning unit, the recording scanning unit, and the transmitting / receiving unit of the facsimile apparatus are collectively controlled by a common control unit, and in some cases, the above-mentioned functions are performed. In many cases, a part of the mechanism or circuit is partially shared. For this reason, for example, during the facsimile transmission operation, even if it is desired to record the information from the host computer by the recording scanning unit, the image signal cannot be transferred to the host during the facsimile reception. As described above, it was not possible to operate each functional part in multiplex, and as a result, operational efficiency was extremely low.

[Object of the Invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile system capable of significantly increasing the operational efficiency of the system by allowing each functional part to perform multiple processing.

[Outline of Invention]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention mechanically and circuitally separates each functional part, and provides a control part for controlling each functional part independently of each other. It is necessary to provide a management control unit that supervises the control operation for the functional parts, and this management control unit must manage the operating state of each functional part and execute the processing that can be performed only by the functional part in the standby state. If
By controlling the control operation by the control unit so as to execute the process in the functional part necessary for performing the process without changing the operating state of the functional part unnecessary for executing the process, It is configured such that multiple processing is performed by the functional part.

Example of Invention

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system comprises a facsimile apparatus main body A, its control circuit B, and a host computer C.

The facsimile apparatus main body A includes, for example, a reading / scanning unit 11 for reading and scanning an original by a line sensor, a recording / scanning unit 12 for inputting an image signal to record and scan the recording paper, and an interface 13 for transmitting / receiving image information to / from a host computer.
And a transmission / reception unit 14 for transmitting / receiving an image signal to / from the line D,
And a bus control unit 15 for selectively connecting the image signal bus between each of these functional portions, and the mechanism and circuit of each of these functional portions are separated. Incidentally, E is a telephone which is alternatively connected to the line D and a facsimile machine.

The control circuit B independently controls the operations of the reading scanning unit 11, the recording scanning unit 12, the interface unit 13, and the transmitting / receiving unit 14, respectively, a reading control unit 21, a recording control unit 22, an interface control unit 23, and a transmission control unit. It also has a management control unit 25 which has 24 and controls and controls the respective control units 21 to 24 and the bus control unit 15. The management control unit 25 includes a main control unit (CPU) 26 including, for example, a microcomputer, and an R storing a control program thereof.
OM27 and RAM2 for temporarily storing control data and image information
Composed of 8 and. Reference numeral 29 is an operation panel section in which operation keys for inputting dial numbers and various kinds of operation information and a display for displaying the operating state of the system are arranged.

Next, the operation of the system configured as above will be described. Here, a case where image information is output from the host computer C and the image information is recorded by the recording scanning unit 12 during the facsimile transmission operation will be described as an example. 2 (a) to (c) are the management control units at that time.
25 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of 25.

The management control unit 25 repeatedly manages the occurrence of an incoming call, the generation of a transmission request, and the generation of a transfer request from the host computer C in steps 2a, 2b and 2c, respectively, as shown in FIG. . Note that step 2d is a step of detecting an operation end signal generated by each control unit at the time when the transmission operation or the reception operation is ended, and since the end signal does not arrive during standby, it is determined to be no.

Now, in this state, when the operator sets the transmission original on the scanning unit 11 and dials the operation panel, this transmission request is detected by the management control unit 25 in step b, and the transmission control is performed as follows. Done. That is, the management control unit 25 proceeds to step 3a in FIG. 2B and first determines in step 3a whether or not the facsimile apparatus main body A is in a transmittable state. Here, this determination is made by checking the operation state flag that is set in the RAM 28 and indicates the operation state of each functional portion. Then, the reading / scanning section 11 and the transmitting / receiving section 14 are in a standby state, and when it is determined that transmission is possible, the management control section 25
Shifts to step 3b to activate the transmission controller 24 and start the line connection control. When it is determined that the transmission is impossible in step 3a, the process proceeds to step 3c, and the fact that the transmission is impossible is displayed on the display of the operation panel 29 to notify the operator. When the line connection control is started in step 3b, the management control unit 25 monitors whether or not the line connection is completed in step 3d, and when the line is connected, subsequently starts the bus control unit 15 in step 3e. Transmission / reception control unit
An image signal bus is connected between 14 and the reading scanning unit 11. After confirming the connection completion in step 3f, next step
The reading control unit 21 is activated by 3g, and the reading scanning unit 11 is caused to start reading and scanning the original. Thus, the transmission of the image signal is started. When this transmission operation is started, the management control unit 25 sets in step 3h that the reading scanning unit 11 and the transmission / reception unit 14 are in use in the operation state flag of the RAM 28, and then the operation shown in FIG. Return to step 2a of a).
Then, the management control unit 25 monitors the completion of the transmission operation in Step 2d while monitoring the generation of another request in Steps 2a to 2c, and when the reading completion signal is generated from the reading control unit 21, the transmission ends at that time. Then, in step 2e, the corresponding control unit is returned to the initial state, and then in step 2f, the operation state flag is reset and the process returns to step 2a.

On the other hand, when a request for recording information arrives from the host computer C during the transmission operation and this request is detected in step 2c, the management control unit 25 moves to step 4a in FIG. 2 (c) and in step 4a. First, it is determined from the operation state flag of the RAM 28 whether recording is possible. Now, since the operation state flag is only in the state in which the transmission / reception operation and the reading operation are not possible, the management control unit 25 judges that the recording operation is possible and moves to step 4b, where the recording control is performed first. The unit 22 is activated to set the recording / scanning unit 12 in an operable state, and then in step 4d, a control signal is issued to the bus control unit 15 to connect the image signal bus between the recording / scanning unit 12 and the interface 13. . When the completion of the connection is confirmed in step 4e, subsequently, the interface controller 23 is activated in step 4f to bring the interface 13 into an operating state, whereby the host computer C and the recording scanning unit 12 are connected.
Thus, the information is transferred from the host computer C, and this information is guided to the recording / scanning unit 12 where it is recorded on the recording paper. Further, when the recording operation of this information is started, the management control unit 25 shifts to step 4g, and registers the fact that the recording scanning unit 12 is operating in the operation state flag of the RAM 28 in step 4g, and then the Return to step 2a of FIG. 2 (a). Then, in step 2d, the end of the transmission operation and the recording operation is monitored, and when the end signal is issued from the corresponding control unit, steps 2e and 2f are processed to return to the standby state.
If it is determined in step 4a that recording is not possible, the process proceeds to step 4c, in which the recording non-response is returned to the host computer C to inform it.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the reading scanning unit 11, the recording scanning unit 12, the interface 13 and the transmitting / receiving unit 14 are mechanically and circuitally separated from each other and a control unit that independently controls each of these functional portions. By providing 21,22,23,24 and a management control unit 25 for managing these control units 21 to 24, the output information is recorded in response to a request from the host computer C during transmission of a document. Multiplexing processing such as recording by the scanning unit 12 can be performed, which can significantly improve the operation efficiency of the facsimile system.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the information from the host computer C is recorded by the recording scanning unit 12 during the transmission of the original has been described. However, the received image signal may be transferred to the host computer C during the facsimile reception recording operation. Alternatively, while the information output from the host computer C is transmitted to the line D by the transmission / reception unit 14, the original document may be copied using the reading scanning unit 11 and the recording scanning unit 12. An image memory or the like may be applied as the type of the functional portion.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the control unit including the CPU is provided for each functional part has been described. However, each functional part can be independently controlled by performing multitask processing by one CPU. Good. In addition, the control procedure and control contents of the management control unit, the types of functional parts, and the like can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the present invention.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, each functional part is mechanically and circuitally separated, and a control part is provided for controlling each functional part independently of each other. It is necessary to provide a management control unit that supervises the control operation for the functional parts, and this management control unit must manage the operating state of each functional part and execute the processing that can be performed only by the functional part in the standby state. In such a case, the control operation by the control unit is controlled so that the processing is performed by the functional portion necessary for performing the processing without changing the operating state of the functional portion unnecessary for performing the processing. By doing so, it is possible to provide a facsimile system capable of performing multi-processing and greatly improving the operational efficiency of the system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c).
3 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the management control unit of the system. A: fax machine body, B: control circuit, C:
Host computer, D ... Line, E ... Telephone, 11 ...
… Reading scanning unit, 12 …… Recording scanning unit, 13 …… Interface unit, 14 …… Transmitting / receiving unit, 15 …… Bus control unit, 21 …… Reading control unit, 22 …… Recording control unit, 23 …… Interface control 24 ... Transmission control unit, 25 ... Management control unit, 26 ... Main control unit (CPU), 27 ... ROM, 28 ... RAM, 29 ... Operation panel unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile system in which a host computer is connected to a facsimile apparatus having at least a reading scanning section, a recording scanning section, a transmission / reception section and an interface section as a functional section through the interface section, and each functional section has a mechanism. Control unit controls the functional parts independently of each other, and controls the control operation for each functional part by the control unit. When it is necessary to manage the state and execute a process that can be performed only by the function part that is in the standby state, the above process is performed without changing the operation state of the function part that is unnecessary for executing the process. Provided is a management control unit for controlling the control operation by the control unit so that the processing is executed by the functional portion required to perform the processing. Facsimile system, characterized in that.