JPH0787525B2 - Equipment - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to facsimile equipment using a telephone line.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, facsimile devices, which use a telephone line in the voice band to transmit image data, have become widespread. However, the conventional facsimile machine is fixedly installed in an office or the like, and portability and easiness of carrying it are not taken into consideration.
In this regard, it is considered that the acoustic coupler, that is, the one in which the speaker and the microphone are placed and coupled with air as a medium, allows the facsimile apparatus to be used in a non-fixed position. For example, it is a usage form in which a facsimile machine is carried and image data or the like is transmitted from a telephone at a destination through an acoustic coupler.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the past, since a facsimile apparatus capable of sharing both transmission using a normal direct connection modem and transmission using such an acoustic coupler has not been proposed, an acoustic coupler is simply used. Only by using it, the following inconvenience may occur.

First, in the case of a direct connection modem that is generally used by directly connecting to a telephone line, it is often set to an automatic reception mode or an automatic transmission mode so that an automatic call / auto call operation is performed. However, it is technically difficult to use such an automatic transmission / reception function at the time of transmission by the acoustic coupler, considering the properties of the acoustic coupler. That is, the operator makes a voice call to confirm the partner machine, and then couples the acoustic coupler to his / her own facsimile machine, and then performs the transmission / reception operation as the facsimile machine.
Therefore, the operator needs to switch the sequence of facsimile operation between the direct connection modem and the acoustic coupler, which makes the operation complicated and difficult to use.

Further, generally, when an acoustic coupler is used, there is a problem that the degree of deterioration of the modem signal is larger than that in the case of the direct connection modem. This is because the acoustic coupler combines the speaker and microphone with air as the medium as described above, and even if various measures and methods are used, the S / N ratio is deteriorated, the phase distortion is increased, and the amplitude is increased. This is because it is difficult to avoid increasing distortion. However, in the case of a direct connection modem, there is a desire to use a high-speed 9600BPS, and in the current fax machine equipment, a program is set up so that training is performed from the faster transmission speed at the start of transmission / reception. If an acoustic coupler is used in such a model, a training error will occur in a high-speed modem such as 9600BPS, and the time for the facsimile procedure will be wasted accordingly. And when there is a training error, 7200BPS, 4
It will fall back to 800BPS and 2400BPS and will start transmission at error-free transmission speed. Here, if a training error occurs once, a dead time of about 5 seconds occurs, so it is considered that the loss time when using the acoustic coupler is large. On the other hand, as a property of a modem, it can be said that a lower speed modem is more resistant to disturbance and can communicate even if there is distortion or noise.

Taking all these points into consideration, it is considered that there is a demand for a common type facsimile machine that enables the use of an acoustic coupler, has a simple switching operation at that time, and has a small loss time due to a training error when using the acoustic coupler.

Measures to solve the problems In the main unit equipped with a transmission mode by a direct connection modem that transmits image data etc. through a telephone line,
A connector for selectively connecting an acoustic coupler to the facsimile main body and detecting the connection of the acoustic coupler, a switch for switching between the transmission mode by the direct connection modem and the transmission mode by using the acoustic coupler, and the acoustic coupler from the connector. In response to the connection detection signal, the switch is switched to the transmission mode using the acoustic coupler and switched to the manual transmission / reception mode, and the training start operation of the modem from the data transmission speed slower than that in the transmission mode by the direct connection modem is performed. The control means for controlling is provided.

Action When you want to set the transmission mode by using the acoustic coupler, connect the acoustic coupler to the connector. As a result, the connector itself detects the connection of the acoustic coupler and sends a detection signal to that effect to the control means. Upon receiving this detection signal, the control means switches the switch to the acoustic coupler side and automatically sets the transmission mode using the acoustic coupler. At the same time, the manual transmission / reception mode is also set, and the operator can directly perform the transmission processing of the image data and the like using the acoustic coupler in the manual mode. Further, the control means controls the training start operation of the modem in the transmission mode using the acoustic coupler so that the training is performed at the slower data transmission rate than in the mode of the direct connection modem, so that the training error is reduced.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, a facsimile main body 3 including a document reading unit 1 and a printing unit 2 is provided. Further, the facsimile main body 3 is provided with a controller 9 serving as control means, a modem 5, a network control unit NCU 6, and a connector 9 to which an amplifier 7 and an acoustic coupler 8 are selectively coupled. Here, the controller 4 is constituted by a microprocessor, a memory, an I / O port, etc., and drives and controls the document reading section 1, the printing section 2, the modem 5, the NCU 6 and the amplifier 7. Facsimile procedure,
It controls the compression / decompression of data. Also, the NC
Both the telephone line 10 and the telephone 11 can be easily attached to and detached from the U6 by a modular jack, and the facsimile main body 3 is configured to be portable.

Then, the connector 9 to which the acoustic coupler 8 is freely connectable has a built-in switch for detecting the acoustic coupler 8 by inserting the acoustic coupler 8, and the ACEN signal indicating that the acoustic coupler 8 is in the connected state is sent to the controller 4. On the other hand, it is configured to be active. By receiving this ACEN signal, a switching switch 12 for disconnecting the modem 5 and the NCU 6 under the control of the controller 4 and for connecting the modem 5 to the amplifier 7 is provided. That is, the modem 5
The transmission mode using an acoustic coupler that connects the amplifier 7 to the telephone line 10 and the modem 5 connected to the NCU 6
This is to switch between the direct connection mode and the direct connection mode. When the acoustic coupler 8 is connected and the transmission mode is set by using the acoustic coupler, the controller 4 of the flow chart shown in FIG. 2 is activated regardless of whether the operation mode switch is set to automatic or manual. It automatically switches to the manual reception / manual transmission mode as shown in. In this way, when the transmission mode by the acoustic coupler 8 is to be used, simply inserting the acoustic coupler 8 into the connector 7 detects this by the connector 7 and the switch 12 automatically transmits the transmission mode by using the acoustic coupler. And the manual mode as well, the acoustic coupler 8
It is possible to send and receive image data using the. here,
If there is any other operation peculiar to the acoustic coupler 8 in the facsimile procedure or the like, it is executed by the control of the controller 4.

When the acoustic coupler 8 is removed from the connector 9, the ACEN signal becomes inactive, and the controller 4 causes the acoustic coupler 8 to move.
Is not connected. Then, the switch 12 is switched to bring the NCU 6 into the connected state with respect to the modem 5, and the mode by the direct connection modem by the telephone line 10 is set. That is,
Allows normal facsimile operation. Here, the operation mode is set by the operator, and becomes the automatic or manual operation mode by reading the switch state.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the acoustic coupler 8 can be shared with the direct connection modem, but at this time, the acoustic coupler 8 is automatically connected to the connector 9 only. Since the transmission mode and the manual operation mode are set depending on the use, the operator does not need any special operation and the operability is good. Therefore, the Facsimile main unit 3 is usually installed in an office or the like and used in a transmission mode by a direct connection modem, and when traveling, the Facsimilli main unit 3 is carried and the acoustic coupler 8 is connected at the destination to transmit by the acoustic coupler. It may be suitable as a portable facsimile machine to be used in a mode.

Now, control of the data transmission rate will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. This FIG. 3 shows only the case of transmission. First, if the acoustic coupler 8 is not connected or removed and the ACEN signal is inactive,
The controller 4 determines that the direct connection modem is in the transmission mode. And 9600BPS, 7200BPS, 4800BPS, 2400B
The procedure data indicating that the PS has a modem for any transmission speed is sent to the partner machine. If the partner machine also has all the modems, the training starts from a common high-speed modem, that is, 9600BPS.

On the other hand, when the connection of the acoustic coupler 8 is detected, the controller 4 sends data indicating that the modem has a maximum capacity of 48000 BPS during the transmission / reception procedure period, and the training is executed from the transmission speed of 4800 BPS, for example. That is, the controller 4 starts the training from the modem having a data transmission speed slower than that in the transmission mode by the direct connection modem.
Controlled by.

According to this, in the transmission mode using the acoustic coupler, since the training by the high speed modem is not performed from the beginning, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of the training error. As a result, it is possible to shorten the entire communication time including the facsimile procedure time.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention enables connection of an acoustic coupler as described above,
This connection is detected by the connector, and when the connection of the acoustic coupler is detected, the control means automatically sets the transmission mode using the acoustic coupler and the manual operation mode, so that the operator connects the acoustic coupler to the connector. The transmission work using the acoustic coupler can be performed as it is just by performing the operation, and the workability is good, and it is convenient for the portable type. Since the training of the modem of the data transmission speed is performed from the slower than that of the direct connection modem, the training error is reduced, and it is possible to shorten the whole communication time including the facsimile procedure time. It maximizes each advantage of using the acoustic coupler.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are flow charts. 4 ... Controller (control means), 8 ... Acoustic coupler,
9 ... Connector, 10 ... Telephone line, 12 ... Switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a facsimile main body having a transmission mode by a direct connection modem for transmitting image data and the like through a telephone line, a connector for selectively connecting an acoustic coupler in the facsimile main body and detecting the connection of the acoustic coupler. A switch for switching between a transmission mode using the direct connection modem and a transmission mode using an acoustic coupler; and a switch for switching the transmission mode to the transmission mode using the acoustic coupler in response to an acoustic coupler connection detection signal from the connector, and a manual transmission / reception mode. And a control means for switching control and controlling the training start operation of the modem from a data transmission rate slower than that in the transmission mode by the direct connection modem.