JPH08195848A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To confirm the front and back of each recording paper and to promptly report the effect when they are reversed. CONSTITUTION: This equipment is provided with the recording/read mechanism system of layout in which the recording paper passed through the installation part of a thermosensitive recording head 7 for recording reception images is passed through the installation part of an image sensor 9 for reading a transmission original and ejected, a recording input data sampling means 20 for tentatively storing the black dot condition of a specified area at the time of printing image data stored in a memory 15 on the recording paper by the thermosensitive recording head 7, a recorded data sampling means 21 for reading images included in the specified area and extracting the black dot condition when the recording paper is passed through the image sensor 9, a data comparison means 22 for comparing both black dot conditions and binary-discriminating the degree of the similarity of both and a reporting means 13 for reporting that the recording paper is not normal when unsimilarity is judged by the data comparison means 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal recording type facsimile machine, and more particularly to a device which uses cut thermal recording paper instead of roll paper to determine whether regular recording paper is set in the correct front and back posture. It is related to the technology to determine whether or not.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general thermal recording type facsimile apparatus uses recording paper of roll paper. If the setting posture of the recording paper roll is reversed in this apparatus, the front and back of the recording paper will be opposite to the recording head, and the image cannot be printed. However, the problem of reverse setting in the case of roll paper is not so serious. When you replace the roll paper, you can immediately tell whether the front and back sides of the recording paper are correct or not by simply printing an image on the leading edge of the roll paper and ejecting it. Once set, the front and back will never be reversed until the roll is exhausted.

[0003]

However, an ultra-compact portable facsimile apparatus of the type in which a thermal recording sheet of cut paper is manually inserted and used one by one has been recently developed. In the case of this facsimile apparatus, there is a possibility that the front and back sides of the recording paper may be set erroneously for each sheet, and in this respect it cannot be said to be practical without some confirmation means, notification means or rescue means. However, the technique adopted in the conventional roll paper type facsimile machine is unsuitable for the cut paper type facsimile machine.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to check the front and back postures of recording papers one by one in a facsimile apparatus using a thermal recording paper of cut paper, In that case, it is necessary to promptly notify and re-record.

[0005]

In view of the above, according to the present invention, the recording of the layout in which the recording paper which has passed through the installation portion of the thermal recording head for recording the received image is discharged after passing through the installation portion of the image sensor for reading the transmission original document. A reading mechanism system, recording input data sampling means for temporarily storing the black dot status of a specific area in the image data when the image data stored in the memory is printed on the recording paper by the thermal recording head, and When the recording paper passes through the image sensor, an image corresponding to the specific area on the recording paper is read by the image sensor, and a recorded data sampling means for extracting the black dot condition, and the recording input data sampling means. The black dot status temporarily stored by and the recorded data sampling means The data comparison means for comparing the extracted black dot status with each other by binary discrimination of the similarity between them and the notification for notifying that the recording paper is not normal when the data comparison means determines that the two are not similar. And means.

In the above arrangement, the recording input data sampling means temporarily stores the number of black dots in the specific area, the recorded data sampling means extracts the number of black dots in the specific area, and the data comparing means If the difference between the numbers of both black dots is within a predetermined range, it is determined that they are similar,
Otherwise, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which it is determined that they are not similar.

Further, in the above arrangement, it is possible to provide a data processing means for handling the image data in the memory as re-recording target data when the data comparing means determines that they are not similar.

Further, in the above arrangement, when the data comparing means determines that the recording sheets are not similar to each other, it is possible to provide a control means for stopping the recording operation on the recording sheet and discharging the recording sheet at a high speed.

[0009]

If the recording paper is properly set, the thermal recording head prints an image properly on the recording paper, and the image in the specific area on the recording paper is read by the image sensor. In this case, since the black dot situation temporarily stored by the recorded input data sampling means and the black dot situation extracted by the recorded data sampling means are very similar, the data comparison means determines that they are similar. .

When the recording paper is set upside down, no image is printed on the recording paper (black dots are not recorded). Therefore, the recorded input data sampling means temporarily stores the black dot situation of the specific area of the image data to be printed, but the black dot situation extracted by the recorded data sampling means is different from the temporarily stored black dot situation. The situation of both black dots is greatly different, and the data comparison means determines that they are not similar. At this time, the notification means operates.

[0011]

1 is a schematic diagram of a recording / reading mechanism system of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A sheet insertion port 2 common to the transmission original and the recording paper is provided on the upper surface of the main body case 1 of the plastic molded product, and it is detected that the sheet 4 (transmission original or recording paper) is inserted into the insertion port 2. The sheet sensor 3 is mounted inside the insertion slot 2. Sheet 4 inserted in insertion slot 2
Is guided by the guide plate 5 and contacts the lower peripheral surface of the roller 6. When the roller 6 rotates in the clockwise direction, the sheet 4 is fed in contact with the roller 6, and first passes between the roller 6 and the thermal recording head 7, then between the roller 6 and the guide plate, and then the roller 6 And the image sensor 9, and finally is discharged upward from the sheet discharge port 10 provided on the upper surface of the main body case 1. A sheet sensor 11 for detecting that the sheet 4 is discharged is attached near the discharge port 10.

The transmission original is set in the sheet insertion slot 2 with the reading surface facing down. The original is fed inside as the roller 6 rotates, and when passing between the roller 6 and the image sensor 9, the image is sequentially read and reaches the sheet discharge port 10. The recording paper is set in the sheet insertion slot 2 with its heat sensitive surface facing down. The recording paper is fed inside as the roller 6 rotates, and when it passes between the roller and the thermal recording head 7, the image data stored in the memory is sequentially printed on the recording paper. The recording paper on which the image is printed in this way passes between the roller 6 and the image sensor 9 with the printing surface facing the image sensor 9 in the process of discharging from the sheet discharge port 10. Therefore, if the image sensor 9 is operated at this time, the image immediately after printing can be read in the middle of discharging the printed recording paper.
This is one of the features of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a control system of this facsimile apparatus. The main control unit 12 performs overall sequence control of the device, and the operation panel 13 (including various switches and indicators) as a man-machine interface.
Are connected to the main controller 12. The communication control unit 14 controls the protocol of facsimile communication. The image data read from the transmission document is temporarily stored in the memory 15 and then transmitted by the communication control unit 14. The image data received by the communication control unit 14 is also temporarily stored in the memory 15, and then printed on the thermal recording paper as follows. The recording control unit 17 takes charge of the process of supplying the image data of the memory 15 to the recording head 7 and printing it on the recording paper. The reading control unit 16 takes charge of the reading process of the image data by the image sensor 9. The paper feed control unit 18 cooperates with the sheet sensors 3 and 11 (FIG. 1) and the like to control the roller 6
To precisely control the feeding of the sheet 4 (transmission original or recording paper).

In order to realize the function of determining the front and back sides of the recording paper, which is the main part of the present invention, the reading control section 16 and the recording control section 17 are added with the configurations and functions described in detail below. In addition, the operation of the front and back determination function part of the recording paper according to the present invention
The control procedure is shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

When the image data to be printed is stored in the memory 15, the operation panel 13 displays a message to the effect such as "Please set the recording paper and press the recording button because there is received data". Then, the user sets the recording paper in the sheet insertion slot 2 and presses the recording button. Then, the main controller 12 starts the control for recording the image data.

An outline of the processing procedure of the recording control unit 17 at this time is shown in FIG. When the process of sequentially reading the image data from the memory 15 and supplying the image data to the recording head 7 is started (step 301), the first black dot in the image data is waited for (step 302), and the black dot appears. If so, the line number (assumed to be L1) of the data including the black dot is stored in the register 19 (step 303). After that, the counter 20 counts the number of black dots included in a predetermined line of the image data sequentially supplied to the recording head 7 (steps 304 and 305). For example, the counter 20 counts the number of black dots included in the partial image data for 10 lines from the line number L1.

The line number L1 stored in the register 19 is transmitted to the reading control unit 16, and at this time, the reading control unit 16 executes the processing of FIG. 4 and the data of the line number L1 on the recording paper is printed. It waits for the determined position (specific line position) to reach the reading position of the image sensor 9 (step 401). When the specific line position on the recording paper reaches the reading position, the image reading operation is started (step 402). Then, the number of black dots in the read image data is counted by the counter 21 (step 403). The black dots are counted, for example, only for 10 lines of data (step 404), the reading of the image data is stopped when the counting operation is completed (step 405), and the data comparison unit 2
A comparison command is issued to 2 (step 406).

The data comparison unit 22 which receives the comparison command signal
Is the value of the counter 20 (the number of black dots in the recorded input data)
And the value of the counter 21 (the number of black dots of recorded data) are compared, and if the absolute value of the difference between the two exceeds a preset reference value, the main control of the determination signal indicating "dissimilarity" is performed. Output to the unit 12.

Although the number of black dots on a predetermined line is counted in the figure, the coincidence between the address of the recorded black dot and the address of the black dot obtained by reading the recorded recording paper is detected, A determination signal indicating “similarity” may be output when the addresses of predetermined black dots match, and a determination signal indicating “dissimilarity” may be output when the addresses do not match.

The main control unit 12 executes the processing shown in FIG. 5, and waits for the recording control unit 17 to issue a recording end signal or the data comparison unit 22 to issue a dissimilarity determination signal ( Steps 501, 502). If the recording paper is properly set and the image data is correctly recorded, the value of the counter 20 and the value of the counter 21 are not so different, so that they are not judged to be dissimilar and a recording end signal is generated. In this case, a printed mark is added to the image data in the memory 15 just printed, and the recording paper is ejected (steps 503 and 504).

If the recording paper is set upside down (the same is true when the paper which is not thermal recording paper is set), the image data is not printed, and the value of the counter 20 and the value of the counter 21 are greatly different. A dissimilarity determination signal occurs. In this case, an alarm indicating that "please check that the recording paper is set correctly" is issued (step 505), the recording process is interrupted, and the sheet is ejected at high speed without attaching the printed mark to the image data. (Step 504). Since the printed mark is not attached to the image data, a message such as "Please set the recording paper and press the record button because there is received data" is displayed together with the above alarm. Then, if the recording paper is properly set and the recording button is pressed, the printing process is restarted.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the front side and the back side of the recording paper are confirmed for each sheet, and if they are opposite, the fact is promptly notified. Therefore, the user can immediately re-record by setting the recording paper inside out and instructing re-recording. The recording input data sampling means temporarily stores the number of black dots in the specific area, the recorded data sampling means extracts the number of black dots in the specific area, and the data comparing means calculates the difference between the two black dot numbers. If it is within a predetermined range, it is determined to be similar, and if it is not, it is determined to be dissimilar. improves. Further, when the data comparison means determines that the recording sheets are not similar, a control means for stopping the recording operation on the recording sheet and discharging the recording sheet at a high speed is provided to reduce unnecessary waiting time. Redo operation can be performed quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a recording / reading mechanism system of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a control system of the same facsimile machine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main part of an operation of a recording control unit in the facsimile device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main part of an operation of a reading control unit in the above facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the main part of the operation of the main control unit in the facsimile device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Case Body 2 Sheet Insertion Portion 3 Sheet Sensor 4 Sheet (Recording Paper or Transmission Document) 5 Guide Plate 6 Roller 7 Thermal Recording Head 8 Guide Plate 9 Image Sensor 10 Sheet Ejection Port 11 Sheet Sensor 12 Main Control Unit 13 Operation Panel 14 Communication Control unit 15 Memory 16 Reading control unit 17 Recording control unit 18 Paper feed control unit 19 Line number register 20 Black dot counter 21 Black dot counter 22 Data comparison unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A recording / reading mechanism system having a layout in which a recording sheet that has passed through an installed portion of a thermal recording head for recording a received image and is discharged after passing through an installed portion of an image sensor that reads a transmission original is stored in a memory. When printing the recorded image data on the recording paper by the thermal recording head, recording input data sampling means for temporarily storing the black dot status of a specific area in the image data, and the recording paper passes through the image sensor. At this time, the recorded data sampling means for reading the image corresponding to the specific area on the recording paper by the image sensor and extracting the black dot status, the black dot status temporarily stored by the recording input data sampling means, and the black dot status Compared with the black dot situation extracted by the recorded data sampling means And a data comparing means for discriminating the similarity between the two values, and a notifying means for notifying that the recording paper is not normal when the data comparing means determines that the two are not similar. Facsimile machine. 2. A recording / reading mechanism system having a layout in which a recording sheet passing through an installation portion of a thermal recording head for recording a received image and discharged through an installation portion of an image sensor for reading a transmission document is stored in a memory. When printing the recorded image data on the recording paper by the thermal recording head, recording input data sampling means for temporarily storing the black dot status of a specific area in the image data, and the recording paper passes through the image sensor. At this time, the image corresponding to the specific area on the recording paper is read by the image sensor, and the recorded data sampling means for extracting the black dot status, and the recording input data sampling means are used to determine the number of black dots in the specific area. Temporarily stored, the recorded data sampling means is a black dot of the specific area The data comparison means determines that the difference between the two black dots is similar if the difference between the two black dots is within a predetermined range, and otherwise determines dissimilarity. A facsimile apparatus comprising: a notifying unit for notifying that the recording paper is not normal when judged. 3. The data processing unit according to claim 1, further comprising a data processing unit that handles the image data in the memory as re-recording target data when the data comparison unit determines that the images are not similar. The described facsimile machine. 4. When the data comparison means determines that the data are not similar, the recording operation on the recording paper is stopped,
4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for discharging the recording paper at high speed.