JPH09233311A - Image communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image communication equipment in which the communication cost is saved and the recording paper is effectively utilized by deciding whether or not image processing such as rotation and coupling is to be applied to image data by discrimination processing based on negotiation. SOLUTION: A microprocessor 150 decides whether or not rotation processing and coupling processing are applied to image data based on a maximum recording width and a maximum recording length of a communication opposite party obtained through negotiation between a transmitter side image communication equipment and an image communication equipment of a transmission destination conducted prior to data communication. Then the rotation processing is applied to the image data stored in an image memory 130 based on setting of the presence of drive of a MODEM 110 and a compounding circuit 120 and an algorithm stored in a ROM 170 and plural image data are stored in a consecutive memory space in the image memory 130 to conduct coupling processing. Thus, the frequency of reduction processing is reduced in the case of transmission and redundant data including blanks are omitted to reduce the transmission time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus for communicating image data via a communication line, and particularly to an image communication apparatus having a function of changing image processing based on the capability of a receiver obtained by a pre-communication procedure. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional image communication apparatus having a facsimile function for communicating image data via a communication line is transmitted to an image communication apparatus as a transmission destination (hereinafter, abbreviated as a receiver) before data transmission. Side image communication device (hereinafter,
This is abbreviated as a transmitter). Therefore, the receiver notifies the transmitter of the maximum recording width and the maximum recording length by negotiation. The transmitter is
The negotiation specifies the transmission data width and transmission data length to the receiver.

If the maximum recording width of the receiver is smaller than the width of the transmitted document, the transmitter performs reduction processing on the image data to match the recording width capability of the receiver and transmits the image data.
Further, for example, when the document is read by setting the longitudinal direction of the A4 document to be the main scanning direction, the width of the transmitted data is reduced even though the transmitter is image data read from the A4 document. Since it corresponds to the recording width of an A3 document, it is transmitted as an A3 document.

On the other hand, when the receiver receives the A4 size image data but the A4 size recording paper is torn,
Add a margin to record an image on A3 size recording paper,
Alternatively, when the transmission data width of the received image data is larger than the recording width, the received image data is reduced to fit on the recording paper.

At present, the minimum size of an image communication apparatus having a facsimile function is generally A4. However, B5 size manuscripts are also used in general offices. Therefore, the current image communication apparatus transmits B5 size originals as A4 width originals.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned facsimile communication system has a technical problem in that it is too small to make it difficult to see, and the communication time becomes long due to redundant data transmission such as margins. The receiver could not use the recording paper effectively.

A technical problem associated with a general facsimile communication system will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a transmission state and a recording state in the facsimile communication system.

FIG. 8 (a) shows a recording mode of the receiver when transmitting a B5 landscape original. Here, the horizontal original such as the B5 horizontal original refers to a state in which the transmitter is set and read so that the longitudinal direction of the original becomes the main scanning direction, and therefore, the A4 horizontal original and the A3 horizontal original. There are also horizontal originals and B4 horizontal originals. The transmitter reads a B5 landscape original, and the width of the transmission data of the image data read from the original in this state corresponds to the recording width of the B4 original. Therefore, when there is no B4 recording paper and there is A3 recording paper on the receiver side, an image is recorded on A3 size recording paper. In such a case, the recording paper has a large margin as shown in FIG. 8A and cannot be said to be effectively used.

Similarly to FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B also shows a recording mode of a receiver which is a dedicated A4 size recording paper machine for transmitting a B5 landscape original. Since it is an A4 size recording paper dedicated machine, the transmitter reduces the size of the transmission data from B5 to the size of the A5 landscape original and transmits the image data in order to match the recording width capability of the receiver. The receiver records an image on A4 size recording paper. In such a case, the size of the recording paper is too small to see, and the receiver cannot use the recording paper effectively.

In view of the above technical problems, an object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide an image communication device that saves communication cost and can effectively use recording paper by performing image communication by performing image processing according to the capability of a communication partner.

[0012]

The above object can be achieved by the following constitutions.

(1) Image communication provided with an image memory for storing image data, a data compression unit for encoding the image data read from the image memory after the pre-communication procedure, and a modem for transmitting the encoded data. A device,
Size detection means for detecting the maximum recording width and maximum recording length of the communication partner obtained in the pre-communication procedure, and rotation processing or combination of image data based on the maximum recording width and maximum recording length detected by the size detecting means. A control unit that determines whether or not to perform processing, a rotation unit that performs rotation processing on the image data stored in the image memory based on the determination of the control unit, and the image based on the determination of the control unit. An image communication apparatus comprising: a combining unit that performs a combining process on image data of a plurality of pages on a memory. With the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the frequency of excessive reduction.

(2) A modem for receiving the coded data after the pre-communication procedure, a data decompression unit for decompressing the coded data received by the modem, and an image memory for storing the image data obtained from the decompression unit. And a control unit that determines whether to perform a rotation process or a combination process on the image data based on the recording width and the recording length of the received image data, and the control unit Rotation processing means for performing rotation processing on the image data subjected to rotation and / or combination processing based on the above; coupling means for performing combination processing on the image data of a plurality of pages on the image memory based on the judgment of the control unit; An image communication apparatus comprising: a recording unit for recording an image on a recording sheet with image data stored in an image memory. With the above configuration, an image can be recorded by effectively using the recording paper when receiving.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The image communication apparatus of the present invention can be applied to any apparatus having a facsimile function, but a facsimile apparatus will be described as a representative in the following embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 (a) is an external view and FIG. 1 (b) is an internal sectional view.

The facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment comprises a document reading section 10 and an image recording section 20, and the communication line 1
(See FIG. 2) is connected to the outside.

The document reading section 10 comprises a document placing table 11, a paper feed roller 12 and an optical reading section 13, and sets a transmission document on the document placing table 11 provided on the upper surface with the document surface facing downward, When the sensor S detects that the original is set, the original placing table 11 is sent by the transmission start signal.
The upper original is conveyed from the lower side, that is, from the top of a plurality of originals by the sheet feeding roller 12, and the optical reading unit 13 reads the original. The image data obtained by such reading is transmitted to the communication line 1 via the modem 110 (see FIG. 2).

The sensor S comprises a photocoupler having a light emitting element and a light receiving element as a pair. Such a sensor S is arranged on the document table 11 at an interval corresponding to the width of the document size in FIG.
Since it is provided at the position shown in (1), the OFF signal is sent out when the original is not set and the ON signal is sent out when the original is set. Microprocessor 150 (see FIG. 2) is ON detected by sensor S
The original size can also be detected by counting the number of signals. The paper feed roller 12 is a roller pair consisting of a driving roller and a driven roller, and the driving roller is provided at the end portion of the document placing table 11 with the driving roller downward, so that the originals on the lower side of the document stack can be optically fed one by one. The sheet is conveyed to the reading unit 13. The optical reading unit 13 irradiates the original surface with a light source (not shown), and forms an image of the irradiated original on a solid-state image sensor (not shown) such as a CCD by a condenser lens (not shown). The original is read. The handset 14 is used together with facsimile communication.

The image recording unit 20 comprises a paper feed cassette 21, a recording paper transport unit 22, a recording unit 23 and a paper discharge unit 24.
Record the image data received from the communication line 1 on the recording paper,
The recording paper is discharged face down with the white side facing up and discharged to the paper discharge unit 24.

The paper feed cassette 21 accommodates blank recording sheets to be printed. The recording paper conveyance unit 22 conveys the recording paper to the recording unit 23. The recording unit 23 prints an image on the recording paper conveyed by the recording paper conveyance unit 22. In the present embodiment, the recording unit 23 adopts an electrophotographic system, and charges, image-exposes, and exposes the photosensitive drum 231.
After developing to form a toner image, the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper, fixed, and discharged. Here, a linear LED array 232 is used for image exposure, and an image is recorded on the rotating photosensitive drum 231. Although the electrophotographic recording unit is used in the present embodiment, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this, and an inkjet system, a magnetic recording system or the like may be adopted.

The operation unit 30 includes a ten-key pad for inputting the dial number of the transmission destination, a shortened number key for calling the dial number of the transmission destination, a one-touch key for calling the dial number of the transmission destination and starting transmission, A start key for instructing the start of transmission, or a display for displaying necessary information using a liquid crystal or the like is provided.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile communication circuit incorporated in the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment.

The facsimile communication circuit 100 includes a modem 1
10, compression / expansion circuit 120, image memory 130, and I /
O141, 142, microprocessor 150, RAM
160 and ROM 170, which can transfer data and control information by connecting with a bus line 180 which is a common transmission path. The configuration of each part will be described below.

The modem 110 modulates / demodulates a signal transmitted via the communication line 1. Compression / expansion circuit 12
0 corresponds to the data compression circuit and the data expansion circuit described in the claims, and transfers the image data compressed in page units to the modem 110 based on the control signal from the microprocessor 150, and from the modem 110. The transferred image data is decompressed and written in the image memory 130.

The image memory 130 has a storage capacity sufficient to store an A-size original image and a storage capacity corresponding to a work area for rotating an image described later.

The I / O 141 connects the image data from the optical reading section 13 to the bus line. I / O14
Reference numeral 2 connects the recording unit 23 to the bus line 180.

The microprocessor 150 corresponds to the control unit, the rotating means and the connecting means described in the claims, and sets the presence / absence of the driving of the modem 110 and the compression / expansion circuit 120 and the image data by the algorithm described later. By executing the rotating process of rotating, the image data is transmitted, or the image data is received and transmitted to the recording unit 23. The microprocessor 150 rotates the image data read from the original on the basis of the maximum recording width, maximum recording length of the receiver and the size of the original to be transmitted, which are obtained by negotiation between the receiver and the transmitter before data transmission. It is determined whether or not the joining process is performed. The microprocessor 150 rotates or combines the received image data with the received image data based on the received data width from the transmitter, the received data length and the recording paper size, which are obtained by the negotiation between the receiver and the transmitter performed prior to the data reception. It is also determined whether or not to process.

It should be noted that the microprocessor 150 has a write / read operation indicating the write / read operation state of the image data.
By referring to the read flag and the start address, the usage state of the image memory 130 can be managed.

The RAM 160 records the dial number of the transmission destination, the recording width and recording length of the receiver of the transmission destination, the transmission data length from the transmission destination, and the like.

The ROM 170 constitutes the rotating means, the connecting means, and the reducing means described in the claims, and stores software showing an algorithm showing the rotation processing of the image data shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. .

The above is the schematic configuration of the facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment. Next, the setting operation of the image processing mode determination operation based on the negotiation and the image processing operation based on the determination operation in the facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The operation shown in FIG. 3 is common to both the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter detects the maximum recording width and the maximum recording length of the communication partner obtained in the pre-communication procedure, and Processor 150
Determines whether to perform the rotation process or the combination process on the image data based on the maximum recording width and the maximum recording length detected by the size detecting means, whereas the receiver is the microprocessor 1
The only difference is that it is determined based on the recording width and recording length of the image data received at 50 whether or not the rotation processing or the combining processing is performed on the image data, and there is no difference in other control procedures and circuit configurations. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the image processing operation will be described on behalf of the operation on the transmitter side.

Here, in the present embodiment, the recording paper capacity is described as A4 or A3 for ease of explanation, but similar processing is performed including the case where the recording capacity of the receiver is B4. be able to.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the determination process based on the negotiation.

The document to be transmitted by the user is placed on the document table 11
The microprocessor 150 executes the facsimile control (call connection) procedure when it confirms that the dial data has been input when it is confirmed by one of the sensors S that there is a transmission document from OFF to ON. To do. It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, since the image communication apparatus is used, the facsimile control procedure is shown as the pre-communication procedure described in the claims, but the invention is not limited to this, and JPEG, TIFF, etc. May be.

The microprocessor 150 detects the document size by counting the number of changes of the detection signal from the sensor S from OFF to ON in parallel with the call connection operation. The microprocessor 150 determines the document size (step 1 to step 4). Microprocessor 1
Reference numeral 50 denotes a B5 landscape original, an A4 portrait original, and an A4 portrait original by the document size determination processing in steps 1 to 4.
It is possible to determine whether the size is a horizontally placed document or an A3 vertically placed document. Here, the horizontally placed original indicates that the long side of the original is set on the original placing table 11 in a direction to perform main scanning. The vertically placed document indicates that the short side of the document is set on the document placing table 11 in the direction of main scanning.

The microprocessor 150 determines the recording capability of the receiver based on the maximum recording width and the maximum recording length of the receiver obtained by the negotiation described with reference to FIG. 3 (steps 5 to 7). In the present embodiment, the maximum recording width of the receiver is assumed to be A3 or A4, and the maximum recording length is assumed to be infinite.

The microprocessor 150 executes the step 1
~ Original size discrimination result in step 4 and step 5
~ Based on the recording ability determination result of step 7, it is determined whether the image data read from the original is subjected to the rotation process or the combining process (steps 8 to 15). A specific example will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 6.

When the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmission original is B5 horizontal original and the recording capacity of the receiver is A3, the B5 horizontal image data is rotated by 90 degrees and the image data of two sheets are combined. The processing operation is set so as to perform (step 8).

When the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmission original is B5 horizontal original and the recording capability of the receiver is A4, the processing operation is performed so that the B5 horizontal image data is rotated 90 degrees into B5 image data. Set (step 9).

If the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmitted original is A4 and the recording capacity of the receiver is A3, the A4 image data is rotated 90 degrees and the image data for two sheets is combined into A3. The processing operation is set so as to obtain data (step 10).

If the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmitted original is A4 and the recording capacity of the receiver is A4, no image processing is performed on the A4 image data read from the original (step 11). .

When the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmission original is A4 horizontal original and the recording capacity of the receiver is A3, the A4 horizontal image data is rotated by 90 degrees and the image data of two sheets are combined. Then, the processing operation is set so as to generate A3 image data (step 12).

When the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmitted original is A4 landscape original and the recording capability of the receiver is A4, the processing operation is performed so that the A4 landscape image data is rotated 90 degrees into A4 image data. Set (Step 1
3).

If the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmitted original is A3 and the recording capacity of the receiver is A3, no image processing is performed on the A3 image data read from the original (step 14). .

When the microprocessor 150 determines that the size of the transmission original is A3 and the recording capacity of the receiver is A4, the processing operation is performed to reduce the A3 image data read from the original to the A4 image data. Is set (step 15).

As described above, the facsimile communication circuit according to the present embodiment determines whether to perform image processing such as rotation, combination, and reduction on image data by the determination processing based on negotiation.

Subsequently, the rotation processing of the image data will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an image memory map when the rotation process is performed.

FIG. 5A is a memory map before the rotation processing is performed, and accordingly, the image data sequentially transferred from the optical reading unit 13 is stored in ascending order from the head address, and the pixel number is stored in the head address. The image data of 1 is stored, and the image data with the final pixel number is stored at the final address. FIG. 5B is a memory map after the rotation processing. Image data is stored in an address obtained by rotating the array state shown in FIG. 5A by 90 degrees around the center of the image data group in the memory space of the image memory 130. Have been reallocated.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the rotation processing in this embodiment.

When the microprocessor 150 confirms that the dial data has been input and confirms that there is a transmission original, the original is conveyed by the paper feed roller 12, the optical reading unit 13 reads the image data from the original, and the image memory 130 is read. To store. FIG. 5A is a memory map of the image memory 130 showing such a storage state.

When the microprocessor 150 determines that the rotation processing is necessary (steps 8 to 10 and 13), it executes the rotation processing shown in FIG. 4 after the storage of the image data in the image memory 130 is completed.

The microprocessor 150 sets the read pointer to the start address of FIG. 5A and the write pointer to the rotated start address shown in FIG. 5B (step 101).

The microprocessor 150 reads the 1-bit image data with the read pointer and writes the 1-bit image data with the write pointer (step 1
02).

The microprocessor 150 increments the read pointer by 1, and advances the write pointer in the rotated memory space (step 103).

By referring to the address value of the read pointer, the microprocessor 150 confirms whether or not the rotation processing of all bits has been completed (step 10).
4). If the microphone processor 150 determines that the rotation processing for all bits has not been completed, it returns to step 2 and executes the subsequent processing. If the rotation processing for all bits has been completed, this routine executes this routine. finish. The image data can be rotated by executing the above processing.

In the present embodiment, the rotating means is realized by software in the microprocessor 150, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained even if realized by a gate array. .

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the combining process in this embodiment, which is a memory map of the image memory 130.

If the facsimile communication circuit according to the present embodiment determines that the size of the transmitted document is not less than twice the receiving capability of the receiver (steps 8, 10 in FIG. 3,
12), execute a combining process. Specifically, the microprocessor 150 stores the first image data obtained from the optical reading unit 13 in the image memory 130 as shown in FIG. 6, and continues to the final address where the first image data is stored. The second image data is stored in the image memory 130.

The facsimile communication circuit according to the present embodiment stores a plurality of image data in a continuous memory space, so that a plurality of image data are collectively transmitted when transmitting the image data.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state where an image is reproduced on a recording sheet by the receiver.

In FIG. 6A, a transmitter rotates a B5 vertical document to a receiver having a recording width capability of A3, and two sheets are combined and transmitted.
It shows a case where the receiver reproduces the received data as an image on A3 size recording paper. If the former transmission procedure is adopted, the image data read from multiple originals will be combined and transmitted at the time of transmission, so the transmission time of redundant data including margins and the time required for the procedure between pages can be saved. The time is shortened and the usage time of the telephone line can be shortened.

FIG. 6B shows a case where the image data is rotated by 90 degrees and transmitted when the orientations of the transmission document and the recording paper of the receiver do not match as in steps 9 and 13 shown in FIG. And the case where the image is reproduced on the recording paper by performing the rotation process when the image data is received by the receiver.
The former employs the above-mentioned transmission process, and thus is easy to see without reduction. The latter can effectively use the recording paper when receiving.

The above-described facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment can be provided with the above-described configuration to provide a facsimile apparatus that can reduce the frequency of reduction processing during transmission and reception and can obtain an easy-to-see facsimile image.

Further, since the facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided with the above configuration, the image data read from a plurality of originals are combined and transmitted at the time of transmission, so that redundant data including a margin can be omitted. It is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus that can shorten the transmission time and the telephone line usage time.

Although the above-described embodiment has been described as a facsimile apparatus, the present invention is not limited to this, and any image recording apparatus having a facsimile communication circuit can be used as a copying machine and a facsimile apparatus. The same can be applied to a multi-function peripheral.

[0068]

According to the invention described in claim 1, by providing the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the frequency of reduction processing at the time of transmission, obtain an easy-to-see facsimile image, and omit redundant data including margins. I was able to save time.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the redundant data including the blank space can be omitted at the time of reception by providing the above configuration, the transmission time can be shortened and the recording paper can be effectively used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view and a sectional view of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile communication circuit mounted on the facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a determination process based on negotiation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a rotation process in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an image memory map when performing rotation processing.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state where an image is reproduced on a recording sheet by a receiver.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a combining process according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a transmission state and a recording state in the facsimile communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Document Reading Section 11 Document Loading Table 12 Paper Feed Roller 13 Optical Reading Section 20 Image Recording Section 23 Recording Section 110 Modem 120 Compression / Expansion Circuit 130 Image Memory 150 Microprocessor 160 RAM 170 ROM S Sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image communication apparatus provided with an image memory for storing image data, a data compression unit for encoding image data read from the image memory after a pre-communication procedure, and a modem for transmitting the encoded data. In the above, the size detecting means for detecting the maximum recording width and the maximum recording length of the communication partner obtained in the pre-communication procedure, and the rotation processing for the image data based on the maximum recording width and the maximum recording length detected by the size detecting means. And a control unit that determines whether or not to perform join processing,
Rotating means for rotating the image data stored in the image memory based on the determination of the control unit, and combining processing for a plurality of pages of image data on the image memory based on the determination of the control unit. An image communication apparatus comprising: a coupling unit. 2. A modem for receiving coded data after the pre-communication procedure, a data decompression unit for decompressing data received and coded by the modem, and an image memory for storing image data obtained from the decompression unit. In the image communication apparatus provided with, the control unit that determines whether to perform the rotation process or the combination process on the image data based on the recording width and the recording length of the received image data, and the rotation based on the determination of the control unit. And / or a rotation processing unit that performs a rotation process on the combined image data, and a combining unit that performs a combination process on the image data of a plurality of pages on the image memory based on the determination of the control unit,
An image communication apparatus, comprising: a recording unit that records an image on a recording sheet with image data stored in the image memory.