JPH09261402A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile equipment capable of smoothly down-loading from an external information processing terminal by sending back dead capacity information in a memory part to an information processing terminal through an interface means. SOLUTION: A computer interface 114 is the one for connecting to the information processing terminal 117 and uses a bi-directional parallel interface. In addition application software for remote-operating the facsimile equipment is installed to the information processing terminal 117. When the information processing terminal 117 sends a memory state referring command to the facsimile equipment, the facsimile equipment transmits a parameter the total size and the free size, etc., of a memory to the information processing terminal 117 and the information processing terminal receives this. This memory referring command designates a memory area by means of a Partition field.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine connectable to an information processing terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile machine is connected to an information processing terminal through an interface means, and the facsimile machine is operated remotely from the information processing terminal, so that image data created by the information processing terminal is passed through the interface means. A facsimile system has been proposed in which the facsimile is downloaded to a facsimile device and transmitted to another communication terminal by facsimile.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, there is a problem in that the facsimile apparatus side is in a memory full state due to the amount of data and the transfer speed from the information processing terminal, and an appropriate operation cannot be obtained.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile machine which can smoothly download from an external information processing terminal.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in a facsimile apparatus having an interface means for transmitting and receiving data to and from an information processing terminal, the free space information of a memory section is returned to the information processing terminal via the interface means. The image data sent from the information processing terminal is received so that the memory does not become full. That is, since the external information processing terminal can grasp the free space information of the memory section of the facsimile machine, when the information processing terminal downloads the image data to the facsimile machine, whether the download is possible or the memory is not full. I can judge.

[0006] Further, it has an instruction accepting means for accepting an instruction sent from the information processing terminal via the interface means, and the content of the instruction accepted by the instruction accepting means is "the free space information of the memory section of the facsimile apparatus. If “instruction to obtain”, the external information processing terminal downloads the image data to the facsimile apparatus by returning the free space information of the memory unit of the facsimile apparatus as parameter data to the external information processing terminal via the interface means. At that time, it is possible to determine whether the download is possible or the memory does not become full.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The CPU 101 is a system control unit,
It controls the entire device, and the ROM 102 is a CP
The control program of U101 is stored. The RAM 103 is composed of SRAM or the like and is for storing program control variables and the like, and is also for storing various work buffers such as set values registered by the operator and management data of the device in the RAM. Is. The image memory 104 is composed of a DRAM or the like, and stores image data.

A communication coding / decoding processing unit (communication codec) 106 and a reading / recording coding / decoding processing unit (reading / recording codec) 107 code and decode image data handled by a facsimile apparatus. Process.

A MODEM (modulation / demodulation device) 108 modulates / demodulates a transmission / reception signal of a facsimile device.
An NCU (network control unit) 109 has a function of sending a selection signal (dial pulse or tone dialer) to the communication line 118, and performs an automatic call receiving operation and a line control operation by detecting a ringing tone.

The scanner 111 is a CS image sensor,
It is composed of a document transport mechanism or the like, which reads a document optically and converts it into electrical image data. This image data is subjected to correction processing by the image processing unit 110, and high-definition image data is output.

The operation unit 112 is composed of a keyboard or the like and is used by the operator to perform various input operations. The line buffer 113 is a line buffer used when controlling transfer of image data.

The computer interface 114 is an interface for connecting to the information processing terminal 117. In this embodiment, a bidirectional parallel interface is used. Further, it is assumed that the information processing terminal 117 has application software for remotely operating the facsimile machine installed.

The printer 115 is a BJ printer or the like for recording the received image and file data on recording paper. The printer formatter 116 analyzes a printer description language and converts it into image data when printing file data from a workstation or the like.

FIG. 5 shows the information processing terminal 1 in this embodiment.
FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing exchanges of commands for obtaining status information of the scanner 111 of the facsimile apparatus from FIG.

In this service, by sending a scanner status acquisition command from the information processing terminal 117 to the facsimile device, the facsimile device sends a parameter indicating the scanner connection or the like to the information processing terminal 117, and the information processing terminal 117 receives the parameter. To do.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the scanner state acquisition command, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the reception parameters of the information processing terminal 117 according to the scanner state acquisition command.

The reception parameters include the following. First, the "scanner connection" is information regarding the type of the scanner 111 that the facsimile apparatus has, and the "ADF status" is status information of the ADF (automatic document feeder). This is effective in the case of "scanner connection" and "with ADF".

The "ADF document main scanning size" means
This is the information about the main scanning size of the ADF document, which is valid only when the above "ADF status" does not include the information "no document".

The "flatbed original document" is information indicating the presence / absence of a flatbed original document, and the "flatbed original size" is information indicating the flatbed original size. This is effective in the case of the "flatbed document" and "there is a document".

FIG. 8 shows an information processing terminal 1 in this embodiment.
FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing exchanges of commands for obtaining status information of the printer 115 of the facsimile apparatus from FIG.

In this service, by sending a printer status acquisition command from the information processing terminal 117 to the facsimile apparatus, the facsimile apparatus sends parameters indicating the cassette status, recording paper status, etc. to the information processing terminal 117, and the information processing is performed. It is received by the terminal 117.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the printer status acquisition command, and FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the reception parameters of the information processing terminal 117 by the printer status acquisition command.

The reception parameters include the following. First, the "cassette status" is cassette mounting information and indicates the presence or absence of each cassette. It should be noted that "without a cassette" includes a case where the cassette does not exist in the facsimile device.

The "recording paper state" is information regarding the presence or absence of recording paper in the cassette, and the "recording paper size" is information indicating the size of the recording paper contained in the cassette. This is effective when the "cassette state" is "with cassette". When the "recording paper state" is "no recording paper", the size information of the mounted cassette may be returned.

The "cartridge status" is status information of the recording cartridge and indicates the presence or absence of each cartridge.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the exchange of commands from the information processing terminal 117 to obtain information about the storage memory 104 of the facsimile apparatus in this embodiment.

In this service, by sending a memory status inquiry command from the information processing terminal 117 to the facsimile apparatus, the facsimile apparatus sends the information processing terminal 117 a total (total) size of memory and a free (Free) memory.
e) A parameter indicating the size and the like is transmitted, and the information processing terminal 117 receives the parameter.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the memory status inquiry command.

In this memory status inquiry command, Par
The memory field is specified by the title field. As the memory area, the scanner reading area (01h), the host transfer area (02h), the FAX receiving area (03h), and the local operation area (04
h) can be specified (specification code is shown in parentheses).

The scanner reading area is an area in which a file read from the scanner 111 according to an instruction from the host (information processing terminal 117) is stored. The host transfer area is an area for storing files downloaded from the host. Further, the FAX reception area is an area in which a file received by a forced memory reception instruction from the host is stored. The local operation area is an area for storing files created without instructions from the host.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the reception parameters of the information processing terminal 117 by this memory status inquiry command.

The reception parameters include the following. First, the “Total size” is to display the total capacity (the number of bytes) of the memory allocated to the designated memory area as binary information. The "Free size" is to display, as binary information, the total capacity (the number of bytes) of the free memory in the designated memory area at the time of receiving this command.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile device when the facsimile device receives the memory status inquiry command.

First, the facsimile apparatus receives a command from the information processing terminal 117 via the computer interface 114 (S201). If the received command is a memory status inquiry command (S20
2) Seeing that the designated memory area in the command is described as a parameter, it is determined which information of the scanner reading area, the host transfer area, the FAX receiving area, and the local operation area in the memory is desired (S203). ).

The facsimile apparatus transmits the total memory size and empty memory size of the corresponding memory area to the information processing terminal via the computer interface 114 as parameter data of a predetermined format (S205, S206, S207, S208). ).

As a result, when the external information processing terminal 117 wants to scan in accordance with an instruction from the external information processing terminal 117, this command is used to check the empty memory capacity of the scanner reading area and determine whether scanning is possible. The memory full can be prevented by instructing the scan with (S209).

When the user wants to download the data according to the instruction from the external information processing terminal 117, this command is used to check the free memory capacity of the host transfer area, determine whether the download is possible, and then issue the download instruction to make the memory full. It can be prevented (S210).

When it is desired to perform forced memory reception by an instruction from the external information processing terminal 117, this command is used to check the empty memory capacity of the FAX reception area, determine whether forced memory reception is possible, and perform forced memory reception. By giving an instruction, the memory full can be prevented (S211).

The facsimile machine is the external information processing terminal 11
If you are operating in local operation regardless of the instructions in 7, you can use this command to check the free memory capacity of the local operation area. Therefore, check the memory status of the fax machine as necessary. (S212).

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the facsimile machine when the facsimile machine receives the printer information acquisition command.

First, the facsimile apparatus receives a command from the information processing terminal 117 via the computer interface 114 (S301). If the received command is a printer information acquisition command (S302), the facsimile machine sends information such as the paper size of the facsimile machine, presence / absence of a cartridge, presence / absence of recording paper, etc. as parameter data of a predetermined format via the computer interface 114. And transmits it to the information processing terminal 117 (S303).

As a result, when the information processing terminal 117 downloads the image data to the facsimile and records it, it is possible to give an instruction according to the state of the printer 115.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile machine when the facsimile machine receives the scanner status acquisition command.

First, the facsimile apparatus receives a command from the information processing terminal 117 via the computer interface 114 (S401). If the received command is the scanner status acquisition command (S402), the facsimile apparatus transmits information such as the scanner reading width of the facsimile apparatus to the information processing terminal 117 via the computer interface 114 as parameter data of a predetermined format. (S403).

Thus, when the external information processing terminal 117 causes the facsimile apparatus to scan the image data, it is possible to give an instruction according to the state of the scanner 111.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By returning the free space information of the memory unit of the facsimile apparatus to the information processing terminal through the interface means, the free space information of the memory unit of the facsimile apparatus can be grasped by the information processing terminal, so that the information processing terminal can display the image. When downloading data to the facsimile apparatus, it is possible to judge whether the data can be downloaded or the memory is not full, and it is possible to obtain a smooth operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile apparatus when it receives a memory status inquiry command in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile apparatus when receiving a printer information acquisition command in the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the facsimile apparatus when receiving a scanner status acquisition command in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing exchange of commands for obtaining scanner status information of a facsimile apparatus from the information processing terminal in the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of a scanner status acquisition command of the above embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of reception parameters of the information processing terminal according to the scanner status acquisition command of the above embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an exchange of commands for obtaining printer status information of a facsimile apparatus from an information processing terminal in the above embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of a printer status acquisition command of the above embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of reception parameters of the information processing terminal according to the printer status acquisition command of the above embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the exchange of commands for obtaining information about the storage memory of the facsimile apparatus from the information processing terminal in the above embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of a memory status inquiry command of the above embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of reception parameters of the information processing terminal according to the memory status inquiry command of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 ... CPU, 102 ... ROM, 103 ... RAM, 104 ... Image memory, 106 ... Communication encoding / decoding processing section, 107 ... Read / record encoding / decoding processing section, 108 ... MODEM, 109 ... NCU, 110 Image processing unit, 111, scanner, 112, operating unit, 113, line buffer, 114, computer interface, 115, printer, 116, printer formatter, 117, information processing terminal.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having an interface means for transmitting and receiving data to and from an information processing terminal, wherein an image sent from the information processing terminal by returning free space information of a memory section to the information processing terminal via the interface means. A facsimile apparatus, which receives data so that the memory is not full. 2. The instruction receiving unit according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction sent from the information processing terminal via the interface unit, and the content of the instruction received by the instruction receiving unit is stored in a memory unit of the facsimile apparatus. If the instruction is to obtain free space information, the free space information in the memory section of the facsimile device is returned as parameter data to the information processing terminal via the interface means, and the information processing terminal downloads the image data to the facsimile device. A facsimile machine characterized by determining whether or not the memory will be full when performing.