JPH09321929A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transfer and send a document scanned and stored by the facsimile equipment located nearby the user to a facsimile equipment connected to a specific line via a LAN interface. SOLUTION: When a document stored in an image memory 3 is a document unable to be sent from a transmission port of a facsimile equipment, an inquiry means 11 requests attribute information of each transmission port to all other facsimile equipments connected to a LAN 30 and collects attribute information of the transmission ports and a transfer discrimination means 12 retrieves other facsimile equipments having a transmission enable transmission port from the document stored based on the collected attribute information of the transmission port. A document transfer means 13 is used to transfer the stored document to the other retrieved facsimile equipment via an interface section 8 and the LAN 30 and a transmission registration means 15 of the transfer document of the other retrieved facsimile equipment registers image data of the transfer document as a transmission wait document.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine having a LAN interface and storing a transmission document in a memory for transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a facsimile machine having a local area network (LAN) interface, a personal computer or a word processor is used.
It is known that a document is transferred from a station to a facsimile machine having a transmission port connected to each line (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 143309/1995).

This conventional facsimile apparatus is arranged as one terminal in a LAN having a function of exchanging electronic mails between terminals, and transmits to another facsimile apparatus via a public line to transmit an image. In a facsimile machine having a function, a mail receiving means for receiving an electronic mail from another terminal in the LAN and a destination facsimile machine specified in the information of the received electronic mail are transmitted via a public line. And a transmitting means for converting the communication text of the electronic mail into image information and transmitting the image information to the destination facsimile machine. According to this conventional facsimile apparatus, an operator can broadcast one communication message to another LAN terminal and a facsimile apparatus on a public line by a transmission operation of an electronic mail from one terminal of the LAN.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional facsimile machine, even if there are a plurality of facsimile machines connected to different lines on the LAN, for example, a facsimile machine having a G4 receiving port of a digital leased line. For example, a facsimile machine having a transmission port (in this case, G4 transmission port) connected to a line that the user wants to directly send when it is not possible to transmit a paper original from a facsimile machine having a G3 transmission port to the device Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to know the types of the transmission ports of all the facsimile devices in advance, and it takes a lot of time to transmit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile device that can transfer a document scanned and accumulated in a facsimile device near a user to a facsimile device connected to a specific line via a LAN interface and transmit the document.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus which can keep equipment costs low.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a local area network interface unit and transmits / receives a command to / from another facsimile apparatus on the local area network. In addition, in a storage-type facsimile device that transmits image data of a document through a line connected to the transmission port, an image memory that stores compression-encoded image data and attribute information of the transmission port of the device itself. And the management information memory for storing the document management information of the stored documents, the transmission port attribute information obtained from the document management information of the stored documents read from the management information memory, and the transmission port attribute information of the own device. By comparing, the determination means for determining whether the stored document is a document that can be transmitted from the transmission port of the own device,
The configuration includes an inquiry unit, a response unit, a transfer determination unit, a document transfer unit, and a transmission document transmission registration unit.

When the judging means judges that the document is not a document which can be transmitted from the transmission port of the own device, the inquiring means determines that the interface part and the local
A command requesting the attribute information of the transmission port is sequentially output to all the other facsimile devices connected via the area network. Further, when the response means receives the attribute information request command of the transmission port via the interface portion, the attribute information of the transmission port of its own device read from the management information memory is transmitted to the interface portion and the local area network. To the requesting facsimile machine.

The transfer determination means compares the transmission port attribute information received from the other facsimile apparatus via the interface with the transmission port attribute information read from the document management information of the stored document, and stores the information. The determination as to whether the received document is a document that can be transmitted from another facsimile device is sequentially repeated until another facsimile device that can be transmitted is found.

The above document transfer means, when another facsimile apparatus which can be transmitted by the transfer determination means is found,
The stored document is transferred to another facsimile machine via the interface unit and the local area network. Further, the transmission registration means of the transfer document is
Image data of a document received via the interface unit is registered in the image memory as a document waiting to be transmitted.

According to the present invention, when the stored document is a document that cannot be transmitted from the transmission port of the facsimile apparatus, all the other one or two or more connected to the same local area network (LAN). An inquiry unit requests the attribute information of the respective transmission ports to the facsimile device, collects the attribute information of the transmission ports, and has a transmission port capable of transmitting the accumulated document from the collected attribute information of the transmission ports. Another facsimile apparatus is searched by the transfer determination means.

Then, the document stored in the other facsimile machine thus searched is transferred by the document transfer means through the interface section and the LAN, and transferred by the transmission registration means of the transferred document in the other facsimile machine searched. The image data of the document is registered in the image memory as a document waiting to be transmitted. Therefore, in the present invention, when the stored document is a document that cannot be transmitted from the transmission port of the facsimile device, a transmission port that can transmit the document is provided among other facsimile devices connected to the same LAN. Then, the document can be transferred to a facsimile machine, registered as a document waiting to be transmitted, and the transferred document can be transmitted by this facsimile machine.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an example of a system to which a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention is applied. This system consists of multiple n facsimile machines FA
In this system, X _{1 to} FAX _n are connected by a point-to-point connection type or bus connection type LAN 30. Facsimile devices FAX _{1 to} FAX _n are facsimile devices according to the present invention and are connected by the same LAN 30, but their respective transmission ports are not the same.
It has its own send port.

In the example of FIG. 1, the first to k-1th (where 1 <k <n) facsimile machines FAX _{1 to} FAX _k-1 connected by the LAN 30 each have a transmission port for the G3 extension. Therefore, the _kth facsimile apparatus FAX _k has a transmission port for the G4 dedicated digital line, and the nth FAX _n has a transmission port for the G3 external line.

Facsimile devices FAX _{1 to} FAX _n are facsimile devices according to the present invention, each of which has the configuration shown in the block diagram of FIG. In the embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, a control unit 1, a management information memory 2, an image memory 3, an operation unit 4, a communication unit 5, a scanner unit 6, a printer unit 7 and a LAN interface 8 are connected by a bus. It has been configured.

The control unit 1 includes a central processing unit (CPU),
Transmission port attribute information inquiring means 11 for inquiring transmission port attribute information from a facsimile machine as a transmission agent destination, which comprises a memory in which a program is stored and a working memory necessary for the program to operate, and transmission of its own facsimile machine Transmission-waiting document transfer determining means 12 for determining whether or not a transmission-waiting document that cannot be transmitted from the port attribute information is transferred to another facsimile device, and transmission-waiting document transfer for transferring the corresponding transmission-waiting document to a substitute facsimile device Means 13, a transmission port attribute information response means 14 for returning a response to a transmission port attribute information inquiry from another facsimile machine, and a reception transfer document transmission registration means 15 for registering the received transfer document as a transmission document of its own apparatus. including.

The management information memory 2 is a nonvolatile random memory.
It is composed of an access memory (RAM), and includes a device management information storage unit 21, a document transmission destination address, and a document management information storage unit 22. The device management information storage unit 21 stores device attribute information including transmission port attribute information of its own device. The document management information storage unit 22 stores the document type of the document in which the compressed and encoded image data is stored in the image memory 3, the transmission destination of the transmission document and the necessary transmission port attribute information, the number of pages, and the image of the image data. Information on the storage position on the memory 3, information on each document such as the amount of image data on the image memory 3, and log information on the transfer result of communication or transmission document are stored.

The image memory 3 is a memory in which writing and reading are performed in units of blocks of a fixed size, the compression-coded image data amount is stored, and the page size such as image size, resolution, image data amount, etc. is stored. Attribute information for each is also stored together.

The operation unit 4 is composed of an input device and a display device, and is used for inputting the ID of the facsimile apparatus of the transmission destination, the transmission port type used for transmission, and the like. The communication unit 5 is composed of a communication encoding circuit, a communication modem, a network control circuit, and the like, and transmits and receives a document including image data and attribute information. The transmission original is read by the scanner unit 6 and the image data compressed and encoded is transferred to the image memory 3. The image data of the received document is read from the image memory 3, transferred to the printer unit 7, decoded and printed out. The LAN interface unit 8 transmits and receives commands carrying various information to and from other facsimile devices on the LAN 30 according to the protocol of the LAN 30.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
And the flowchart of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a transmission processing operation according to an embodiment of the present invention device, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a reception processing operation according to an embodiment of the present invention device.
Here, as an example, a process of transferring a stored document of FAX ₁ to a facsimile apparatus having a reception port for a G4 dedicated digital line will be described.

First, in the facsimile apparatus on the transmission side, as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 3, after the transmission original is read by the scanner section 6, the compression-encoded image data is transferred to the image memory 3 to form a document. Accumulated as
The control unit 1 reads the transmission port attribute information from the document management information of the document read from the document management information storage unit 22, and determines whether the document can be transmitted from the transmission port of its own apparatus (FAX ₁ here) (step 101). ).

As a result, if it is determined that the document can be transmitted, it is stored as it is as a document waiting to be transmitted, and if a transmission port of a type different from the transmission port of the own device is designated, the subsequent processing is executed. It First, the variable m is set to the initial value (step 102). Here, the initial value is a value obtained by adding, for example, "1" to the address of the facsimile apparatus on the LAN 30, and since the apparatus itself is FAX ₁ here, the initial value is "2".

Subsequent to step 102, the transmission port attribute information inquiry means 11 transmits a transmission port attribute information request command to the FAX _m (here, FAX ₂ ) via the LAN interface section 8 and the LAN 30 ( Step 103).

On the other hand, when the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side receives the above-mentioned transmission port attribute information request command (step 201), as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The transmission port attribute information replying means 14 reads out the transmission port attribute information of the own device from the device management information storage unit 21, and L
The data is returned to the requesting facsimile machine (FAX ₁ here) via the AN interface section 8 and the LAN 30 (step 202).

As a result, in the requesting facsimile apparatus, the transmission port attribute information from the facsimile apparatus FAX _m is received by the LAN interface unit 8 (step 104), and the transmission waiting document transfer judging means 12 receives the reception transmission port. -From the attribute information, the corresponding transmission document is FAX
_{It is} determined whether transmission is possible from the transmission port of _m (step 10
5). Here, FAX _m is FAX ₂ , and as shown in FIG. 1, since the facsimile apparatus FAX ₂ does not have a G4 transmission port, it is determined in step 105 that the transmission is impossible.

In this case, the control unit 1 then determines whether the value of the variable m has changed n times (step 106), and n
When the number of times has not changed, the value of the variable m is incremented by 1 (step 107), and then the step 103 is performed again.
The processes of to 105 are repeated. Here, the maximum value of the variable m is n, and when n is incremented by 1, it becomes 1
Shall be In this manner, transmission port attribute information requests are sequentially issued to the next facsimile device on the LAN 30, and the determination as to whether transmission is possible is repeated (step 10).
3 to 107), when it is determined in step 106 that the value of m has changed n times, (n−
1) All facsimile machines are checked, it is determined that no transmission possible is found, error display or report output is performed (step 108), the stored document is erased from the image memory 3, and the document management information is stored. The deletion information is stored in the log information area in the unit 22 (step 111).

On the other hand, in step 105, when it is judged from the reception / transmission port attribute information that the corresponding transmission document can be transmitted from the transmission port of FAX _m (here, m =
In the case of k), the transmission-waiting document transfer means 13 transfers the transmission document in the file format to the facsimile apparatus FAX _m (here, FAX _k ) via the LAN interface section 8 and the LAN 30 (step 109).

In the facsimile apparatus FAX _k on the receiving side,
As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the image data 3 and the document attributes transferred from the requesting facsimile apparatus FAX _{1 in a} file format are received by the transmission registration means 15 of the transfer document, and the image memory 3 and the document management information storage unit are respectively provided. 22 (step 203), and when the writing is completed, the LAN interface unit 8 notifies the requesting facsimile apparatus FAX ₁ of the transmission registration completion notification (step 204).

Upon receiving the transmission registration completion notification of the transfer document (step 110), the requesting facsimile apparatus FAX ₁ erases the image data of the transmission-waiting document which has been transferred from the image memory 3, and the document management information storage unit 22. The result of transfer to FAX _k is added to the log information area inside (step 111).

As described above, the facsimile machine FA
The user of X ₁ simply scans and stores the document to be transmitted from the G4 digital leased line of FAX _k by FAX ₁ , and the facsimile machine whose transmission port of the G4 digital leased line among other facsimile apparatuses on the LAN is without knowing exactly what is provided to, and transfer to the facsimile apparatus FAX _k by LAN interface 8, G
4 Digital dedicated line enables automatic transmission.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
If the stored document is a document that cannot be sent from the transmission port of the facsimile machine, transfer it to another facsimile machine connected to the same LAN that has a transmission port that can transmit the document. Since the document is registered as a document waiting to be transmitted, the user can automatically transmit the document to a facsimile device equipped with a transmission port without knowing the type of the transmission port of another facsimile device on the LAN. Then, the document can be transmitted as a document waiting to be transmitted, and the facsimile apparatuses of different lines can be efficiently shared without any trouble at the time of transmission.

Therefore, according to the present invention, especially when the transmission amount is increased and the facsimile devices on the LAN are sequentially added, the facsimile devices of different lines can be efficiently shared. Also, the communication line can be configured more flexibly, and the equipment cost can be kept low.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an example of a system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a transmission processing operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a reception processing operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 control section 2 management information memory 3 image memory 4 operation section 5 communication section 6 scanner section 7 printer section 8 LAN interface section 11 transmission port attribute information inquiry means 12 transmission waiting document transfer determination means 13 transmission waiting document transfer means 14 transmission port attribute Information replying means 15 Transmission registration means for receiving and transferring document 21 Device management information storage unit 22 Document management information storage unit 30 Local area network (LAN) FAX _{1 to} FAX _n Facsimile device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 1/32

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A local area network interface unit is provided, which transmits and receives commands to and from other facsimile devices on the local area network, and through a line connected to a transmission port. In a storage-type facsimile device that transmits image data of a document, an image memory that stores compressed and encoded image data, attribute information of the transmission port of the device itself, and management information that stores the document management information of the stored document The memory and the transmission port attribute information obtained from the document management information of the stored document read from the management information memory are compared with the transmission port attribute information of the own device, and the stored document of the own device is compared. Judgment means for judging whether the document can be transmitted from the transmission port, and the judgment means for transmitting the document from the transmission port of the own device. If it is determined that the document is not a proper document, commands for sequentially requesting attribute information of the transmission port are sequentially output to all the other facsimile devices connected via the interface unit and the local area network. When receiving the attribute information request command of the transmission port via the inquiry unit and the interface unit, the attribute information of the transmission port of the own device read from the management information memory is used as the interface unit and the local area network. Response means for transferring to the requesting facsimile apparatus via the transmission port, attribute information of the transmission port from the other facsimile apparatus received via the interface section, and the transmission port read from the document management information of the stored document The stored document is compared with attribute information. To determine whether possible transmission document from the other facsimile apparatus,
A transfer determination unit that repeats sequentially until another facsimile device that can transmit data is found, and if another facsimile device that can transmit data is found by the transfer determination unit, the interface unit and the local area for the other facsimile device are found. A document transfer unit for transferring the stored document via a network, and a transfer document transmission registration unit for registering image data of the document received via the interface unit in the image memory as a document waiting to be transmitted. A facsimile device characterized by the above. 2. When no other facsimile device which can be transmitted by the transfer judging means is found, an error display or report output is performed and the stored document is erased and erased in the log information area of the management information memory. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for storing what has been done.
A facsimile machine as described. 3. The transfer document transmission registration unit registers the document received via the interface unit as a document waiting to be transmitted, and then transfers a transfer completion notification of the transfer document from the interface unit to the requesting facsimile apparatus. And a means for erasing the image data of the transferred document that has been transferred when the transfer completion notification is received from the image memory and storing the transfer result in the log information area of the management information memory. Claim 1
A facsimile machine as described.