JPH10191008A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile equipment which can reduce its load when it distributes a document data received from the outside via a fax to every terminal equipment via a server device in a network where the terminal equipments of plural personal computers, etc., are connected to the server device. SOLUTION: A main control part 20 stores a document data received via a public line network 3 in an image storage part 14 and then converts the document data via an image processing part 15 based on the prescribed conversion information. A mail production/transmission part 16 adds the identification information on the relevant document data among those stored ones to the converted document data and produces an electronic mail to distribute it to a client terminal equipment 4 of the transmission destination. Thus, the electronic mail is sent to a mail server device 5 which distributes the electronic mails to the equipments 4 connected to a LAN 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus for performing facsimile communication via a public line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a network in which a plurality of terminal devices such as personal computers and a server device are connected, the server device distributes document data received from each terminal device to a designated destination terminal device. A system that converts the file format, document size, or resolution of received document data based on unique information such as the file format, document size, and resolution registered in advance by each terminal device and then distributes the data (for example, Kaihei 7-1
05113).

[0003]

However, in the system described above, for example, when the server device distributes the document data received from the facsimile device to the terminal device, the document data has a larger data amount than the code information. Due to the image information, there is a problem that the traffic at the time of distribution to the terminal device increases and the distribution time is required.

For example, when a server device distributes document data received from a facsimile device to a group, the server device must store the document data for each terminal device, which requires a large storage capacity. As a result, there is a problem that the load increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in a network in which terminal devices such as a plurality of personal computers and a server device are connected, document data received by facsimile from the outside via a server device. It is an object of the present invention to reduce the load when distributing to a terminal device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a facsimile communication means for performing facsimile communication via a public line and a plurality of terminal devices connected to a communication network such as a local area network. E-mail communication means for communicating with a server device for distributing e-mail, document data storage means for storing document data received by the facsimile communication means, and document data stored in the means specified in advance. Conversion means for converting based on the converted information, identification information adding means for adding identification information of the corresponding document data stored in the document data storage means to the document data converted by the means, Means for generating an e-mail for distributing the document data to which the identification information has been added by the means to the destination terminal device. And mail creating means, to provide a facsimile apparatus having means for transmitting to said server device created e-mail by the e-mail communication means by the means.

Further, the conversion information may be information on a paper size, an image conversion method, or an image resolution.

Further, when the electronic mail having the identification information is received by the electronic mail communication means, the electronic mail is selected from the document data stored in the document data storage means based on the identification information of the electronic mail. Document data search means for searching for document data, means for creating an e-mail for directly delivering the document data retrieved by the means to a destination terminal device, and transmitting the e-mail created by the means to the e-mail communication Means for transmitting to the server device by means may be provided.

A facsimile apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention accumulates document data received via a public line, converts the accumulated document data based on conversion information specified in advance, and converts the converted document data. The identification information of the corresponding document data stored in the above is added, an e-mail for distributing the document data with the identification information to the destination terminal device is created, and the created e-mail is sent to the local area. The e-mail is transmitted to a server device that distributes e-mail to a plurality of terminal devices connected to a communication network such as a network.

Therefore, the document data can be sent to the server after being converted so as to reduce the data amount, so that the traffic at the time of distribution by the server can be reduced and the distribution time can be shortened.

[0011] Further, the server device can reduce the capacity for storing document data. Furthermore, each terminal device does not need to communicate with the server device in advance and register each unique information, and the operation burden on the user of each terminal device can be reduced.

Further, the facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention can convert the document data so as to reduce the data amount of the document data by using the conversion information of the paper size, the image conversion method, or the image resolution. .

In the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, when an electronic mail having the identification information is received from the terminal device, the stored document data is stored based on the identification information of the electronic mail. And retrieves the corresponding document data, creates an e-mail that delivers the retrieved document data as it is to the destination terminal device, and transmits the created e-mail to the server device.

Therefore, when the original document data at the time of facsimile reception is required, each terminal device performs complicated operations and processes by transmitting the identification information added to the distributed electronic mail by electronic mail. Even without it, original document data can be easily obtained.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network system using a network facsimile apparatus as an embodiment of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. This network system is a network facsimile apparatus 1 which is a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.
And a normal facsimile apparatus 2 are connected via a public line network 3 so that facsimile communication is possible.

Further, the network facsimile apparatus 1
Is connected to a local area network (LAN) 6 that connects a plurality of client terminal devices 4 and a mail server device 5 that distributes e-mail to each of the client terminal devices 4 so as to be able to perform e-mail communication.

Then, the network facsimile machine 1
Receives facsimile document data to be distributed from the facsimile device 2 to the client terminal device 4, adds the document identification information after converting the document data to a paper size, an image conversion method, or an image resolution based on predetermined conversion information. To create an e-mail, and send it to the mail server device 5.

The mail server device 5 distributes the electronic mail received from the network facsimile device 1 to the client terminal device 4 based on the destination. The client terminal device 4 stores and browses and processes the document data of the electronic mail.

When the client terminal device 4 needs the original document data of the e-mail received from the mail server device 5, the client terminal device 4 transmits the e-mail containing only the identification information of the document added to the e-mail to the mail server device. Send to 5. The mail server device 5 transmits the electronic mail to the network facsimile device 1.

Then, the network facsimile machine 1
Transmits the original document data retrieved based on the identification information in the e-mail to the mail server device 5 by e-mail. The mail server device 5 delivers the electronic mail to the client terminal device 4 based on the destination. The client terminal device 4 acquires the original document data by the e-mail.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a network facsimile apparatus which is an embodiment of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The network facsimile apparatus includes an operation display unit 1 realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like.
0, reading unit 11, recording unit 12, communication control unit 13, image storage unit 14, image processing unit 15, mail creation transmission unit 16,
AN control unit 17, mail receiving unit 18, mail analyzing unit 1
9 and main control unit 20 and the like.

The operation display unit 10 includes an operation unit such as a keyboard for inputting various operation information, and a display unit such as an LCD for displaying various work screens and messages. Reading unit 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes an image reading device such as a scanner that reads an image of a document and inputs the image information.

The recording unit 12 is a printing device such as a laser printer or an ink jet printer for printing image information (document data) received by facsimile or image information input by the reading unit 11 on recording paper. The communication control unit 13 controls facsimile communication via the public network 3.
The image storage unit 14 is a storage device such as a hard disk device that stores document data received by facsimile.

The image processing section 15 performs processing for converting document data stored in the image storage section 14 based on conversion information of a paper size, an image conversion method, or an image resolution. The mail creation / transmission unit 16 creates an electronic mail by adding document identification information to the document data converted by the image processing unit 15, and creates an electronic mail of the document data retrieved from the image storage unit 14. And so on.

The LAN control unit 17 controls data communication with the LAN 6. The mail receiving unit 18 receives the electronic mail obtained from the mail server device 5. The mail analyzer 19 analyzes the contents of the electronic mail received by the mail receiver 18. The main control unit 20 controls the entire network facsimile machine and executes various processes related to the present invention.

That is, the communication control unit 13 and the main control unit 20 function as facsimile communication means for performing facsimile communication via a public line. The mail creation / transmission unit 16, the LAN control unit 17, the mail reception unit 18, and the main control unit 20 communicate with a server device that distributes electronic mail to a plurality of terminal devices connected to a communication network such as a local area network. It performs the function of electronic mail communication means for performing communication.

The image storage section 14 and the main control section 20 function as document data storage means for storing document data received by facsimile communication means. The image processing unit 15 and the main control unit 20 perform a function of a conversion unit that converts the document data stored in the document data storage unit based on conversion information of a predetermined paper size, image conversion method, or image resolution. Fulfill.

The mail creating / transmitting section 16 and the main control section 20
Means for adding identification information of the corresponding document data stored in the document data storage means to the document data converted by the conversion means, and the document data to which the identification information has been added by the means. The electronic mail creating unit creates electronic mail to be delivered to the terminal device of the transmission destination, and the electronic mail communication unit transmits the electronic mail created by the electronic mail communication unit to the server device.

When the main control unit 20 receives the electronic mail having the identification information by the electronic mail communication unit, the main control unit 20 stores the document data stored in the document data storage unit based on the identification information of the electronic mail. It functions as a document data search unit for searching the corresponding document data from the inside.

The above-mentioned mail creation / transmission section 16 and main control section 20
Means for generating an e-mail for directly delivering the document data retrieved by the document data retrieval means to the destination terminal device, and means for transmitting the e-mail produced by the means to the server device by the e-mail communication means Perform the function of

Next, the processing of the network facsimile machine will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of converting the paper size of the document data of the network facsimile apparatus and distributing it.

In this process, in step (indicated by "S" in FIG. 1), when the document reception for facsimile receiving and storing the image information of the document data is completed, in step 2, the paper size of the document data is designated in advance. It is determined whether or not the paper size is different from the paper size, and if not, an e-mail is created in step 5 with the document data in the same paper size,
In step 6, the electronic mail is delivered to the mail server device.

If the paper size is different in step 2, the process proceeds to step 3 where the document data is converted to a predetermined paper size (a paper size for reducing the amount of document data). Is stored in an electronic mail message, and a document identification code for referring to the original document data stored in the image storage unit is added to the electronic mail message. In step 5, information on a delivery destination is added to the electronic mail. Then, an e-mail is created, and the e-mail is delivered to the mail server device in step 6.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of converting the image conversion method of the document data of the network facsimile apparatus and delivering the converted data. This processing is performed in step 1
When the document reception for facsimile receiving and storing the image information of the document data is completed in 1, it is determined in step 12 whether or not the image conversion method of the document data is different from the image conversion method specified in advance. For example, in step 15, an e-mail is created while the document data remains in the image conversion method, and in step 16, the e-mail is delivered to the mail server device.

If it is determined in step 12 that the image conversion method is different, the flow advances to step 13 to convert the document data according to a predetermined image conversion method (image conversion method for reducing the amount of document data). The converted document data is stored in an electronic mail message, and a document identification code for referencing the original document data stored in the image storage unit is added to the electronic mail message. Compose an e-mail with information
At step 16, the electronic mail is delivered to the mail server device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of converting the image resolution of the document data of the network facsimile apparatus and distributing it. This processing is performed in step 21
When the document reception for facsimile receiving and storing the image information of the document data is completed in step 22, it is determined in step 22 whether or not the image resolution of the document data is different from the image resolution specified in advance. In step 26, an e-mail is created at the same image resolution as the document data, and in step 26, the e-mail is delivered to the mail server device.

If the image resolutions are different in step 22, the process proceeds to step 23, where the document data is converted to a predetermined image resolution (image resolution for reducing the amount of document data). Is stored in an electronic mail message, and a document identification code for referring to the original document data stored in the image storage unit is added to the electronic mail message. At step 25, information on a delivery destination is added to the electronic mail message Then, in step 26, the electronic mail is delivered to the mail server device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a document re-distribution process of this network facsimile machine. In this process, when an electronic mail from the client terminal device is received via the mail server device in step 31, the electronic mail of the electronic mail is analyzed in step 32, and the electronic mail is transmitted from the image storage unit based on the document identification code in the electronic mail. A target document selection process for searching for the corresponding original document data (paper size at the time of facsimile reception, image conversion method, or document data with the same image resolution) is executed.

Then, in step 33, an e-mail for distributing the retrieved document data to the requesting client terminal device is created, and in step 34, the e-mail is delivered to the mail server device, and this process ends. .

This network facsimile machine converts only document data different from the paper size, image conversion method, or image resolution specified in advance into the paper size, image conversion method, or image resolution specified in advance. In addition, the amount of data to be distributed from the mail server device to the client terminal device can be reduced to shorten the distribution time, and the load on the mail server device and the client terminal device can be reduced. The client terminal device can quickly browse the document data.

Also, since the original document data of the document data which has been converted and transmitted by e-mail is stored with the same paper size, image conversion method and image resolution at the time of reception,
When requested from the client terminal device, the original can be redistributed.

Further, by storing original document data (document data at the time of facsimile reception) only for converted document data, the capacity of the image storage unit in the network facsimile apparatus can be saved.

Further, since all communication with the client terminal device via the mail server device is performed by e-mail, there is no need to provide a software program dedicated to communication with the network facsimile device in the client terminal device, thereby reducing the load. it can.

On the other hand, the client terminal device can request the network facsimile device to redistribute the document data in the same manner as in the exchange of other electronic mail, so that the work load can be reduced.

Since the paper size, image conversion method, and image resolution of the document data to be distributed to the client terminal device can be the same, application software for viewing the document data distributed to the client terminal device Can be simply created, and the load on the client terminal device can be reduced.

As described above, in this network system, in order to distribute the document data received from the facsimile apparatus to the client terminal apparatuses, each client terminal apparatus communicates with the mail server apparatus in advance, and transmits the document data unique to each client terminal apparatus. There is no need to record information, and the load on the client terminal device and the server device can be reduced.

Further, the mail server device can handle the document data received from the facsimile device in a state where the paper size, the image conversion method, and the image resolution are converted so that the data amount is reduced. It is possible to save money, reduce traffic when delivering to the client terminal device, and shorten the delivery time.

Further, even if the display area of the client terminal device is small or the display function is low, the document data can be easily referred to. Furthermore, the client terminal device can easily obtain the original document data from the network facsimile device by a simple operation.

[0049]

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, document data received by facsimile from the outside can be transmitted to a server apparatus in a network connecting terminal apparatuses such as a plurality of personal computers and a server apparatus. It is possible to reduce the load when distributing to each terminal device via the terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a network facsimile apparatus which is an embodiment of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network system using a network facsimile apparatus as one embodiment of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a document distribution process of the network facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing another document distribution process of the network facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing still another document distribution process of the network facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a document redelivery process of the network facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[Description of Signs] 1: Network facsimile apparatus 2: Facsimile apparatus 3: Public line network 4: Client terminal apparatus 5: Mail server apparatus 6: Local area network (LAN) 10: Operation display section 11: Reading section 12: Recording section 13: Communication control unit 14: Image storage unit 15: Image processing unit 16: Mail creation and transmission unit 17: LAN control unit 18: Mail reception unit 19: Mail analysis unit 20: Main control unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device for performing communication between a facsimile communication means for performing facsimile communication via a public line and a server device for distributing electronic mail to a plurality of terminal devices connected to a communication network such as a local area network. Mail communication means, document data storage means for storing document data received by the facsimile communication means, conversion means for converting the document data stored in the means based on conversion information specified in advance, Identification information adding means for adding the identification information of the corresponding document data stored in the document data storage means to the converted document data; and a destination terminal for transmitting the document data to which the identification information has been added by the means. E-mail creating means for creating an e-mail to be delivered to the device, and e-mail created by the means Means for transmitting to the server device by the electronic mail communication means. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion information is information on a paper size, an image conversion method, or an image resolution. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the electronic mail having the identification information is received by the electronic mail communication unit, the electronic mail is stored in the document data storage unit based on the identification information of the electronic mail. Document data retrieval means for retrieving relevant document data from stored document data; means for creating an e-mail for directly delivering the document data retrieved by the means to a destination terminal device; A means for transmitting the e-mail created by the e-mail to the server device by the e-mail communication means.