JPH10276284A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To use the facsimile equipment efficiently by calculating a communication charge before transmission and displaying a communication cost. SOLUTION: The facsimile equipment retrieves a format of a telephone directory management table in an RAM whether or not a telephone directory including a transmission destination is in existence in a communication history in the RAM (S1). A telephone directory is stored at a head of the table, a DIS received from an opposite machine at communication, a final communication rate decided by training or the like, a preceding processing time, an inter-page processing time, and a post processing time are stored thereafter. When a telephone number of a transmission destination is stored as a communication history, the charge is calculated based on the communication history (S2), and when not, the initial value is used as a substitute and the charge is calculated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus having means for calculating a communication charge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional facsimile apparatus having a means for calculating a communication charge, a communication charge for the transmission is not known before transmission, and is calculated from a communication time after the transmission is completed.

[0003]

A conventional facsimile apparatus having a means for calculating a communication charge calculates and displays a charge based on an actual communication time after transmission.
The fee was only known after the communication, and even documents that did not require urgency were sent, resulting in a significant cost increase. For example, when sending a photographic original or the like, the compression rate is very poor, so that the communication time increases and the communication cost increases.
The same is true when a large number of originals are sent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and calculates a communication charge before transmission and displays the communication cost at the time of setting a communication charge, so that the facsimile can be used efficiently. The purpose of this is to make it possible.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means for calculating a communication charge, wherein when the communication charge is set, the data is transmitted to a memory. It is made possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, after storing the transmission original in the memory according to the first embodiment, the communication cost calculated from the number of the stored originals, the data amount, and the state of the transmission path is reduced. The transmission fee is displayed so that the transmission fee can be confirmed before transmission.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, when the transmission line state is a telephone number having a communication history in the past, the communication history is used, and the telephone number having no communication history is set. It is characterized by using the initial value thus set, so that the transmission fee can be confirmed before transmission.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means for confirming the presence / absence of transmission at the same time as the communication cost. In this case, the communication file is discarded, and the calculation of the communication fee can be performed more accurately.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that there is provided a means for recording the history of the transmission path together with the telephone number at the end of facsimile communication.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, when communication charge is set, memory transmission is performed, and before transmission, all documents are stored in a memory so that the number of documents and the data amount can be known. By taking into account the state of the transmission path obtained from the past communication history, it is possible to display an accurate communication charge before transmission, and at this time, by allowing the user to select the presence or absence of communication, If it is determined that the communication cost is high, the communication can be stopped.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part for explaining an example of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a scanner controller for performing image control / scanner reading control, and reference numeral 20 denotes paper feeding, transporting, fixing, and so on. Main controller for both sides, process control, etc., 30 is a liquid crystal display, various LEDs
Operation unit controller that performs control and various key input controls, 4
0: FAX for FAX transmission / reception management, file management, etc.
The controller 50 performs G3 protocol control.
It is a controller.

The flow of an image at the time of fax transmission will be described.
At the time of FAX image accumulation / transmission, the data read from the scanner is transmitted to various image processing 1 of the scanner controller 10.
After 1 is performed, the data is stored in the image memory 21 on the main controller 20. Thereafter, the data is compressed into the specified compression code (MH, MR, MMR) by the compression / expansion device 22 and stored in the SAF memory 41 on the FAX controller 40. The data stored in the SAF memory 41 is G3
The data is transferred to the line buffer 51 in the controller 50, recompressed by the compression / expansion unit 54 in accordance with the mode of the receiver, and transmitted from the NCU 53 via the modem 52. F
The AX controller 40 includes, in addition to the CPU 42 and the ROM 43, a RAM 4 that stores a communication history for each telephone number.
4. ROM4 for calculating communication charges for each telephone number
5, a clock 46 and the like are provided.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a flow of setting transmission conditions. First, it is determined whether a communication charge management mode is set (S1). If it is set, the transmission mode is checked (S2). If it is set to direct transmission, the setting is changed to the memory transmission mode (S2).
3).

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the reading control. When the reading start key is turned on (S
1), RAM 4 for storing the number of documents and the amount of image data
4 is cleared (S2). Thereafter, the original is fed (S3), and reading starts when the original is set on the contact glass, and at the same time, compression starts (S3).
4) At the same time as the end of compression (S5), the number of documents is counted up and the data amount of the document is stored (S5).
6). The image data is stored in the SAF 41 on the FAX controller 40. If there is a next original (S7), this operation is repeated. When the next original is exhausted, the reading is completed, the communication fee is calculated based on the number of originals and the data amount (S8), and displayed on the screen (S9). FIG. 4 shows a display example of this screen. This screen is for confirming the user at the end of reading, and displays the name of the destination, the telephone number, the number of documents, the reading mode, and the communication fee. From this screen, the user determines whether or not to transmit (S10), and if the "transmit" key is pressed, transmission is started in a predetermined procedure (S11). When the “Cancel” key is pressed, the saved data on the SAF is discarded,
The transmission is stopped (S12).

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the flow of calculating the communication fee. First, it is searched whether the telephone directory of the transmission destination is in the communication history on the RAM 44 (S1). This R
FIG. 6 shows the format of the telephone directory management table on the AM. At the top of the table is a telephone directory, after which the DIS received from the partner device during communication, the final communication rate determined by training, etc., pre-processing time, inter-page processing time, and post-processing time are stored. These definitions are shown in FIG. 7, where the pre-processing time is from the line connection to the image data transfer, the inter-page processing time is from the end of the image data transfer to the next data transfer, and the post-processing time is , The time from the end of the image data transfer to the line disconnection. These times vary depending on the environment such as the partner device, line quality, and exchange, and are a major factor influencing the communication time. If the telephone number of the transmission destination is included in the communication history, the charge is calculated based on the communication history (S2).

In this case, the communication fee is, for example, final communication rate: 9600, pre-processing time: 15 seconds, inter-page processing time: 3 seconds, post-processing time: 3 seconds, number of pages: 3,
Image data volume: 20 KB (1 page), 10 KB (1 page), 30 KB (1 page), pre-processing time: 1
5 seconds, image transfer time (20 KB x 8/9600): 17
Second, processing time between pages: 3 seconds, image transfer time (10 KB
× 8/9600): 9 seconds, inter-page processing time: 3 seconds, image transfer time (30 KB × 8/9600): 16 seconds, and post-processing time: 3 seconds, whereby a total of 66 seconds can be calculated.

The communication charge system (FIG. 9) of the other party can be known from the toll telephone number and its code (FIG. 8) on the communication charge management ROM 45. Can be calculated. Information such as time and day of the week can be obtained by a clock 46 provided on the FAX controller 40. For example, if the transmission destination is -60 Km to 80 Km and the transmission time is -20: 00, the charge is 90 yen (21 seconds), so that 66 seconds ÷ 21 = 3.1 → 4 × 90 yen = 360 yen. In this way, a communication fee can be issued from the telephone number of the other party. If there is no communication history of the other party, the calculation is performed by using the initial value instead (S3).

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the communication time check. The check of the communication time is performed simultaneously with the transmission processing. Now, when the line is connected (S
1), the pre-processing timer is reset (S2). Next, when the end of the preprocessing is detected (S3), the count is incremented (counted up by the internal timer of the CPU).
The timer value is stored in the telephone directory management table on the RAM 44 (S4). Next, when the end of the transfer of the image data is detected (S5), the inter-page processing timer and the post-processing timer are reset (S6). When the end of the inter-page processing is detected (S7), it is determined whether there is a next page (S7).
8) If present, store the counted up timer value in the telephone directory management table on the RAM 44 (S
9), transmission of the next page is started (S10). If there is no next page, the number of pages is checked (S11). If only one page has been transmitted, the inter-page processing is set to an initial value (here, 6 seconds) (S12). Thereafter, when the line disconnection is detected (S13), the post-processing timer and the final communication rate are stored (S14).

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the transmission fee can be checked before transmission, so that the user can select whether or not to transmit, and the communication cost is greatly reduced. You can do it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a flow of transmission condition setting.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a flow of reading control.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for performing user confirmation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of calculating a communication fee.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of a telephone directory management table on a RAM.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a facsimile communication procedure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a communication charge management ROM table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a communication fee system.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of a communication time check.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 scanner controller, 11 image processing unit, 20
... Main controller, 21 ... Image memory, 22 ...
Compression / expansion device, 23 ... Rotator, 30 ... Operation unit controller, 31 ... Liquid crystal display LED, 32 ... Various operation keys, 40
... Facsimile controller, 41 ... SAF, 42 ... C
PU, 43 ROM, 44 RAM, 50 G3 controller, 51 buffer, 52 modem, 53 NC
U, 54 ... compressor / expander.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 1/34 H04N 1/34

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus comprising means for calculating a communication charge, and transmitting a memory when setting a communication charge. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after storing the transmission document in the memory, the communication cost calculated from the number of stored documents, the data amount, and the state of the transmission path is displayed. 3. The communication path according to claim 2, wherein the state of the transmission path uses a communication history when the telephone number has a communication history in the past, and uses a set initial value for a telephone number without a communication history. A facsimile machine characterized by the above. 4. The communication system according to claim 2, further comprising means for confirming the presence or absence of the transmission at the same time as the communication cost, wherein the transmission is started when the transmission is performed, and the stored file is discarded when the transmission is not performed. Facsimile machine characterized. 5. A facsimile apparatus comprising means for recording a history of a transmission path together with a telephone number at the end of facsimile communication.