JPH10313379A - Facsimile equipment with electronic mail transmission function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit facsimile data received by a facsimile equipment to a designated personal computer as an electronic mail. SOLUTION: Based on an internet address described on a top sheet of facsimile data, the data are transmitted as an electronic mail. This facsimile equipment is provided with an internet address read circuit 4 that reads the internet address, a data conversion circuit 9 that converts facsimile data into an electronic mail, and an electronic mail transmission circuit 10 that transmits the electronic mail to the internet, and the internet address read circuit 4 recognizes the image of the internet address described on the top sheet part of the received facsimile data as characters, the data conversion circuit 9 converts the facsimile data on the next and succeeding pages to the top sheet into data transmitted as the electronic mail, and the electronic mail transmission circuit 10 transmits the converted data to a designated personal computer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having an electronic mail transmitting function, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus having an electronic mail transmitting function for transmitting received data to the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function is disclosed in, for example,
As shown in the facsimile server described in the official gazette, in the facsimile machine, the received facsimile data is not printed on paper to the person specified by the telephone button when dialing the originating facsimile.
It is used for the purpose of automatically sending out e-mail via N.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional facsimile server. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure between the facsimile server of FIG. 5 and the calling facsimile machine. When the facsimile server 101 is called from the telephone of the calling side facsimile apparatus with a telephone number, the calling side facsimile apparatus, the facsimile NCU (network control unit) 111 for the facsimile of the facsimile server 101, the modem 112, the personal identification information discriminating apparatus. 11
Communication with the line control device 3 is performed according to the prescribed protocol according to FIG. 6, and the transmission procedure between the two is determined. Next, after the facsimile server 101 issues a request for transmission of a personal identification number, the personal identification number is input to the facsimile server by a signal of a push phone of the calling telephone. Thereafter, normal facsimile data transmission is performed from the calling side. Facsimile server 101
When the data is received by the personal identification information discriminating device 113 and the reception is completed, the e-mail address of the transmission destination is determined by referring to the conversion table between the personal identification number and the e-mail address prepared in advance. The e-mail transmission device 119 transmits the request to the LAN 130. The facsimile reception data reaches the W / S having the specified e-mail address. If no personal identification number is given, the facsimile server 101 prints the data on the printer 116 via the printer control device 115.

[0004]

In the conventional apparatus described above, the automatic transmission function and the broadcast transmission function are used in many cases of facsimile transmission. Can't use
Usually, the facsimile transmission operation is automatically performed after the sheet is set, but a manual operation is also involved at this time. In other words, there is a problem that when dialing from the calling side, the key of the push phone of the calling side telephone must be manually operated.

Further, in the conventional apparatus, the information of the registration number registered in the facsimile server in advance must be prepared at the place of the facsimile apparatus on the calling side by paper or some other means. Furthermore, it is necessary to replace each time the registration information is updated. In other words, there is an inconvenience that a personal identification number must be prepared in advance for all calling facsimile machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function for automatically transmitting facsimile data received by the facsimile apparatus to a network without manual intervention as e-mail.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function of the present invention is connected to a public line, a modem for communicating with a facsimile apparatus of the other party, and a modem. A facsimile data receiving circuit for receiving facsimile data transmitted from the other party's facsimile device, an internet address reading circuit for determining an internet address described on a top sheet of the facsimile data, and information read by the internet address reading circuit. FAX data switching circuit for switching the destination of facsimile data, printer control circuit for sending facsimile data to a printer, printer for printing facsimile data, receiving facsimile data from the FAX data switching circuit, and temporarily storing the data And the FAX data storage memory, FA
A data conversion circuit that converts facsimile data sent from the X data storage memory into data that can be transmitted as e-mail, and converts the data converted by the data conversion circuit into actual e-mail composed of facsimile data and an Internet address An e-mail transmission circuit for transmitting to the LAN.
Facsimile machine with e-mail transmission function.

It is preferable that the Internet address reading circuit recognizes a character string of the Internet address.

Further, it is preferable that the Internet address reading circuit determines whether the character string whose character has been recognized is in the form of an Internet address.

Further, it is preferable that the Internet address reading circuit further determines whether the Internet address is in a fixed format when the character string whose character has been recognized is in the format of an Internet address.

If the Internet address reading circuit determines that the character string recognized by the Internet address reading circuit is not an Internet address or that the character string is not in a fixed format even if it is an Internet address, the FAX data switching circuit normally converts the facsimile data. Is preferably sent to the printer control circuit as facsimile data.

Further, the facsimile data switching circuit preferably sends the facsimile data to the facsimile data storage memory when the internet address reading circuit determines that the internet address is in a certain format.

Still further, the facsimile data storage memory includes:
Preferably, the data is retained until the e-mail transmission is completed.

The facsimile data storage memory stores the facsimile data in the facsimile data switching circuit when the Internet address does not exist, when an error occurs during transmission as an e-mail, or when the mail server stops functioning. It is preferable that normal facsimile printing be performed.

Further, it is preferable that the data conversion circuit converts facsimile data into image data.

The facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function of the present invention is connected to the facsimile data automatically as e-mail on the Internet (LAN) based on an Internet address described on a top sheet of the facsimile data. To your computer.
More specifically, it has an Internet address reading means for reading an Internet address, a data conversion means for converting facsimile data into an electronic mail, and an electronic mail transmitting means for transmitting an electronic mail on the Internet.

In this manner, the alphanumeric characters written on the top sheet of the received facsimile data are automatically recognized and used as an Internet address, and the data of the next page and subsequent pages of the top sheet are converted into electronic mail. , Sending on the Internet.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function according to the present invention. The facsimile apparatus 1 comprises a modem 2, a FAX data receiving circuit 3, an Internet address reading circuit 4, a FAX data switching circuit 5, a printer control circuit 6,
, A printer 7, a FAX data storage memory 8, a data conversion circuit 9, and an e-mail transmission circuit 10.
Further, the e-mail transmission circuit 10 is connected to the LAN 30, and on the LAN 30, the personal computers 40 to 4n, and
The mail server 50 is connected.

Next, each function will be described.
Is connected to a public line and communicates with the other party's facsimile machine, and the FAX data receiving circuit 3 receives the facsimile data transmitted from the other party's facsimile machine. The Internet address reading circuit 4 recognizes the Internet address in the received facsimile data, and sends out the facsimile data to the FAX data switching circuit 5 together with the information. The FAX data switching circuit 5 switches the destination of facsimile data according to the information from the Internet address reading circuit 4. The printer control circuit 6 sends the facsimile data received from the FAX data switching circuit 5 to the printer 7. The printer 7 prints the facsimile data received from the printer control circuit 6. The FAX data storage memory 8 sends the received facsimile data to the data conversion circuit 9. Further, the data is temporarily stored, and the data is held until the transmission of the electronic mail is completed. The data conversion circuit 9 converts the facsimile data into data that can be transmitted as an electronic mail and sends the data to the electronic mail transmitting circuit 10. The e-mail transmission circuit 10 assembles the facsimile data and the Internet address and sends them to the LAN 30 as actual e-mail. The e-mail sent to the local area network (LAN) is sent from the LAN 30 via the mail server 50,
PC 40 with specified Internet address
Sent to.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function and the calling facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The operation will be briefly described with reference to FIG. First, when a call is made from the telephone of the calling side facsimile apparatus to the present facsimile apparatus via the public line (step S21), a normal facsimile is transmitted between the facsimile apparatus 1 and the FAX data receiving circuit 3 via the modem 2. The receiving procedure of the device 1 is performed (step S2).
2). Thereby, the transmission procedure between the two is determined.
Next, the top sheet of the facsimile data is transmitted (step S23). The facsimile data on the top sheet is determined by the Internet address reading circuit 4 of the facsimile machine 1 to be data of a certain format (step S24). That is, this data is, for example, data in a format determined as shown in FIG. If the data cannot be read by the Internet address reading circuit 4, it is processed as the first sheet of normal paper, and normal printing is performed including the data of the second and subsequent sheets (step S25). Facsimile data on the next page of the top sheet and subsequent pages are received as normal facsimile data (step S
26, S27). If the Internet address is written on the top sheet, convert facsimile data from the next page of the top sheet on to the image data,
It is transmitted as an e-mail on the LAN 30.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function of the present invention. The detailed operation of the facsimile machine 1 will be described with reference to this flowchart. First, facsimile data is received by the facsimile data receiving circuit 3 via the modem 2 by making a telephone call from the telephone of the calling side facsimile apparatus via the public line (step S1). A character string described on the top sheet is recognized by the Internet address reading circuit 4 (step S2). The Internet address reading circuit 4 analyzes whether or not the recognized character has an Internet address format as shown in FIG. 4A (step S3), and determines whether or not this can be recognized as an Internet address (step S3). Step S4). If it cannot be recognized as an Internet address, all data currently being received
The data is sent to the printer control circuit 6 via the AX data switching circuit 5, and is printed by the printer 7 as a normal facsimile (step S5). In step S4, if an internet address as shown in FIG. 4A described later is recognized in the received top sheet data, data on the next page and subsequent pages of the top sheet is received as normal facsimile data (step S6). ). When reception of all facsimile data is completed, the data is stored in the facsimile data storage memory 8 together with the Internet address information via the facsimile data switching circuit 5 (S7), and the operation from the public line ends once. The facsimile data stored in the facsimile data storage memory 8 is maintained until the e-mail transmission is completed. Next, facsimile data is sent from the facsimile data storage memory 8 to the data conversion circuit 9, and the data conversion circuit 9 performs conversion of a data format such as UENCODE in order to transmit the facsimile data as an electronic mail (step S8). An Internet address is added to the converted facsimile data in the electronic mail transmitting circuit 10 and the LAN
30 is transmitted (step S9). The e-mail transmitted on the LAN 30 is transmitted to the designated personal computer 40 via the mail server 50. If a non-existent Internet address is specified or if the mail server 50 stops functioning, error monitoring is performed for a certain period of time to check whether an error is detected (step S1O). . If no error is returned, it is determined that the data has been transmitted normally, and the data stored in the FAX data storage memory 8 is cleared (step 11). If there is an error, the facsimile data stored in the facsimile data storage memory 8 is sent to the printer control circuit 6 via the data switching circuit 5, and normal facsimile printing is performed by the printer 7 (step 1).
2) The data stored in the FAX data storage memory 8 is cleared and the process is terminated.

Next, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the format of the Internet address used in step S4 described above. FIG. 4A shows a description format of the Internet address described on the top sheet, and FIG. 4B shows a general format of the Internet address. In step S4, FIG.
If the description format of the Internet address as shown in (a) is recognized, the data on the next page of the top sheet and thereafter is received as normal facsimile data.
In the general format of the Internet address in FIG. 4B utilizing this description format, the host name of the mail server to which the mail is transmitted is written on the right side of the delimiter "@" (at mark). There, alphanumeric characters are used, and a plurality of alphanumeric strings separated by “.” Are described.
The name of the transmission destination is on the left side of the delimiter "@".
If the delimiter "@" is present, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention treats it as an Internet address. Generally, this entire Internet address is
This is called a mail address.

[0025]

According to the facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function of the present invention, the destination Internet address is
By describing it on the top sheet of the received facsimile data, it is recognized as a character and used as an Internet address. Therefore, there is an effect that the facsimile data received by the facsimile apparatus can be automatically transmitted as electronic mail without manual intervention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a communication operation between the embodiment of FIG. 1 and a calling facsimile machine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a description format of an Internet address described on a top sheet.
(B) is a diagram showing a general format of an Internet address.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an example of a conventional facsimile server.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a communication operation between the facsimile server of FIG. 5 and a calling facsimile machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile machine 2 Modem 3 FAX data receiving circuit 4 Internet address reading circuit 5 FAX data switching circuit 6 Printer control circuit 7 Printer 8 FAX data storage memory 9 Data conversion circuit 10 E-mail transmission circuit 30 LAN 40, 41 ... 4n Personal computer Reference Signs List 50 Mail server 101 Facsimile server 111 NCU for FAX 112 Modem 113 Personal identification information discriminating device 115 Printer control device 116 Printer 119 E-mail transmitting device 130 LAN

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 1/32 H04L 11/20 101B

Claims (9)

[Claims] A modem connected to a public line for communicating with a facsimile apparatus of the other party; a facsimile data receiving circuit connected to the modem for receiving facsimile data transmitted from the facsimile apparatus of the other party; An internet address reading circuit for determining an internet address written on a top sheet of data; a facsimile data switching circuit for switching a destination of the facsimile data based on information read by the internet address reading circuit; and sending the facsimile data to a printer. A printer control circuit for sending the facsimile data; a printer for printing the facsimile data; a facsimile data storage memory for receiving and temporarily storing the facsimile data from the facsimile data switching circuit; A data conversion circuit that converts the facsimile data sent from the memory to data that can be transmitted as an e-mail; and an actual e-mail in which the data converted by the data conversion circuit is assembled with the facsimile data and the Internet address. A facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function, comprising: an e-mail transmission circuit for transmitting an e-mail to a LAN. 2. The facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function according to claim 1, wherein said Internet address reading circuit recognizes a character string of said Internet address. 3. The facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function according to claim 2, wherein said Internet address reading circuit determines whether the character string recognized as a character is in the form of an Internet address. 4. The Internet address reading circuit, when the character string recognized as a character is in the form of an Internet address, further determines whether the Internet address is in a fixed form.
The facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail transmission function according to claim 3. 5. The facsimile data switching circuit, when the Internet address reading circuit determines that the character string recognized by the character is not an Internet address, or that the character string is an Internet address but not in a fixed format. 5. The facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function according to claim 3, wherein facsimile data is sent to the printer control circuit as normal facsimile data. 6. The fax data switching circuit sends the facsimile data to the fax data storage memory when the internet address reading circuit determines that the internet address is in a certain format. A facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function according to claim 4. 7. The facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function according to claim 1, wherein said facsimile data storage memory holds data until e-mail transmission is completed. 8. The facsimile data storage memory stores the facsimile data when the Internet address does not exist, when an error occurs during transmission as an e-mail, or when a mail server is stopped functioning. 8. The facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function according to claim 1, wherein the facsimile apparatus returns to the data switching circuit and performs normal facsimile printing. 9. The data conversion circuit converts the facsimile data into image data.
A facsimile apparatus with an e-mail transmission function according to claim 1.