JPH10322535A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To store the communication history information of a facsimile equipment and a personal computer, etc., and to obtain the communication history information in a required form when required by holding the communication history information of an information processing terminal and the facsimile equipment in addition to the communication history information. SOLUTION: When a communication job is started, the communication control of target transmission or reception is performed and then, communication end is judged, In the case that communication is normally ended or abnormally ended, communication management information is set. Even when the transmission is ended with an error, a call is originated again at the time of memory transmission or the like and the same communication management information or a part of it is updated at such time. Also, at the time of a personal computer PC job, a processing is similarly performed for transfer from the PC or the transfer to the PC. PC communication control is performed at the start of the PC job, then transfer end is judged, and in the case that the transfer is ended, the communication management information is set.

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 communication management information for data transmission and reception.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile machine is generally provided with a communication history information recording means for storing a history of data transmission / reception with an external device. A facsimile apparatus which stores transmission / reception histories is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-8-204936.

This device realizes a pseudo one-touch function, which stores supplementary information relating to a transmission / reception destination transmitted / received to / from a destination and enables transmission to the destination again based on the stored supplementary information. It is. Also,
When a facsimile apparatus is used, information transmitted and received by the facsimile apparatus is often output in a fixed amount of information, usually for each page, in order to check a communication history.

An example of manual output of a communication management report will be described below. FIG. 16 shows a display screen of the facsimile apparatus according to the output procedure of the communication management report.
First, when the function key is pressed during standby 851, a mode selection screen 852 is displayed. Here, when the list output is selected and the numeric key 40 is pressed, a report selection screen 853 is displayed. Further, when communication management is selected and the numeric key 41 is pressed, the screen shifts to a start selection waiting screen 854. Here, when the start key is pressed, a communication management report showing transmission information and reception information as shown in FIG. 17 is printed.

FIG. 18 shows an outline of processing for printing the communication management report. First, when the output of the communication management report is selected, a header portion as shown in FIG. Next, in step 653, a heading of the transmission unit is created. Next, in step 654, pertinent data related to transmission is searched and sequentially created. When the search for data related to transmission is completed, the process proceeds to step 655, and a heading of the receiving unit is created. Next, in step 656, the relevant data relating to the reception is searched and sequentially created. When the search for the data related to the reception is completed, the process proceeds to step 657, and a description such as the number of various cases and the description of the symbols is created. When the creation of the explanatory note is completed, the process proceeds to step 658, and the print processing for performing the actual print processing is performed.

[0006] By the above processing, the communication management report is printed.

[0007]

However, the facsimile apparatus is connected not only to an external apparatus but also to a personal computer or the like, data is transmitted and received by the personal computer or the like, and the data is output from the facsimile apparatus, From the facsimile machine to a personal computer or the like, the transmission / reception history is not stored.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus which stores communication history information between a facsimile apparatus and a personal computer or the like, and which can obtain communication history information in a necessary and necessary form.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In order to achieve the above object, a facsimile apparatus which transmits / receives data to / from an information processing terminal while transmitting / receiving data to / from an external device, comprises a communication management information storage means for holding communication history information to / from the external device; Storage means,
The communication history information between the information processing terminal and the facsimile apparatus is stored in addition to the communication history information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the communication history information is divided into normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information. Analysis means for analyzing the communication history information, communication management report creating means for creating a communication management report by dividing the communication history information into normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information, respectively, and the communication management report Communication management report printing means for printing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the communication management report generating means may store normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information on one page. A communication management report is created. Claim 4
According to the invention described above, in order to achieve the above object, the facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising communication history selection means for selecting desired communication history information from the respective communication history information, wherein the communication management report creating means, A communication management report is created for the communication history information selected by the communication history selection means, and the communication management report printing means prints the communication management report created by the communication management report creation means. It is.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the communication history information is divided into normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information. Analysis means for analyzing the communication history information; and dividing the communication history information into normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information, respectively, and a communication management report of the normal transmission information and the normal reception information, and a communication management of the other information. And a communication management report creating means for creating the report, and a communication management report printing means for printing the communication management report.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the facsimile apparatus according to the fifth aspect further comprises communication history selecting means for selecting desired communication history information from the respective communication history information, and Management report creation means creates a communication management report for the communication history information selected by the communication history selection means, and communication management report printing means prints the communication management report created by the communication management report creation means. It is characterized by the following.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the communication history information is divided into normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information. Analysis means for analyzing the communication history information; other information selection means for selecting whether or not to select the other information; and transmission information, reception based on the selection result of the other information selection means. A communication management report creating unit that creates a communication management report by classifying each information, and a communication management report printing unit that prints the communication management report.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the facsimile apparatus according to the second, third or fifth aspect further comprises another information selecting means for selecting whether or not to select the other information, and The management report creation means,
A communication management report is created based on the selection result of the other information selection means, and the communication management report printing means prints the communication report created based on the selection result.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus includes a system control unit 1,
A system memory 2, a scanner 3, a plotter 4, an encoding / decoding unit 5, an operation display unit 6, a network control unit 7, a G3 FAX modem 8, an image memory 9, a communication management unit 10, a PC interface unit 11, and a system bus 12. ing.

The system control section 1 performs control processing of each section and a facsimile transmission control procedure. System memory 2
Is used for storing data required when the system control unit 1 executes a program, for use as a work area,
Further, it stores parameters necessary for system control and registration data obtained by a user operation or the like. The scanner 3 reads an original at a predetermined resolution. The plotter 4 records images or reports at a predetermined resolution.

The encoding / decoding section 5 compresses the encoded image into a code defined by the raw image, and decompresses the encoded image into the original raw image. The operation display unit 6 is for performing a communication operation, a registration operation, and the like, and includes various keys and a display. The network control unit 7 is for connecting to a public telephone network,
Has an automatic calling function. The G3 FAX modem 8 realizes a group 3 facsimile modem function. The image memory 9 stores a transmission image and a reception image as needed.

The communication management means 10 includes a public telephone line network and a G
It manages communication of various data and signals transmitted and received via the 3FAX modem 8. The PC interface unit 11 analyzes the FAX application data of the PC and processes the data, and implements a certain procedure (for example, TR29). The system bus 12 implements the transfer of data and signals of each unit.

FIG. 2 shows a communication information management table used in the facsimile machine. Next, an outline of a system operation of the facsimile machine will be described with reference to FIGS. There are many execution jobs (copy, report, storage, print, communication,...) In the facsimile machine, but only the communication job corresponding to the communication management is the communication job. Actually, it is further divided into transmission jobs, reception jobs, G3 and G4, etc.
Here, communication jobs are collectively referred to. Although a line is not used for PC (personal computer etc.) correspondence, similar exchange of image information occurs between PC and FAX.

If these can be incorporated into the communication management, a more detailed FAX processing history can be provided to the user.
In the following, what exchanges data with a PC is referred to as a PC job. In the system, there is a state monitoring task that monitors a factor (trigger) for generating various jobs.

This task is started in step 401. In step 402, the presence or absence of a communication job trigger is checked.
The process proceeds to step 10, where a communication job is generated. Next, in step 403, the presence or absence of a PC job trigger is checked.
If there is a PC job trigger, the process proceeds to step 420,
A PC job is generated.

In the same manner, for other jobs, the presence or absence of a job trigger is checked in step 404, and if there is a job trigger, the process proceeds to step 430 to generate a triggered job. When a series of monitoring is completed, at step 405, after waiting for a certain time (Δt),
The processing from step 402 described above is repeated.

The processing flow of a communication job will be described below with reference to FIG. When a communication job is started in step 411, the intended transmission or reception communication control is performed in step 412. Then step 4
It is determined in step 13 that the communication has ended. If the communication has ended (normal end or abnormal end), step 4 is executed.
At 14, communication management information is set. However, it is known that, even if the transmission ends in error, a re-call is performed such as in the case of memory transmission. In such a case, the same communication management information or a part thereof is updated.

In the present invention, in the case of a PC job, the transfer from the PC or the PC
The same processing is performed for the transfer to. Hereinafter, the processing flow of the PC job will be described with reference to FIG. When a PC job is started in step 421, communication control with the PC is performed in step 422. Subsequently, the end of the transfer is determined in step 423, and when the transfer is completed, the communication management information is set in step 424.

FIG. 6 shows an image in which a plurality of (here, L) communication management information items shown in FIG. 2 are arranged on the system memory 2. Since this is used as a toggle, the start position information to be used next time is indicated by the number or pointer 504 or the last number or pointer 5 currently used.
02, and also has an output target number counter 503 at the present point for automatically outputting when a certain number is accumulated systematically.

The output of the communication management report includes an automatic output performed when the output target number counter 503 becomes a constant value, and a function using the operation display unit 6 for the user to check the latest one. There is a manual output that utilizes the function. FIG. 7 shows the case of manual output.
It will be described based on. FIG. 7 shows the operation display unit 6 of the facsimile machine in accordance with the output procedure of the communication management report.

First, when a function key is pressed in the standby state 801, a mode selection screen 802 is displayed. Here, when the list output is selected and the numeric keypad 40 is pressed, a report selection screen 803 is displayed. Further, when communication management is selected and the numeric key 41 is pressed, the screen shifts to a start selection waiting screen 804. Here, when the start key is pressed, a communication management report showing transmission information and reception information as shown in FIG. 8 is printed.

FIG. 9 shows an outline of processing for printing the communication management report. First, when the output of the communication management report is selected, in step 602, a header portion as shown in FIG. 8 is created. Next, in step 603, a heading of the transmission unit is created. Next, in step 604, pertinent data related to transmission is searched and sequentially created. When the search for data related to transmission is completed, the process proceeds to step 605, and a heading of the receiving unit is created. next,
In step 606, the relevant data related to the reception is searched and sequentially created. When the search for the data related to the reception is completed, the process proceeds to step 607, and a description such as the number of various cases and the description of the symbols is created. When the creation of the explanatory text is completed, the process proceeds to step 608, where the printing process for performing the actual printing process is performed.

With the above processing, the communication management report is printed. Although a method of recording communication history information when a PC job has occurred has not been particularly described, even when transfer to a PC is completed after a PC job has occurred, the next (leading free) communication is performed. Set information in the management table. As an example, as shown in FIG. 2, there is a recording method in which the used line is registered as RS232C instead of G3 or G4, and nothing is set in the destination information. That is, a specific unused code: for example, NULL (-1): is set in the destination information area, and a fixed character table such as "Receive from PC" or "Transfer to PC" as shown in FIG. You can use.

Alternatively, a PC application or the like may be set. However, since the transfer direction is not known, in such a case, "Send", "Receive", etc. should be described in the communication mode column. The discrimination between transmission and reception is set even for a PC, but here, a transmission request from the PC is treated as "transmission", and when a received document is transmitted to the PC, it is treated as "reception".

Further, it is assumed that a PC bit is provided and managed as 0 for normal transmission and reception, 1 for a PC job, and the like. By managing in this way, the search for transmission or reception at the time of printing is performed at step 60 in FIG.
For example, in the case of 4,606, the above bit can be masked to perform a search. After the search, the type of job can be known by ON / OFF of the same bit.

Further, it is easily understood that the document requested by the PC at 13:40 was transmitted at 14:03 as indicated by the * part in FIG. 8 on the transmission side. Here, since the file numbers of the two are also assigned the same, the processing flow becomes clearer. Next, a description will be given below of a modification of the display method of the communication management report.

First, FIG. 10 shows an example in which a report relating to the PC is output independently of the transmission and reception columns.
FIG. 11 shows an outline of the processing in this processing. The processing outline shown in FIG. 11 is obtained by adding PC-related data processing (steps 617 and 618) to the processing outline shown in FIG. Further, creation of transmission data (step 61)
4) From the creation of received data (step 616), P
C-related data is excluded.

The outline of the processing will be described below. First, when a communication management report output is selected, a header portion as shown in FIG. 10 is created in step 612 as in the above embodiment. Next, in step 613, a heading of the transmission unit is created. Next, in step 614,
Relevant data related to transmission is searched and created sequentially.
At this time, the PC bit is not masked,
Search for the transmission in FF. When the search for data related to transmission is completed, the process proceeds to step 615, and a heading of the receiving unit is created. Next, in step 616, the relevant data related to the reception is retrieved and sequentially created. Again, without masking the PC bit as above,
When the same bit is OFF, the received data is searched. When the search for data related to reception is completed, the process proceeds to step 617, where a heading of the PC section is created. Next, step 61
In step 8, the relevant data relating to the PC is searched and sequentially created. At this time, only those for which the PC bit is ON are searched.

When the data search for the PC is completed,
The process proceeds to step 619, where an explanatory sentence such as the number of various cases and explanations of symbols is created. When the creation of the description is completed, the process proceeds to step 620, where the printing process for performing the actual printing process is performed. In this way, the communication management report shown in FIG. 10 is printed. Next, FIG. 12 shows a PC-related management report printed on a separate page independent of the transmission and reception management reports.

FIG. 13 shows an outline of the processing in this processing. The processing outline shown in FIG. 13 is based on the PC-related data processing (steps 617, 6
18) is a separate process independent of the transmission and reception processes. The outline of the process is described below. First, when the output of the communication management report is selected, a header portion shown in FIG. 12 is created in step 632 as in the above embodiment. Next, at step 633, the PC bit is set to OF.
Only the data of F is selected. Subsequently, in step 634, a heading of the transmission unit is created. Next, step 6
At 35, the data corresponding to the transmission is searched for from the data in which the PC bit is OFF, and is sequentially created. Upon completion of the search for data related to transmission, step 636 is performed.
Then, the heading of the receiving unit is created. Next, in step 637, the data corresponding to the reception is searched from the data in which the PC bit is OFF, and is sequentially created.

When the search for data related to reception is completed,
The process proceeds to step 640, where an explanatory sentence such as the number of various cases or the description of the symbol is created. When the creation of the description is completed, the process proceeds to step 641, where a print process for performing an actual print process is performed. Next, in step 642, if unprocessed data still exists, step 632
And a header section is created.

Next, in step 633, only data whose PC bit is ON are selected. Then step 63
At 8, a heading for the PC section is created. Next, in step 639, the relevant data relating to the PC is searched and sequentially created. At this time, only those for which the PC bit is ON are searched. When the search for the data related to the PC is completed, the process proceeds to step 640, and a description such as the number of various cases and the description of the symbols is created. When the creation of the description is completed, the process proceeds to step 641, where a print process for performing an actual print process is performed. Next, if there is no unprocessed data in step 642, the process ends.

Thus, the communication management report shown in FIG. 12 is printed. The case of manual output will be described below. First, a case where the communication management report is selected and output individually or entirely will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
FIG. 3 shows an operation display unit 6 of the facsimile apparatus in accordance with a communication management report output procedure.

First, when the function key is pressed during standby 811, a mode selection screen 812 is displayed. When a list output is selected and the numeric key 40 is pressed, a report selection screen 813 is displayed. Further, when communication management is selected and the numeric key 41 is pressed, a communication management report selection screen 814 is displayed. Here, all the communication management reports to be printed can be selected from transmission, reception, and PC. When the numeric keypad is pressed according to the selection, the screen shifts to a start selection waiting screen 815. Here, when the start key is pressed, the communication management report is printed in accordance with the item selected on the communication management report selection screen 814 described above. If the selected items are all, a communication management report as shown in FIGS. 8, 10, and 12, for example, is printed.

Here, in the case of transmission, the PC bit is turned off.
Then, only the transmitted ones are sequentially quoted for the maximum printable number and output. In the case of reception, the PC bit is OFF and only the reception ones are sequentially quoted and output in the maximum printable number. In the case of a PC, only those for which the PC bit is ON are successively quoted and output. When selecting the target unit (all /
(Transmit / receive / PC) is the next output start pointer 5 in FIG.
04 and the output target counter 503 by purpose (in this case, 4
May be prepared one by one.

On the other hand, the range may be set to match the whole, and only the corresponding number may be printed out of other items. Since the print flow of each selection can be performed in the same manner as the processing shown in FIGS. 9, 11, and 13, no additional description will be made. As an example, in the case of reception, step 60 in FIG.
1, 602, 605, 606, 607, and 608 may be implemented.

Also, although the functions of the PC have been increased,
Since it can be assumed that the PC is nearby, there may be a request that the information of the PC unit is not required in the communication management report.
Therefore, all / transmission only (when this is selected, a communication management report similar to the conventional one is eventually printed) can be selected by the operation control unit. FIG. 15 shows a display screen of the operation display unit 6 and an operation procedure in this case.

In this process, the PC bit is searched at the time of searching the communication management table, and it may be determined whether or not the ON bit is fetched.

[0046]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, communication history information with the information processing terminal can be held in addition to communication history information with the external device. It can be taken out and the communication result can be grasped accurately. In addition, since the result of communication with the external device and the result of communication with the information processing terminal can be centrally managed, the management is simple and an increase in the storage area can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the normal transmission information, the normal reception information, and other information are classified and output as a communication management report. It is easy to see, and the information can be grasped for each information easily. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the normal transmission information, the normal reception information, and other information are independent of each other, and the whole information is contained in one page. It is easy to grasp the whole and cost performance is good.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since necessary communication history information can be selected, unnecessary printing of communication management information can be avoided, and processing time can be reduced. According to the invention described in claim 5, the normal transmission information,
Normally received information and other information are printed as separate reports, so different types of communication information can be distinguished and viewed as separate reports, and the amount of information per report can be increased. It is possible to prevent frequent report output.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since necessary communication history information can be selected, it is not necessary to print unnecessary communication management information, and the processing time can be reduced. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since there is provided a selection unit for determining whether or not to print other information, transmission information,
It is possible to select whether or not to include other information in the received information, and to print a communication management report as needed.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, since the selection means for selecting whether or not to print the other information is provided, it is possible to select whether or not to print the other information in addition to the transmission information and the reception information. The communication management report can be printed as needed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a communication information management table according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a state monitoring task according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a communication job according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a PC job according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing that a plurality of pieces of communication management information exist in a communication management table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation display unit of the facsimile apparatus according to a communication management report output procedure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a communication management report.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a processing outline flowchart of communication management report printing.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a communication management report.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a processing outline flowchart of communication management report printing.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a communication management report.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a processing outline flowchart of communication management report printing.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an operation display unit of the facsimile apparatus in accordance with a communication management report output procedure.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an operation display unit of the facsimile apparatus according to a communication management report output procedure.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a conventional communication management report output procedure and a display screen of a facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional communication management report.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional processing flow of communication management report output.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 System control part 2 System memory 3 Scanner 4 Plotter 5 Encoding / decoding part 6 Operation display part 7 Network control part 8 G3 FAX modem 9 Image memory 10 Communication management means 11 PC interface part 12 System bus 501 Communication management table 502 Last use number 503 Output target number counter 504 Next output start number

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus that transmits and receives data to and from an external device and transmits and receives data to and from an information processing terminal, comprising: a communication management information storage unit that stores communication history information with the external device; Means, in addition to the communication history information,
A facsimile apparatus which stores communication history information between the information processing terminal and the facsimile apparatus. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication history information is divided into normal transmission information, normal reception information, and other information; communication information dividing means; A communication management report creating unit that creates a communication management report by classifying the communication history information into normal transmission information, normal reception information, and other information, and a communication management report printing unit that prints the communication management report. A facsimile machine characterized by the above. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said communication management report creating means creates a communication management report such that normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information are contained in one page. Facsimile machine. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: communication history selecting means for selecting desired communication history information from each of the communication history information; A facsimile apparatus, wherein a communication management report is created for the selected communication history information, and the communication management report printing means prints the communication management report created by the communication management report creation means. 5. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication history information is divided into normal transmission information, normal reception information, and other information; communication information dividing means; Communication management report creating means for classifying the communication history information into normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information, and creating a communication management report of normal transmission information, normal reception information, and a communication management report of other information; A facsimile apparatus, comprising: a communication management report printing unit that prints the communication management report. 6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: communication history selecting means for selecting desired communication history information from each of the communication history information; A facsimile apparatus, wherein a communication management report is created for the selected communication history information, and the communication management report printing means prints the communication management report created by the communication management report creation means. 7. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication history information is divided into normal transmission information, normal reception information and other information; communication information dividing means; and analysis means for analyzing said communication history information; Other information selection means for selecting whether or not to select other information, and, based on the selection result of the other information selection means, classify the communication history information into transmission information and reception information, respectively, and create a communication management report. A facsimile apparatus comprising: a communication management report creating unit; and a communication management report printing unit that prints the communication management report. 8. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: other information selecting means for selecting whether or not to select said other information, wherein said communication management report creating means is provided with said other information selecting means. A facsimile apparatus, wherein a communication management report is created based on the selection result, and the communication management report printing means prints the communication report created based on the selection result.