JPH1051564A - Method and device for recording sound for facsimile system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To record a sound, which cannot be recorded by a facsimile system, to read that sound and to reproduce it as a sound by coding a received audio signal through digital conversion and recording it in a prescribed formed on a recording paper. SOLUTION: A ring signal is detected and an on-line state occurs, the facsimile system detects the tone of a line end through a tone detection part 14 and automatically switches a facsimile reception mode and a sound reception mode. When an audio signal is received, the received analog audio signal is converted digitally by an A/D converting part 12, coded according to a prescribed coding methods by a main facsimile unit 10, in order to decrease the record data amount of these digital data and stored in a memory 24. The coded audio data are recorded in the prescribed format on the recording paper, and when that recording paper is read and later as discriminated '0' and '1', the sound can be reproduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile system and, more particularly, to a method for responding to an incoming call while it is away.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile, an automatic answering telephone, and the like are connected to a public telephone network, and respective data are transmitted. When a facsimile system is connected to such a public telephone network and used, a recent facsimile system generally has a built-in telephone, so that not only transmission and reception of documents but also voice communication is possible.

[0003]

When the facsimile system as described above is used in an office or the like, an automatic reception mode is set when the office is out of the office. In this case, when a call is received, the ring signal is detected and the facsimile reception state is set.
However, when the call is not for facsimile data transmission and reception but for voice communication, if the automatic reception mode is set, the call cannot be made until someone returns to cancel the automatic reception mode. That is, while an automatic answering telephone can record a message in the answering machine mode, a facsimile system cannot record a voice, and a call in this case is useless.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for solving such a problem of the prior art.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To this end, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for recording a received audio signal on a recording sheet, and further reading the recording and reproducing it as audio.

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided an audio recording method for a facsimile system, characterized in that a received audio signal is digitally converted and coded, and the coded data is recorded on a recording paper in a predetermined form. You. In this case, the coding data may be stored in a memory, and the stored data may be recorded in a predetermined format. At this time, a barcode form is suitable as a form of recording on the recording paper. Further, when the image signal obtained by scanning the coding data recorded on the recording paper is digitally converted and decoded, the decoded data is converted into an analog signal and the sound is reproduced. You can check with.

According to the present invention, as a facsimile system for such an audio recording method, a line interface unit which is in charge of interfacing with a line, an A / D conversion unit which converts a received audio signal into a digital signal, and a digital conversion unit A data coding unit for coding digital data according to the above, a recording unit for recording the coding data by the coding on a recording paper in a predetermined form, a reading unit for reading the coding data recorded on the recording paper, and an image signal by the reading. A document image pre-processing unit for digital conversion, a data decoding unit for decoding digital data by the digital conversion, a D / A conversion unit for analog conversion of the decoded data by the decoding, and an audio signal by the analog conversion Re A speaker for, providing a facsimile system comprising: a. in this case,
The apparatus may further include a memory for storing coding data.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Components common to the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the following description, a number of specific items such as a specific circuit configuration are shown, but these are provided for a more general understanding of the present invention, and the present invention may be practiced other than these specific items. What you can do is obvious. Descriptions of related known functions and configurations will be omitted as appropriate.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile system according to the present invention. The line interface unit 4 is responsible for interfacing with the public telephone network, and the A / D conversion unit 12 converts an analog audio signal received through it into a digital signal. The digital data is coded by the facsimile main unit 10 having a data coding unit, and the coded data is recorded on a recording sheet by the recording unit 18.

A reading section (scanner) 22 reads recorded audio data. An analog image signal generated as a result of reading the recorded coding data by the reading section 22 is converted into a document image pre-processing section (Document Image Pre-processing section). Pr
ocessor: DIPP) 20. Then, in the facsimile main unit 10 including the data decoding unit and the D / A conversion unit, the digital data by the DIPP 20 is decoded, and the decoded data is converted into an analog audio signal. The converted audio signal is amplified by the amplifier 16 to a level required for speaker output, and then reproduced through the speaker 8.

The facsimile main unit 10 includes a memory 24, and performs a reception mode process as shown in FIG. The memory 24 stores a program for processing and recording / reproducing an audio signal, and has a role of storing audio data relating to processing of the facsimile main unit 10.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the function of the facsimile system of the present embodiment will be described.

First, if the facsimile system is set to the reception mode described below, step 202
When the ring signal is detected by the ring detection unit 6, the facsimile system confirms the set receiving mode by performing step 204, proceeds to the set receiving mode step, and starts its function. At this time, a guidance message (OGM) or the like is transmitted to the calling part via the line using the guidance message unit 2, and the reception mode can be guided.

If the handset is hooked off in step 204, the flow goes to step 206 to enter the call mode, and in step 214 a call path is formed to perform the functions of a normal telephone.

If it is determined in step 204 that the automatic facsimile reception mode is set, the flow proceeds to step 208 to enter the facsimile reception mode. In step 216, the received facsimile data is received and recorded.

If it is determined in step 204 that the automatic voice receiving mode is set, the process proceeds to step 210 to enter the voice receiving mode, and the voice signal transmitted in step 218 is recorded by a method described later.

If it is determined in step 204 that the automatic facsimile / voice switching reception mode is set, the flow advances to step 212 to enter the automatic facsimile / voice mode, and the following steps are performed. When the facsimile system is set to the automatic switching mode between the facsimile reception mode and the voice reception mode, when the ring signal is detected, the facsimile system goes online. At this time, a guidance message or the like can be guided to the calling side through a line. When the facsimile system enters the online state, in step 220, the tone detector 14 detects the tone at the line end and automatically switches between the facsimile reception mode and the voice reception mode.

That is, as a result of detecting a line tone in the online state, a CNG tone [Calling Tone: a handshaking signal (han indicating that the calling side is an automatic transmitter).
dshaking signal)] or continuous silence (Silence, meaning the caller is a manual transmitter)
The mode is switched to the facsimile reception mode, and the facsimile data reception of step 216 is performed. On the other hand, as a result of detecting the tone of the line in the online state, other than the CNG tone and continuous silence, the voice frequency band (300 Hz to 3400 H
z) is at a predetermined level (generally -4
If it is 8 dBm or more, it is determined that the signal is an audio signal, the mode is switched to the audio receiving mode, and the audio signal recording in step 218 is performed. In addition to the switching to the voice receiving mode, the transmission of the DTMF code specified for switching the voice receiving mode is guided to the calling side by a guidance message (OGM) in the online state, and the DTMF code is detected. In such a case, there is a method of switching the voice reception mode.

Next, the audio signal receiving steps after step 218 in FIG. 3 will be described. In step 218, the received analog voice signal is converted to a digital signal by the A / D converter 12, and the facsimile main unit 10
Then, the digital data is coded by a predetermined coding method in order to reduce the recording data amount, and the data is compressed. Then, in step 222, the compressed data is stored in the memory 24, and
In step 4, the stored data is read out and recorded on recording paper. still,
It is not essential to store such voice data in the memory, and it is also possible to record the voice data directly on the recording paper after the coding process. The coding data from step 218 is recorded as follows.

The audio data after coding is a continuous signal composed of a combination of 0 and 1. Therefore, after this is recorded on the recording paper in a predetermined form, the recording paper is read, and 0 and 1 are read.
Is determined, the sound can be reproduced. In this case, it is necessary to apply a recording mode having as few reproduction errors as possible. As an example, a bar shown in FIG.
There is a barcode recording mode using a space and a space. In this barcode form, data 1 is displayed as a bar and data 0 is displayed as a space. The length T2 of the bar is about 3 mm (an example for removing an error due to the skew of the original at the time of reading). This is an example for eliminating an error when reading a document). The data thus coded and compressed is output to recording paper by the recording unit 18 in accordance with a data recording method such as a barcode format. That is, in this example, the received audio signal is recorded on the recording paper in the form of a barcode.

The reproduction of the sound recorded in this manner is as follows. First, the recording paper on which the audio data is recorded in the form of a barcode as described above is scanned through the reading unit 22 of the facsimile system. An analog image signal generated by this scanning is digitally converted by the DIP 20. Since the digital data thus obtained is coding-compressed, the digital data is decoded by the facsimile main unit 10, converted into an analog signal, and then amplified by the amplifier 16. Then, the sound is reproduced by the output signal of the amplifier 16 passing through the speaker 8.

[0022]

The facsimile according to the present invention is very convenient because even a voice call received during absence can be reproduced on the recording paper after being left.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an audio signal recording mode.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of a reception mode in the facsimile system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Guide message part 4 Line interface part 6 Ring signal detection part 8 Speaker 10 Facsimile main unit 12 A / D conversion part 14 Tone detection part 16 Amplification part 18 Recording part 20 Original image preprocessing part 22 Reading part

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A voice recording method for a facsimile system, wherein a received voice signal is digitally converted and coded, and the coded data is recorded on a recording sheet in a predetermined form. 2. Coding data is stored in a memory,
2. A voice recording method for a facsimile system according to claim 1, wherein said stored data is recorded in a predetermined format. 3. The voice recording method for a facsimile system according to claim 1, wherein the recording form on the recording paper is a barcode form. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein an image signal obtained by scanning the coding data recorded on the recording paper is digitally converted and decoded, and the decoded data is converted into an analog signal to reproduce a sound. Any one
The facsimile system voice recording method according to the above section. 5. A facsimile system for recording and reproducing a received audio signal on a recording sheet, comprising: a line interface section for interfacing with a line; and an A / D conversion section for digitally converting the received audio signal. A data coding unit for coding digital data by the digital conversion, a recording unit for recording the coding data by the coding on a recording sheet in a predetermined form, a reading unit for reading the coding data recorded on the recording sheet, A document image pre-processing unit for digitally converting an image signal by reading, a data decoding unit for decoding digital data by the digital conversion, a D / A conversion unit for converting the decoded data by analog to analog, Audio signal by analog conversion A facsimile system comprising: 6. The facsimile system according to claim 5, further comprising a memory for storing coding data.