JPH1051583A - Image communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To know the outline of entire received image data stored in a memory, even in the state of less residual capacity in a battery by performing the digest print of stored image data in the memory through a printer. SOLUTION: Based on the detected contents of a voltage detecting part 231, a battery monitor part 23 decides whether the residual capacity of a battery 21 is more or less. The voltage detecting part 231 compares the terminal voltage of a secondary battery 22 with a reference value, and this compared result it sent as data for decision by the battery monitor part 23. When the residual capacity of the battery detected by the battery monitor part 23 becomes less than a prescribed value, a printing control part 25 lets a printer 16 perform the digest print of stored image data in an image memory 14. In the case of digest print, the image data stored in the image memory 14 are printed out, while being limited for the prescribed number of lines for each page. The contents of received image data stored in the image memory can be known at most, without waiting for the charging end of the battery of which the residual capacity become less.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus which receives image data and prints out the image data, and more particularly to an apparatus which is effective when applied to a portable facsimile image communication apparatus using a secondary battery as a power supply.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a portable facsimile image communication apparatus which operates using a secondary battery as a power supply includes communication means such as an NCU (line control unit) and a modem, an image memory for storing received image data, and 2. Description of the Related Art A printer that prints out stored image data and a printer that includes a rechargeable secondary battery that supplies an operation power for these printers are known.

[0003] According to this apparatus, image data received by an automatic incoming call or the like can be temporarily stored in a memory, and can be collectively printed out on recording paper when necessary. In addition, using a battery as a power source enables portable use, and running costs can be reduced by using a rechargeable secondary battery.

[0004]

In this image communication apparatus, when the received image data stored in the memory is to be printed out by a printer in a state where the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is small, the printing is performed. In some cases, the remaining battery capacity may be exhausted during printing, and printing may be interrupted. In this case, in order to know the content of the received image data stored in the memory, the battery must be recharged, and it must wait until the battery capacity is restored to a point where the printer can be operated reliably by the recharge. . That is, there is a problem that the contents received in the memory cannot be known until the recharge is completed.

Further, in the case where image data is continuously printed over many pages, even when the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is sufficient at the start of the printing, the remaining capacity of the secondary battery becomes large by the time the printing is completed. And the next printing cannot be performed, or the printing may be interrupted due to running out of capacity on the way. For this reason, for example, even if printing is started to check the outline contents of each page of the image data stored in the memory, printing is interrupted in the middle of the page due to battery exhaustion, and the contents of the pages after that are interrupted. There is also a problem that confirmation may not be performed at all.

[0006] The reason why the above-mentioned problem occurs is that the power consumption of the printer is much higher than that of other parts.
It is very difficult to reduce the power consumption of the printer.

As a countermeasure against the above-mentioned problem, it is conceivable to display image data stored in the memory on a screen of a display device such as a liquid crystal display. The power consumption of a liquid crystal display device is significantly lower than that of a printer. Thereby, even if the remaining battery capacity is insufficient for the operation of the printer, or even if the image data stored in the memory extends over many pages, all the pages of the stored image data are not interrupted halfway. It can be displayed.

However, in this case, the provision of a display device for displaying a screen increases the size of the device, thereby deteriorating the convenience as a portable device and increasing the cost of the device. Occurs.

The present invention does not depend on a display device for displaying a screen which increases the size and cost of the device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an overview of the entire received image data stored in a memory without recharging the battery even when the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is low.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a communication means for receiving image data, an image memory for storing received image data, and a printer for printing out the stored image data. Battery monitoring means for detecting the remaining capacity of a secondary battery that supplies operating power of at least the apparatus including the printer, and when the print output command operation is performed in a state where the detected remaining capacity is equal to or less than a predetermined value. In addition, the printer is configured to cause the printer to perform digest printing of the stored image data in the memory.

[0011] This makes it possible to reduce the size of the device and increase the cost thereof without relying on the display device for screen display. Thus, an image communication device that can know the outline of the content of the received image data stored in the image communication device is obtained.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a communication means for receiving image data, an image memory for storing received image data, a printer for printing out the stored image data, A rechargeable rechargeable battery that supplies at least the operating power of the apparatus including the printer, a battery monitoring means for detecting the remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery, and Print control means for causing the printer to perform digest printing of the stored image data in the memory when a command operation is performed, thereby reducing power consumption during printing and increasing the size of the apparatus. Even if the remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery is low without depending on the display device for screen display, which is It has an effect of making it possible to know the contents schematic of the stored received image data.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the battery monitoring means further includes a voltage detecting circuit for detecting a remaining battery capacity based on a terminal voltage of the secondary battery. Thus, for example, the remaining capacity of the nickel-cadmium battery can be detected, and the necessity of the digest printing can be accurately determined.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first or second aspect, as the battery monitoring means, there is provided an integrating circuit for integrating the discharge current of the secondary battery with time and calculating the remaining battery capacity from the integrated amount. This has the effect that the remaining capacity of the battery can be accurately and accurately detected, and the necessity of digest printing can be determined more accurately.

[0015] The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claims 1 to 3.
In addition to any one of the above, the printing apparatus further includes, as print control means, control means for partially printing out each page of the image data stored in the memory, thereby reducing power consumption in printing. This has the effect that the outline of the content of the received image data stored in the memory can be known with a small remaining battery capacity.

[0016] The invention according to claim 5 provides the invention according to claims 1 to 4.
In addition to any one of the above, a print control unit includes a control unit that prints out image data stored in the memory by a predetermined number of lines for each page, thereby reducing power consumption for each page. This has the effect that the outline of the content of the received image data stored in the memory can be known with a small remaining battery capacity.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication means for receiving image data, an image memory for storing received image data, a printer for printing out the stored image data in the memory, and an apparatus including the printer. A rechargeable secondary battery that supplies operating power to each unit; and print control means for causing the printer to perform digest printing of the stored image data in the memory based on a user setting performed via an operation unit. Thereby, even if the image data stored in the memory extends over many pages, the outline content of all pages of the stored image data can be displayed without being interrupted halfway.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image communication apparatus to which the technology of the present invention is applied.

In the figure, 11 is a public communication line (telephone line), 12 is an NCU, 13 is a modem for executing facsimile communication, 14 is an image memory for storing received image data and the like, and 15 is an encoding / decoding unit ( CODEC), 16 is a printer for printing and recording the stored image data in the memory 14 on the recording paper 161, 17 is an operation unit for instructing / setting various functions such as communication and printing, 21 is a power supply circuit, 22
Represents a secondary battery such as a nickel-cadmium battery; 23, a battery monitor unit for determining the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 22;
31 is a voltage detector for obtaining the data for determination, 24
Is a digest setting unit that determines digest printing execution conditions, and 25 is a print control unit that performs digest printing.

Reference numeral 30 denotes an external data terminal such as a personal computer or a scanner, 31 denotes an external interface (I / F) for receiving image data from the external data terminal 30, and 32 denotes an image data received from the external data terminal in a facsimile format. Is a data conversion processing unit which changes the image data into the image data and stores it in the image memory 16.

Here, the secondary battery 22 supplies an operating power to each unit in the apparatus including the printer 16 via the power supply circuit 21. The battery monitor 23 determines the remaining capacity of the battery 21 based on the detection content of the voltage detector 231. The voltage detector 231 compares the terminal voltage of the secondary battery 22 with a reference value, and compares the comparison result with the battery monitor 23.
Is sent as the data for determination.

The print control unit 25 is constituted by a microprocessor which is a general-purpose control device together with other control units, and causes the printer 16 to perform digest printing of the image data stored in the memory 14. This print control unit 25
When the setting for performing the digest printing is performed in the digest setting unit 24, or when the remaining battery capacity detected by the battery monitoring unit 23 is equal to or less than a predetermined value, Of the stored image data is digest-printed by the printer 16. The setting of whether or not to perform the digest printing is performed in advance by a user operation on the operation unit 17.

In the digest printing, each page of the image data stored in the memory 14 is partially printed out. More specifically, the image data stored in the memory 14 is printed out by limiting the number of lines per page to a predetermined number. At this time, the limited number of lines, that is, the predetermined number of lines for each page is set to a number (1 / n) obtained by dividing the total number of lines in the page by a fixed number n. As a result, for each page, only a certain percentage of the image data in the page can be partially digest-printed. And, by this digest printing, the power consumption in the printing is reduced, and with all the pages of the received image data stored in the memory with a small remaining battery capacity,
The content outline can be printed out. The outline of the received image data stored in the memory 14 can be known from the recorded document thus digest-printed. Also, even if the image data stored in the memory 14 extends over many pages,
The schematic contents of all pages of the stored image data can be displayed without interruption on the way.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a hardware configuration of the image communication apparatus shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the hardware of the image communication device according to the present invention can be centrally configured using a microprocessor 41 which is a general-purpose control device. In the figure, 31 is a scanner for reading a facsimile transmission image from a document, 42 is a ROM for storing programs and various setting data, and 43 is a RAM for providing a working area and the like. The functions of the above-described digest setting unit 24 and print control unit 25 are realized by the microprocessor 41.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the configuration of the above-described image communication apparatus, focusing on its operation.

In FIG. 3, when printing of the stored image data is performed based on a command from the operation unit 17, the remaining battery capacity is verified before the printer 16 is operated (S1). Here, when the remaining battery capacity is determined to be equal to or less than the predetermined value, or when a setting operation for performing the digest printing is performed, the digest printing flag is set to ON (F1 = ON). At the same time, the digest print data amount (the number of lines) is set (S2, S11).
The print data amount at this time is determined according to a preset condition. If necessary, for example, the data amount (the number of pages and the number of lines) of the accumulated image data to be digest-printed, and the remaining battery capacity may be reduced. You may make it correct based on it.

Next, the management information of the memory in which the received image data is stored is searched, and if it is found by the search that there is stored image data, the operation of reading and printing the image data is performed based on the management information. (S
3, S4, S5). If there is no stored image data,
The operation ends as it is.

When the operation is shifted to the printing operation, the stored image data in the memory is sequentially printed one page at a time while referring to the above-mentioned set contents regarding the digest print flag and the digest print data amount (S6 to S9). That is, when the digest print flag is set to ON, the data amount (the number of lines) to be printed is determined for each page, and the digest printing is performed within this data amount.
On the other hand, when the digest print flag is not set to ON, all the image data stored in the memory is printed without controlling the print data amount.

As described above, by performing digest printing, the amount of power required for printing per page can be significantly reduced. Therefore, even when the remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery is small and charging in the middle is necessary in normal printing, only the small remaining capacity is used for all pages of the received image data stored in the memory. The content outline can be printed out. From the recorded document digest-printed in this way, it is possible to know the outline of the entirety of the received image data stored in the memory 14.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a recorded document printed by digest printing. In the example shown in FIG.
, P3,...) Is extracted from the top line by a predetermined number of lines for each page, and is recorded on a recording paper 16.
1 is printed.

FIG. 5 shows another example of a recorded document printed by digest printing. In the example shown in FIG.
B, C,...)
A predetermined number of lines are extracted from the beginning of each file and printed on the recording paper 161.

In the above description, an example in which the battery monitor unit 23 is constituted by the voltage detection circuit 231 has been described. However, an integration circuit for integrating the discharge current of the secondary battery 22 with time and calculating the remaining battery capacity from the integrated amount. The battery monitor unit 23 may be configured by the following. In this case, it is possible to accurately and accurately detect the remaining capacity of the battery, and to more accurately determine whether or not digest printing is necessary.

The digest printing method is as follows.
The print data amount (number of lines) in the page is counted from the top of the page, and at a predetermined data amount (number of lines), the printing of the page is terminated. There is a method of limiting the amount of print data (the number of lines) by thinning the data.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery is reduced without depending on the screen display device which makes the device larger and more expensive, An advantageous effect is obtained that the outline of the content of the received image data stored in the memory can be known without waiting for the completion of the charging of the battery.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the image communication apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the configuration of the image communication apparatus of the present invention focusing on operations.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a digest-printed recording document.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a recorded document printed by digest printing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Public communication line (telephone line) 12 NCU 13 Modem 14 Image memory 15 Code / decoding unit 16 Printer 17 Operation unit 21 Power supply circuit 22 Secondary battery 23 Battery monitor unit 231 Voltage detection unit 24 Digest setting unit 25 Digest print control unit 30 external data terminal 31 external interface 32 data conversion processing unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Agency reference number FI Technical display location H04N 1/21 G06F 1/00 341L

Claims (6)

[Claims] A communication unit for receiving image data, an image memory for storing received image data, a printer for printing out the stored image data in the memory, and an operating power supply for each unit in the apparatus including the printer. Rechargeable secondary battery, battery monitoring means for detecting the remaining capacity of the secondary battery, and when the print output command operation is performed in a state where the detected remaining capacity is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the memory in the memory is An image communication apparatus comprising: a print control unit that causes the printer to perform digest printing of accumulated image data. 2. The image communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the battery monitoring means is configured using a voltage detection circuit for detecting a remaining battery capacity based on a terminal voltage of the secondary battery. 3. The battery monitoring means according to claim 1, wherein said battery monitoring means includes an integrating circuit for integrating the discharge current of said secondary battery with time and calculating the remaining battery capacity from the integrated amount. An image communication device according to claim 1. 4. The print control means according to claim 1, wherein said print control means comprises data control means for partially printing out each page of the image data stored in the memory. An image communication device according to claim 1. 5. The print control means according to claim 1, wherein said print control means comprises data control means for printing out a predetermined number of lines of image data stored in the memory for each page. An image communication device according to claim 1. 6. A communication means for receiving image data, an image memory for storing received image data, a printer for printing out the stored image data in the memory, and an operating power supply for each unit in the apparatus including the printer. An image communication apparatus comprising: a rechargeable secondary battery; and print control means for causing the printer to perform digest printing of the stored image data in the memory based on a user setting made via an operation unit.