JPH1146292A - Image communication equipment and recording medium readable by the equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conduct multi-address communication by sequentially sending, to an entered main and sub destinations, image data via a channel 1 of a channel connection section or image data in parallel via a plurality of channels of the channel connection section. SOLUTION: In the case of conducting multi-address communication, a facsimile equipment F adds a main and sub destinations, that are converted into image data, to image data to be send and transmits the resulting image data. A main control section 1 has a function of converting a dial number received from an operation section 7 into character codes and of adding the codes to an image, or a function of converting the stored main and sub destinations into character codes, such as a dial number or a name and of adding the codes to the image. In the case of sequentially sending image data to each dial number of each destination, the attribute which has been set to each dial number is checked prior to the transmission, and each character string corresponding to the attribute is expanded to a TTI part to be added to the head of the image to be transmitted.

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 such as a facsimile apparatus and a recording medium readable by the image communication apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus, which is one of image communication apparatuses, is provided with a broadcast transmission function. After an operation of instructing broadcast transmission, a dial number of a plurality of destinations is sequentially transmitted. By directly inputting with the numeric keypad or by specifying a number for one-touch dialing or speed dialing that has been registered in advance, the same read original image can be transmitted to all of the operated numbers. ing.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image communication apparatus, the main destination (main destination) which wants some response to the plurality of destinations after viewing the image.
Cannot be specified (so-called carbon copy function) separately from the other party (sub-address) who only needs to look at the image. To specify such, specify in the image to be transmitted Had to be kept.

[0004] The present invention has been proposed in view of such circumstances, and an image communication apparatus capable of simply designating a primary destination and a secondary destination for broadcast communication, and a recording medium readable by the apparatus. Suggested for the purpose of providing.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image communication apparatus, comprising: a line connection unit having at least one line connection function; and one or more main destinations. And an operation unit capable of inputting a sub-address and a sub-address, for all of the main destination and the sub-address input by the operation unit,
A control unit for broadcasting image data via a line connection unit. In addition, image data is sequentially transmitted to the main destination and the sub destination input by the operation unit through one line of the line connection unit, or the image data is transmitted in parallel through a plurality of lines of the line connection unit. Send data.

According to a second aspect, a line connection unit having a function of connecting at least one line, a storage unit storing one or more main destinations and sub destinations, and a main destination and a sub destination stored in the storage unit are stored. For all, a control unit is provided which broadcasts the image data to which the main destination and the sub destination converted to the image data are added via the line connection unit. Claim 3 proposes a recording medium readable by the image communication device, and the recording medium has at least one line for all of one or a plurality of main destinations and sub destinations stored in the storage unit. A program for realizing a function of broadcasting image data to which the main destination and the sub destination converted into image data are added via a line connection unit having a connection function is recorded.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the image communication device according to the present invention. here,
Facsimile machine F which is one of the image communication devices of the present invention
However, the image communication apparatus may be a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail function capable of connecting to a computer communication network, a personal computer with a data communication function, or the like. That is, the image communication includes e-mail communication and the like via a computer communication network in addition to facsimile communication via a public line network.
Note that the computer communication network includes the Internet and personal computer communication services NIFTY-Serv, P
There is a C-VAN or the like, and at least an electronic mail (e-mail) service which is one of these services can be used.

The main control unit 1 comprises a control unit of the present invention with a CPU or the like, and not only controls each unit of the facsimile apparatus F but also executes processes such as encoding and decoding.
The NCU 2 closes and opens the communication line L (analog line). The modem 3 modulates and demodulates a signal for facsimile communication. The NCU 2 and the modem 3 constitute a line connection unit according to the present invention, in which a configuration in which only one line (communication line L) is connected is shown.
2 and a plurality of modems 3 to connect a plurality of lines. Also, a digital line such as an ISDN line may be connected by providing a DSU (not shown).

The image memory 4 is composed of a DRAM or the like and stores image data. The RAM 5 stores temporary data generated at the time of execution of processing, and also forms a storage unit of the present invention, and stores a facsimile number, an e-mail address, and the like serving as a main destination and a sub destination. The display unit 6 includes a liquid crystal display device and the like, and displays an operation state of the facsimile machine F and image data. The operation unit 7 includes various keys and performs various input settings for the facsimile machine F. The reading unit 8 reads a document by a CCD or the like and outputs black and white binary image data. The recording unit 9 includes a printer of an electrophotographic system or the like, and records (prints out) data received from another facsimile machine or the like as image data.

The external recording medium reading section 10 reads program data from a recording medium fd such as a floppy disk. The main control unit 1 executes the facsimile machine F in accordance with the read program instruction as described below.
Control the operation of. Note that the recording medium fd may be an optical disk, a ROM, or the like. This facsimile machine F
Encodes the image data read by the reading unit 6 and transmits it through the communication line L, decodes the image data received through the communication line L, and stores the image data in the recording unit 9
The basic operation of printing out from is performed.

If the apparatus has an e-mail function, a data modem (not shown) is provided to modulate and demodulate signals transmitted and received as e-mail, and an external interface (not shown) is provided. Thus, facsimile communication and transmission / reception of e-mail by another image communication device such as a personal computer connected through the communication device are enabled. In the facsimile machine F, the operation unit 7 includes the TO: key 7a and the CC:
A key 7b is provided, and a main destination can be specified by the TO: key 7a, and a sub destination can be specified by the CC: key 7b. The main control unit 1 broadcasts image data to all of the main destination and the sub destination designated and input by the operation unit 7 via the NCU 2 and the modem 3 which are line connection units.

Here, since only one line is connected, image data is sequentially transmitted through this line L. If a plurality of lines are connected to the line connection unit, Image data can be transmitted in parallel via the line. Further, when there are two or more destinations (regardless of the main destination and the sub destination) for the same dial number, the same image data may be transmitted for the destinations, or the first page or cover (from the first page on the transmission side). Only the page to be added before) may be transmitted for the destination, and the rest may be transmitted only once.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the appearance of the operation unit 7 and the display unit 6. (A) shows an operation panel composed of a display unit 6 and an operation unit 7, and broadcasts by operating the operation unit 7 while watching the display on the display unit 6 composed of a liquid crystal screen or the like. Can be indicated. The operation unit 7
In addition to the TO: key 7a and the CC: key 7b, a ten-key 7c for inputting a dial number and the like, a broadcast key,
Various function keys 7d including one-touch keys, abbreviated keys, and the like are provided.

When performing a broadcast communication, after operating the broadcast key in the function key 7d, the TO: key 7
Operate a and input the dial number to be the main destination. Further, the user operates the CC: key 7b to input a dial number as a sub destination. When there is more than one primary or secondary destination,
The input of the dial number is repeated with the TO: key 7a or the CC: key 7b. Note that the dial number may be input directly using the numeric keypad 7c, or a dial number registered in the RAM 5 in advance by operating a one-touch key or the like.

FIG. 2B shows a display example on the display unit 6 at the time of the above operation. Here, only “XXX” is input as the main destination, and “YYY” and “ZZZ” are input as the sub destinations. The display here may be a destination name or the like registered in advance corresponding to the dial number, in addition to the dial number. When performing facsimile communication as described above, the facsimile apparatus F includes:
After adding the main destination and sub destination converted to image data,
Can be sent.

For this reason, the main control unit 1 converts the dial number input from the operation unit 7 into a character code (numeric) and adds it to the image, or the main destination and the sub destination are stored in the RA.
M5 has a function of converting the stored main destination and sub destination to character codes such as dial numbers and names and adding the codes to images. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation at this time.

Steps 100 to 105 show the input operation of the main destination (TO :) and the sub destination (CC :) described with reference to FIG. 2. Here, the operation is prompted by the display on the display unit 6. (Steps 100 and 102). When input of all destinations is completed by operating a start key (not shown) in the operation unit 7, a dial number of each destination as a destination is stored in the RAM 5.
The O: or CC: attribute is set, the reading section 8 reads the document image, and stores this data in the image memory 4 (step 106).

Subsequently, the image data is transmitted in order to the dial number of each destination. Before transmission, the attribute set corresponding to the dial number is checked, and the TTI unit ( Each character string corresponding to the attribute is expanded to a TTI code (steps 107 to 112). Note that, here, character strings corresponding to attributes are expanded for each destination, but character strings corresponding to attributes of other destinations are also expanded so that all destinations can be identified. You may. Also, here, there are only two sub-destinations (CC1 and CC2), but the present invention is not limited to this.

If the character string of the destination is developed in the TTI part, other data such as date and source is developed in a character buffer (not shown), and then the TTI part is converted into image data, encoded and encoded. The data is added to the data (actual image data) and transmitted (steps 113 to 116). FIG. 4 shows an example of image data recorded on the receiving side designated as a destination. Here, the main destination (TO :) and the sub destination (CC :) are all added as image data, and the main control unit 1 of the transmitting apparatus automatically underlines its own destination. Shows the case.

FIG. 3A shows TT as described with reference to FIG.
Example of adding destination to I code (arrow a), (b)
Is an example of a case where an address converted into each name is added to the cover (arrow B). On the receiving side, referring to the recorded image data, it is easy to determine whether the own device is the main destination or the sub destination. Although the case of performing the broadcast communication in the facsimile communication has been described above, the present invention is also applied to the electronic mail communication. Also in this case, the e-mail address can be set as the main destination (TO :) and the sub destination (CC :) in the header information of the e-mail by a simple key operation.

Since the program for performing the above-described functions can be read from the external recording medium reading unit 10, the above-mentioned program is particularly used when the image communication apparatus of the present invention is a personal computer. By simply reading the recording medium fd on which the main destination and the sub destination are designated, the broadcast communication function can be provided.

[0022]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the image communication apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the broadcast communication can be easily performed by inputting the main destination and the sub destination. You can do it. According to the second aspect, the receiving side receives the image data to which the main destination and the sub destination are added, so that the destination other than the own device can be easily recognized.

According to the third aspect, it is possible to provide a function capable of easily designating a main destination and a sub destination and performing broadcast communication by simply causing an image communication apparatus such as a personal computer to read a recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the appearance of an operation unit and a display unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a basic operation of the image communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of image data received at each destination.

[Explanation of symbols]

 F: Facsimile apparatus 1: Main control unit 2: NCU 3: Modem 5: RAM 6: Display unit 7: Operation unit 7a: TO: key 7b ... CC: key 10: external recording medium reading unit fd: recording medium L: communication line

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A line connection unit having a function of connecting at least one line, an operation unit capable of inputting one or more main destinations and sub destinations, and a main destination and a sub destination input by the operation unit An image communication apparatus, comprising: a control unit that broadcasts image data to all of them via the line connection unit. 2. A line connection unit having a function of connecting at least one line, a storage unit storing one or a plurality of main destinations and sub destinations, and a main destination and a sub destination stored in the storage unit. On the other hand, an image communication apparatus comprising: a control unit that broadcasts image data to which a main destination converted to image data and a sub destination are added via the line connection unit. 3. A main destination and a sub destination converted to image data to one or a plurality of main destinations and sub destinations stored in a storage unit via a line connection unit having at least one line connection function. A recording medium readable by an image communication device, in which a program for realizing a function of broadcasting image data to which a destination is added is recorded.