JPS59110270A - Facsimile device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To receive a picture securely even without any operator by performing switching automatic answer mode once detecting reception at more than a specific frequency when a device is set in automatic answer mode. CONSTITUTION:When a call signal appears on a circuit L while a switch 101 is set in manual mode, a clock is supplied to an FF 104 by the output of a call signal detection part 2, and consequently a signal CIF is outputted from the FF 104 to a system control part 3. The control part 3 checks the output of the FF 104 to reset the FF 104 when the output of the FF 104 is (1), and then checks the output of an FF 103. When the switch 101 is set in automatic mode, the output of the FF 104 is checked again, for example, four seconds later. In this case, if said call signal is inputted yet, the FF 104 is set again, so said operation is repeated. Thus, when the decision that the call signal is inputted ten times is made, forcibly switching to the automatic answer mode is performed.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to facsimile machines, and more particularly to facsimile machines having automatic and manual response switching functions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a switching circuit between automatic response and manual response in a conventional facsimile machine.

In the figure, reference numeral T1T2 indicates a connection terminal, and a telephone T is connected to this connection terminal TIT2. In addition, connection terminal L1. A telephone line is connected to L2.

The telephone line is connected to the transmitting and receiving signals through two circuits of relays CML. It can be switched to either the connection terminal TIT3 or the calling signal detection section 2.

Signal input and signal output to the call signal detection section 2 can be switched on and off by a relay 5' controlled by an automatic to manual changeover switch 5 provided on an operation panel or the like. The output of the call signal detection section 2 is inputted to the system control section 3 and the power source starting section 4 via this relay 5'.

The system control section 3 has a control line for the aforementioned relay CML, and is configured to control the relay CML via this control line.

Normally, relay CM'L is connected to the upper connection terminal TIT in the diagram.
2 side, and the telephone line and telephone T are connected. At this time, if the selector switch 5 is set to the "manual" side on the right side in the figure, the relay 5' opens, thereby connecting the telephone line and fax IJ.
The device becomes completely disconnected.

Conversely, the changeover switch 5 is also input to the "automatic" section 2 on the left side of the figure.

If the selector switch 5 is set to "manual",
A call from the other party is received by the telephone T, and when the operator picks up the receiver and presses a reception button (not shown) according to the instructions of the operator on the other party, the system control unit 3 enters the image reception control state. Then, the relay CML is switched to the lower side in the figure, and the telephone line is connected to the transmitting/receiving section 1. At the same time, the power is turned on by the power starting section 4, and the transmitting/receiving section 1 is turned on.
starts receiving images.

When the changeover switch 5 is set to "auto", the calling signal detector 2 is connected to the telephone line as described above, so the call from the other party is detected by the calling signal detector 2.
As a result, the system control section 3 shifts to the reception control state, and image reception is thereafter performed in the same manner as in the "manual" case.

Conventional response circuits were configured as described above, so if an operator leaves the changeover switch 5 set to "manual" and leaves it unattended, the next time he tries to send a document to the same receiver, the device will not work properly. The drawback was that the line would not connect unless someone was nearby, making it impossible to send or receive data.

Purpose The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional devices, and provides a facsimile device that can reliably receive images even when unattended, regardless of the state of the automatic to manual changeover switch. The purpose is to provide

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on examples shown in the drawings. However, in the following drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts as in FIG. 1, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the configuration before the calling signal detection section 2 is the same as the conventional example shown in FIG. On the other hand, there is a device between the call signal detection section 2 and the system control section 3, which is mainly composed of flip-flops.Here, the reference numeral 101 indicates a momentary switch, for example, a push button type switch.
One side of 01 is grounded, and the other side is connected to the clock input of flip-flop 103 via chattering prevention circuit 102. Here, the chattering prevention circuit 102 is a conventional one consisting of a resistor, a capacitor, and a Schmitter trigger.

The non-inverting output terminal of the flip-flop 103 is connected to the system control section 3, and at the same time, the relay 5' is controlled by this output. On the other hand, the inverting output terminal of the flip-flop 103 is connected to its own D input.

In the present invention, the input terminal of the calling signal detection section 2 is directly connected to the contact point of the telephone T and the relay CML via a DC component cutting capacitor 109, and its output is connected to the clock input of the power supply starting section 4 and the flip-flop 104. connected directly to.

A high level is input to the D input of the flip-flop 104, and its non-inverted output is connected to the system control unit 3.

The above flip-flops 103 and 104 are supplied with power supply voltage from the system control section 3 and are reset by the system control section 3.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In the configuration of FIG. 2, when the switch 101 is pressed, the flip-flop]0
3 outputs high level and low level alternately. The system control unit 3 determines the setting of the switch 101 by observing the output of the flip-flop 103. However, in the case of "manual" at this time,
It is assumed that the flip-flop 103 outputs a high level. Also, the relay 5' is also connected to this flip-flop 103.
It is opened and closed by the output of

Suppose now that a calling signal as shown in FIG. 3(a) appears on the line. In a normal state, relay CML is connected to the upper side in FIG. However, this call signal is 1 second long and 2
It is a normal one that intermits every second.

When the calling signal detection section 2 detects the calling signal, it generates a digital signal as shown in FIG. 3(b). As a result, the power starting section 4 turns on the power of each section necessary for image reception, and from this point on, the control of the system control section 3 shown in FIG. 4 is started.

Assuming that the power supply is activated by a call signal as described above, and the switch 101 is set to manual, the output of the call signal detection section 2 causes a flip-flop, and as a result, as shown in FIG. A signal CIF as shown in C) is output from the flip-flop 104 to the system control section 3.

In step S1 of FIG. 4, the system control unit 3 checks the output of the flip-flop 104, and if the activation is due to a call signal, the output of the flip-flop 104 is 1, so the process moves to step 82 and subsequent steps. If the output of is 0, step S
Move on to step 8 and search for other activation factors. Here, step S8
The reason why this function is provided is to perform these operations, for example, when the apparatus is provided with an original copying function in addition to image communication.

Next, in step S2, the flip-flop 104 is reset, and then the process moves to step S3, where the output of the flip-flop 103 is checked. As mentioned earlier, switch 1
If 01 is set to "manual", the process moves to step S9, and after waiting for 3 seconds, the process moves to step S10, where the output of the flip-flop 104 is checked again. As mentioned earlier, if a call signal as shown in FIG.
It is determined whether the operations 9 to 811 have been repeated 10 times or not, and the process returns to step S9.

The above loop of steps 89 to 812 is for checking whether a calling signal of a predetermined length has been input 10 times at a predetermined interval. If the call signal is cut off after 10 times or less, the process is terminated as indicated by symbol A, and the power is turned off.

If it is determined that the calling signal has been input 10 times in the above step, the process moves to step 813, resets the flip-flop 103, connects the relay 5' to the lower side in FIG. 2, and forces automatic response. Switch to .

Next, the process moves to step 814, where a flag indicating that the "manual" setting has been forcibly switched to "automatic" is set.

Next, the process moves to a loop of steps 815 to 817, and the presence or absence of a calling signal from the other party is checked. First step 815
Then, a 15-second timer for addition or subtraction is set, and then, in step S16, the output of the calling signal detection section 2 is observed. If the output of the calling signal detection unit 2 is not O in step S15, that is, if no calling signal has been received, the process moves to step S17, and the count value of the previous 15 second timer is checked, and if the duration of this loop is long enough. time,
If the operator does not pick up the phone (for example, for one minute), the process returns to step S15.

In step 816, if the calling signal has been received, the process moves to step 818, where the relay CML is switched to the lower side in the figure, and the process moves to step 819, where image transmission and reception are performed using a known procedure. Next, the process moves to step S20, and the state of the flag indicating the switching from "manual" to "automatic" is checked.

In step S20, this flag is set to 1, that is, the forced "
If switching from "manual" to "automatic" has been performed, the process moves to step S21, where the flip-flop 103 is set, and at the same time, the flag is reset to return the reception mode to "manual". If the flag is O, the power is immediately cut off.

The above operation is performed when the switch 101 is set to "manual", but if it is set to "automatic", the process moves from step S3 to step S4.

After holding for 1 second in step S4, the process moves to step S5, and a determination loop similar to steps 815 to 817 described above is entered. First, in step S15, the aforementioned 15 second timer is set, and then, in step S6, the calling signal is activated. Check for presence.

If the calling signal has not been received, step S7
Go to and check the count value of the 15 second timer. If 15
If the seconds have not elapsed, the process returns to step S6 and checks again for the presence or absence of a call signal. If a call signal is input in step S6, the process moves to step 818, and the same image transmission and reception operations as described above are performed.

In this case, the flag indicating the previous forced switching is not set, so after the transmission/reception is completed, the process moves directly from step 820 to power-off.

As described above, image transmission and reception can be performed reliably even when the apparatus is left unattended and left with manual response.

In the above embodiments, the automatic to manual switching means is constituted by a momentary switch and a flip-flop, but it may be constituted by an alternate switch. In this case, the relay 5' is controlled by the system control section.

Effects As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, in a facsimile machine having a switching function between automatic answering and manual answering, if the facsimile machine is set to manual answering, the facsimile machine receives a ringing signal consecutively for a predetermined number of times or more. The configuration includes a means for detecting this, and a means for forcibly switching the manual response setting to automatic response using this detection means, so even if the device is unattended, the state of the automatic to manual changeover switch can be changed. It is possible to provide an excellent facsimile device that can reliably transmit and receive images regardless of the situation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the main parts of a conventional facsimile machine having a manual to automatic response switching function, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of main parts of the facsimile machine of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the main parts of the facsimile machine of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of control of the system control section of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. ■...Transmission/reception section 2...Call signal detection section 3...System control section 4...Power starting section 5', CML...Relay 101...Switch 10
3.104...-Flip-flop L...Line
T...Telephone patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a facsimile machine having an automatic answering mode and a manual answering mode and having means for switching between these modes, means is provided for detecting that a ringing signal has been received a predetermined number of times, and when the facsimile machine is set to the manual answering mode, The facsimile apparatus is characterized in that when the detecting means detects that reception has been received a predetermined number of times or more, the switching means forcibly switches to an automatic response mode.