JPS61283265A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain quick fault recovery by adding a self-diagnosis circuit, an opposite station selection signal generating circuit and an error message generating circuit so as to inform the fault result of the self-diagnosis automatically to a maintenance agency of a maintenance center. CONSTITUTION:When the result of diagnosis shows a fault, a self-diagnosis circuit 1 starts the opposite station selection signal generating circuit 4, which generates the telephone number of a maintenance agency registered in advance in a form of a dial pulse signal or a PBMF signal and sends the selection signal to a line 9 via a network control section 8. The self-diagnosis circuit 1 starts the circuit 4 and informs the state of fault to an error message generating circuit 5, which generates an error message in response to each faulty state when the faulty state is informed. The generated error message is processed to a proper form to be sent to the line 9 by a communication control section 6, a modulation-demodulation section 7 modulates the carrier by using the signal and the result is sent to the line 9 through the network control section 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a facsimile device that performs communication using a network such as a subscriber telephone network.

Concerning means of transmitting self-diagnosis results.

2. Description of the Related Art [Prior Art] Recently, facsimile machines that perform self-diagnosis such as a memory test are beginning to appear. This type of facsimile machine automatically performs a self-diagnosis when the power is turned on and displays the results.

In many cases, information was communicated to users by displaying it on light emitting diodes, liquid crystal display boards, etc.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above-mentioned facsimile machine only displays the self-diagnosis results, so if the self-diagnosis results are abnormal and the fault cannot be recovered by the user, the user can contact the maintenance company by phone or other means. There was the inconvenience of having to inform the staff that this had occurred. Furthermore, in this case, it was often difficult to convey the correct details of the failure to the maintenance company.

[Means for solving problems]

The facsimile apparatus of the present invention includes means for performing self-diagnosis when the power is turned on or every predetermined period of time has elapsed after the power is turned on, and when the self-diagnosis result is abnormal.

Identification (ID) on the network of the maintenance company, etc. that has been registered in advance
) number, that is, a partner station selection signal, means for generating an error message in response to the abnormal condition, and means for sending the error message to the line.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine connected to a subscriber telephone network.

The self-diagnosis circuit 1 is activated every time the power switch 2 is turned on or after a predetermined time period set by a timer 3 has elapsed after the power switch 2 is turned on.

Diagnoses various hardware and firmware, including memory checks of each part. When activated by the self-diagnosis circuit 1, the partner station selection signal generation circuit 4 outputs the pre-registered telephone number of the maintenance company in the form of a dial pulse signal or a PBMF signal (button button multifrequency signal). Occur.

When the error message generating circuit 5 is notified of the abnormal state of the diagnosis result from the self-diagnosis circuit 1, it generates an error message corresponding to each abnormal state. The means for sending this message to the line 9 are the communication control section 6, the modulation/demodulation section 7, and the network control section 8.
Provided by.

The communication control unit 6 processes the error message into a form suitable for sending it to the line 9. The modulation/demodulation section 7 modulates the carrier wave with a baseband signal that is the output of the communication control section 6 .

The network control section 8 is an interface section with the two lines 9, and all input/output signals of the two lines 9 pass through this block.

The image signal processing section 10 includes a document reading section and a reception recording section.

It consists of an encoding/decoding section, etc. 2 During normal document transmission/reception, signals on the line are input/output to this block through a modulation/demodulation section 722 and a communication control 6. In this case, the communication control unit 6
When transmitting, the image signal data is processed into a form suitable for sending to line 9, and when receiving, it operates to return the signal received from line 9 to its original form. In addition, the modulation/demodulation section 7
modulates the image signal data during transmission, and demodulates the modulated image signal data during reception.

Next, the operation of the circuit will be explained step by step.

Power switch 2 of this facsimile machine is turned on.

Alternatively, every time a predetermined time set by a timer 3 elapses after the power switch 2 is turned on, the self-diagnosis circuit 1 is activated to diagnose various hardware and firmware including memory checks of each part. If the diagnosis result is normal.

The device becomes ready for transmission and reception. If the diagnosis result is abnormal, the self-diagnosis circuit 1 activates the partner station selection signal generation circuit 4. When activated by the self-diagnosis circuit 1, the partner station selection signal generation circuit 4 sends a pre-registered maintenance company's telephone number to a dial-no-mail signal or a P.
This selection signal is generated in the form of a BMF signal, and is sent to the line 9 through the network control section 8.

The self-diagnosis circuit 1 activates the partner station selection signal generation circuit 4 and at the same time notifies the error message generation circuit 5 of the abnormal state. The error message generation circuit 5 is
When notified of an abnormal condition, the following steps are carried out according to each abnormal condition.
Generate a message. The generated error message is processed by the second communication control section 6 into a form suitable for transmission to the line 9.

The modulator/demodulator 7 modulates the carrier wave with the signal, and the signal is transmitted to the line 9 via the network controller 8. Although not shown in the diagram, the 9 signals need to be sent after line 9 is connected to the other station, so there is actually a circuit that detects the connection response signal issued by the other station, and this circuit after detecting a connect signal.

Send this signal to the other station.

Also, although not shown in Figure 2, on the maintenance company's terminal,
When an error message is received, the error message is displayed on the console or printed out, and a buzzer etc. is used to notify maintenance personnel that a failure has occurred.

In addition, although the case in the subscriber telephone network is shown in the second embodiment, the same applies to the case of a packet network, etc., in which the partner station selection signal generation circuit places the partner terminal number on the bucket instead of the dial pulse signal or PBMF signal. Only the places are different.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, two examples are shown in the case of a failure.

The self-diagnosis circuit checks the remaining amount of toner and recording paper, and checks this every morning when the power is turned on, or at a fixed time every day, once a week, or once a month.

A maintenance company or maintenance center may be notified.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention adds a partner station selection signal generation circuit and an error message generation circuit to the self-diagnosis circuit, so that when the self-diagnosis result is abnormal, it is automatically transmitted to the maintenance company or maintenance company. This allows the maintenance company or maintenance center to accurately understand the abnormal condition.

This has the effect of allowing prompt failure recovery activities.

In addition, it would be possible to automatically notify the maintenance company/maintenance center of the amount of toner and recording paper remaining, not only in the event of a failure, but also every morning when the power is turned on, or at a fixed time every day. Another effect is that service activities can be carried out.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. 1... Self-diagnosis circuit, 2... Power switch, 3...
・Timer, 4... Partner station selection signal generation circuit, 5...
・Error message generation circuit, 6...communication control section,
7... Modulation/demodulation unit, 8... Network control unit, 9... Line,
10... Image signal processing section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Means for performing self-diagnosis at power-on or every predetermined time period after power-on, means for generating a partner station selection signal when the self-diagnosis result is abnormal, and an error corresponding to the abnormal state. - A facsimile machine characterized by having means for generating a message and means for transmitting the error message onto a line.