JPS6129260A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to complete transmission of picture reading speedily by receiving picture data transmitted from the other party and by recording them in a picture memory even if a thermal fixing means is taken under temperature proper to action. CONSTITUTION:When the transmission of a message is requested, the receiving side declares receiving function speedily. Simultaneously, when a control section 25 receives request of transmission of message, it sends a heater-on signal to a power controller 5 to energize the power supply to a thermal fixing device through a line 51. On one hand, when the transmitting side receives the receiving function, it gives a receiving command to transmit encoded picture data. When the control section 25 receives a sign of completion of transmission, it discriminates whether the primary heating is ended or not, and when it is ended, the confirmation of receiving message is sent back after performing a record of reproduction. When the recording is impossible because the primary heating is under way, the confirmation of receiving message is sent back, limiting the power OFF, sounding a speaker, turning an LED on, and keeping a decoder 24 and printer 3 not actuating.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to an image memory that can store received image data, and a printer that records and thermally fixes the image data read from the image memory onto paper. The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having a facsimile machine.

[Prior art] Early facsimile machines had a slow digital transmission speed and were single-function devices, so the image was read on the sending side, the encoded and transmitted image signal was immediately decoded and played back on the receiving side, and recorded as is in real time. was. This type of device is uneconomical because it requires constant power supply to the receiving device and must be ready for use at any time. Furthermore, even if the sending side requests data transmission immediately after the receiving side of this type of device is powered on, the sending side will not be able to send the image unless there are other circumstances such as the receiving printer being preheated and unable to record. There was an inconvenience that it was not possible to read and transmit data.

Advances in data compression technology in recent years have made it possible to transmit substantially large amounts of image information in a short period of time. Some receiving devices include
In order to solve the problem that the own reproducing/recording means cannot keep up with such a substantially large capacity of image input information, some devices are equipped with a considerable buffer image memory. but,
Even with recent advances in facsimile machines, significant progress has been made in terms of improving image quality, such as increasing pixel density and expressing halftones, but still, as mentioned above, the printer on the receiving side is still preheating. Regarding usage problems where the sending device cannot read and transmit images,
I don't see any improvement.

Specifically, the problems in use are as follows.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating a reception printing procedure of a conventional facsimile machine having an image memory. In the figure, the communication control procedure is such that when the image sending side issues a [transmission request], the receiving side declares the [receiving function].

The contents declared in [Transmission request] are the encoding method, document size, transmission speed, etc. of the sending side, and the contents declared in [Receiving function] are the encoding method, paper size, recording speed, etc. of the receiving side. The presence or absence of paper, etc. However, if the receiving device is in some kind of inoperable state at the time of receiving the [transmission request], the receiving inoperable state is indicated as the [receiving function].

The receiving inoperable state is, for example, a case where the thermal fixing temperature of the printer has not reached a predetermined value because the power of the receiving device has just been turned on, and the device is in a warm-up wait state. Since the sending device cannot send image data until the receiving device becomes operational, the sending device is either forced to wait for the receiving device to send data, or the sending device interrupts communication. .

[Purpose] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and its purpose is to transmit data even if the receiving facsimile machine is in a certain inoperable state. Receives and stores image reading data from the side device,
An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile device that can quickly complete image reading and transmission from a sending device.

Specifically, the receiving facsimile device receives and stores the image data from the sending device even if the thermal fixing means of the printer is below the operating temperature, and preferably receives the image data. The next objective is to provide a facsimile machine that can immediately disconnect the sending device and thereby quickly complete image reading and transmission by the sending device.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1(A) is a block diagram showing the configuration of a main receiving print path in a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Although not shown, the apparatus of this embodiment may be a so-called facsimile transmitting/receiving apparatus that further includes a document image reading section and a transmission control section for the read image data.

In the figure, 1, 1 is a data communication line, 2 is a control board equipped with a control unit, 3 is a printer unit using electrostatic recording heat fixing method, and 4 is a backup for a thermal fixing device (not shown) in printer unit 3. a temperature detection unit that detects the heating state; 5 a power controller that controls power supply and power supply timing to each part of the device;
Reference numeral 6 denotes an operation panel equipped with a power on/off switch for the main body of the apparatus and means for notifying various states.

Inside the control board 2, a functional block configuration for executing various functions is shown. 21 is a receiving circuit that receives communication control messages and encoded image data from the transmitting device;
2 is a transmitting circuit that transmits a response message to the transmitting side; 23
2 is an image memory that stores received encoded image data;
4 is a decoder that decodes encoded image data read out from the image memory 23, and 25 is a control unit 1 that centrally controls the entire apparatus. The control section 25 includes a ROM containing a program, a RAM necessary for control, a PIO for outputting control data, etc., and is mainly composed of a 1-chip CPU. Further, the decoder 24 is a device that decodes and reproduces encoded image data compressed and transmitted using, for example, a run-length method, and simultaneously performs a decoding test.

The printer unit 3 forms an electrostatic latent image on a charging drum using the reproduced image signal from the decoder 24, develops it by applying toner to it, transfers it to plain paper, and then thermally fixes it. It is a thermal fixing printer. Generally, it takes a certain amount of time for a thermal fixing device to reach a predetermined temperature after power is supplied, so the temperature detection section 4 detects the temperature of the thermal fixing device, and a determination signal indicating whether the temperature has reached a predetermined value is sent to the control section. 25, and is determined as a condition for starting printing.

Power controller 5 supplies power to printer section 3 via line 51 and to the remaining sections via line 52. In this case, the control board 2 is constantly supplied with power even when it is not printing because a [transmission request] may arrive from the sending side at any time. On the other hand, the thermal fixing device of the printer section 3 is not supplied with power to save power while printing is not being performed.

The operation panel 6 is the power on/off switch PS of the main body of the device.
W and various status notification means. The means of notification is
For example, an LED that visually or audibly informs the operator when certain conditions described below occur.
and a speaker. Also power on/off switch PSW
is an operation switch for turning on and off power to the entire device.

FIG. 1(B) is a circuit diagram of a configuration for controlling power on/off to the entire device, and is included in the power controller 5. In the figure, when PSW is turned on, the level of line 61 becomes HIGH due to pull-up resistor R.
becomes H, turns on the solid state relay SSR via the NOR' gate, and connects the AC input AC-I to the AC output AC-0. Further, when the PSW is turned to the OFF side, the level of the line 61 becomes LOW due to the contact between the contact and GND, and the SSR is turned OFF via the NOR gate, thereby cutting off the connection between AC-1 and AC-0. However, even in this case, while the control section 25 outputs a HIGH level through the line 252 due to a certain condition described later, the NOR
The gate output is kept at LOW level, and AC-I and AC-
There is no interruption between 0 and 0.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained below.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart illustrating the reception print procedure of the apparatus of this embodiment. When a [transmission request] is issued from the image sending side, the receiving side of this embodiment immediately declares a "receiving function" without checking for a certain inoperable state.

At the same time, when the control unit 26 receives the [transmission request], it sends a heater-on signal to the power controller 5 via the line 251, and energizes the power supply to the heat fixing device via the line 51. On the other hand, when the transmitting side receives the [receiving function], it sends out a [receiving command], and subsequently transmits [encoded image data]. When the control unit 25 receives the [reception command], it activates the writing of the image memory 23 via the line 253, and subsequently starts writing the received encoded image data. The writing is performed independently of the control unit 25 using DMA.

On the sending side, after sending [encoded image data], the C transmission ends]
Send. When the control unit 25 receives the message [END OF TRANSMISSION], it checks whether or not the heat fixing device is being preheated at this point. If preheating is still in progress, a [reception confirmation] is sent back to the transmitting side to notify that the encoded image data has been normally received, without operating the decoder 24 and printer section 3.

This point differs from the conventional example shown in FIG. That is, conventionally, a [receipt confirmation] is sent back after playback and recording.

This happens during playback and recording on the receiving side! This is to perform a decoding check on the image data using the encoder and return a [reception confirmation] as the ultimate confirmation including the presence or absence of errors. On the other hand, in the case of the apparatus of this embodiment as well, if the preheating has been completed at the time when it receives [Transmission Complete], it returns [Receipt Confirmation] after reproduction/recording in the same manner as in FIG. The state 1 in which preheating is completed at this point is a case where, for example, image printing is continued in response to continuous printing requests from the sending side. The above-mentioned differences in control depending on the state of preheating will be clarified by the explanation of the flowcharts described later.

Now, 3rd r! ! According to J, the transmitting side that has received the acknowledgment is released after transmitting ``end of communication''. You are also free to make new communications with other facsimile machines. On the other hand, even after receiving the [Communication End] message, the receiving device waits until the preheating of the heat fixing device is completed. When the preheating is completed and the printer section 3 becomes ready for recording, the control section 25 energizes the decoder 24 via line 254 and starts the printer section 3 via line 255.

The decoder 24 reads the encoded image data from the image memory 23, and while decoding and reproducing the encoded image data, the printer unit 3. The printer unit 3 outputs an image signal to the paper, and the printer unit 3 records the image signal on paper. When the recording is completed, the control section 25 sends a heater off signal to the inlet 251 to turn off the power supply to the thermal fixing device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the above-described received printing process performed by the control section 25.

In step 31, the process waits for a [transmission request] from the other party. When the [transmission request] is received, the process advances to step S2 and the heater of the thermal fixing device of the printer section 3 is turned on. Step S
In step 3, the [receiving function] is sent to the sending side. Step S4
Now wait for a [receive command] from the sending side. , [Receive command]
When the image memory 23 is accepted, the process advances to step S5 and the writing of the image memory 23 is activated.

In step S6, it waits for [end of transmission] from the sending side, for example, waits for the end of receiving encoded image data for one page. [
End of Transmission] Once the provisional reception is accepted, the process advances to step S7 and writing to the image memory 23 is disabled. In step S8, it is determined whether the preheating has been completed or not.

This determination is made by examining the signal from the temperature detection section 4. When the determination is YES, the preheating has been completed. As mentioned above, such a situation occurs when printing is performed continuously on a plurality of sheets of paper. The flow advances to step S9 to energize the decoder 24, and to start driving the printer unit 3 in step SIO. The encoded image data read out from the image memory 23 in this state is decoded by the decoder 24 and reproduced into an image signal. The image signal is sent to the printer section 3, and an image for one page is recorded on a sheet of paper. During this interval, the decoder 24 also checks for decoding errors. The control unit 25 executes step Sll and waits for the above-described series of recording operations to be completed. At the end of recording, it also determines whether or not a decoding error has occurred. Normally, the process ends normally when the data is decoded without error and reproduced and recorded, and the flow proceeds to step S12, where a [receipt confirmation] is sent. Step S1
In step 3, wait for [end of communication] from the sending side. [Communication ended]
When the receiver is removed, the process proceeds to step SL4, and the power supply to the heat fixing heater is cut off.

If the preheating is not completed in step S8, the process advances to step 515. Such a situation occurs when there is a one-off transmission request from the other party.

However, the other device is not made to wait at all.

In step 315, a [reception confirmation] is immediately transmitted. Although it is not known at this point whether a decoding error will occur later, such processing is originally permissible due to the redundancy of the image signal. Further, even if a decoding error is detected later and an abnormality is found in the recorded image, a retransmission request can be made using other appropriate communication means (telephone, etc.). In step S16, it waits for [end of communication] from the sending side. After the sending device sends [Communication End], the device is cleared. When the receiving side accepts [Communication End], it proceeds to step 517 and restricts power off. That is, the control section 25 thereby controls the line 2.
Since a HIGH level is output to the power controller 52, even if the operator subsequently turns the PSW to the OFF side, it will be ignored within the power controller 5 and the power will not be turned off. In step S18, the notification means is energized. When the receiver is unable to record image data because the heat fixing device is preheating, the device appears not to be operating, so it is necessary to notify the operator of this fact in some way. Specifically, a speaker is made to sound or an LED is turned on. However, the operator only needs to be aware of this, and thus no special operation is required, step S1.
At step 9, wait until the preheating is completed. When the preheating is completed, the process advances to step S20 and the decoder 24 is activated.

In step 521, driving of the printer section 3 is started, and in step S22, the process waits for the end of recording. When the end of recording is reached, the process proceeds to step 323, and the notification means is deactivated. This is because the image memory 23 no longer holds important data to be recorded. In step S24, the power off restriction is canceled.

If the operator has already turned the PSW to the OFF side, the power to the device will be automatically turned off. If not, step S
Proceed to step 24 and turn the heater of the heat fixing device to 0FFt'.

The flow then returns to step Sl, and waits for a [transmission request] from the other party's device.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, even if the heat fixing means of the receiving facsimile device is at a temperature below the operating temperature, image data transmitted from the receiving facsimile device can be received and stored in the image memory. Since the image is stored, the sending device can read and transmit the image without waiting.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(A) is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main receiving/printing path for a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(B) is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main receiving/printing path for a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. (Figure 2 is a timing chart explaining the reception print procedure of a facsimile machine with a conventional image memory, and Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of the configuration for controlling the image memory.)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the reception print processing performed by the control section. Here, 1... data communication line, 2... control board, 3... printer section, 4... temperature detection section, 5...
Power controller, 6...operation panel, 21...
Receiving circuit, 22... Transmitting circuit, 23... Image memory, 24... Decoder, 25... Control unit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) a communication control unit that performs data communication according to a predetermined communication control procedure; an image memory unit that stores received image data; and a printer unit that records the image data read from the image memory unit on paper; In the facsimile apparatus, the printer section includes a heat fixing means for thermally fixing a recorded image, and a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the heat fixing means, and the control section A facsimile device, wherein the facsimile device receives image data transmitted from the other party's facsimile device and stores it in the image memory section even if the fixing device has a temperature below its operating temperature. (2) The control unit, after receiving the image data and storing it in the image memory unit, immediately transmits a response signal indicating normal reception completion to the other party's facsimile machine. facsimile machine.