JPS62163447A - Data transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the labor of an operator, and to raise the transmission efficiency by transmitting the information related to the transmission by adding it to an image data, when transmitting the image data to other image forming device. CONSTITUTION:A digital copying device 7 is under the management of a work station 6, and when communication is executed to other terminal through a network from the digital copying device 7, first of all, a receiving request is executed to a node 4 from the work station 6, and even when transmission is executed to the digital copying device 7 from other terminal, a transmission processing is executed through the work station 6. On the other hand, as for a digital copying device 8, since it is connected directly to a node 5, both transmission and reception are executed by itself. By adding a front page which has been generated by the work station 6, to an image which is read by the digital copying device 7, and transmitting it to the digital copying device 8, an operator's labor can be reduced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a data transmission system for exchanging image information between a plurality of image forming terminals, and particularly relates to a data transmission system in which a digital copying device is connected as an image forming device. It relates to a data transmission system in a local area network.

[Background Art] In recent years, interest in office automation (OA) has been increasing in order to improve office productivity and efficiency, and various OA devices have become popular. Moreover, in order to further increase the effect, mutual communication between OA devices is also possible by adding not only a function to the OA device as a standalone device but also a communication function and connecting it to a network.

Under these circumstances, various OA devices scattered within the premises are connected to the same network to create a network that is faster, cheaper, and more flexible than the public communications network using ordinary telephone lines. Networks (hereinafter referred to as LANs) are in the spotlight.

In the past, terminals connected to networks were mainly data terminals such as those found in online systems such as banks and railways, but now there are image terminals such as facsimiles, word processors, multi-function telephones, voice terminals, and even voice terminals. A wide variety of OA devices are emerging, including decoding terminals that combine . Along with this, application systems such as remote cash collection systems, e-mail systems, and electronic file systems have also been developed.

By the way, compared to analog copying machines called copying machines that have traditionally been used as equipment for handling image data, high-quality images can be formed at high speed, and the operation mode is similar to that of conventional copying machines. Recently, digital image forming apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as digital copying apparatuses) that handle original images as electrical signals have been attracting particular attention.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, if such a digital copying device is
When connecting to a fax machine and using it as an on-premises facsimile to send a document to a recipient, just as with facsimiles connected to general public telephone lines, you must inform the recipient of this in advance by telephone, etc., and confirm. If you are unable to directly witness the recipient or sender, please write it on a separate sheet of paper and add it to the manuscript as a cover before sending. This not only complicates the operator's processing when transmitting data 8, but also negates the advantages of configuring the LAN.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention solves the problems and reduces the labor of the operator when transmitting originals, and also reduces the time and cost required for transmission, and transmits images to the data transmission path. An object of the present invention is to provide a data transmission system that can maximize the advantages of a network in which forming devices are connected. In a data transmission system that includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses, the system is connected to an image forming apparatus, receives input of information related to the transmission of image data, and transmits image data to other image forming apparatuses. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that it includes means for adding and transmitting information to the image forming apparatus.

[Operations] In other words, according to the present invention, the operator simply inputs transmission-related information using the means, and when transmitting image data to another image forming apparatus, the information is transmitted to the image forming apparatus. Since it is added to the data and transmitted, it is possible to reduce the labor of the operator who performs the transmission process and improve the transmission efficiency.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the basic configuration of a network to which the present invention can be applied. Here, 1 is a transmission path for transmitting data, that is, a network, and the medium is, for example, 2
Line cable, dynamic axis cable, optical fiber cable, C
An ATV cable or the like can be used.

2 and 3 are transceiver units having a function of transmitting and receiving data to and from the transmission line l, and these transceiver units 2 and 3 can also modulate and demodulate data.

4 and 5 are communication control units (hereinafter referred to as nodes) that have, for example, a microcomputer, perform all network-related controls including the control shown in FIG. 2, and have an interface function with connected terminals. It is.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a workstation connected to the node 4, which includes an input device such as a keyboard, a display device such as a CRT, and a control unit that performs synthesis, editing, communication, etc. of characters, graphics, and other image data input using these devices. . Furthermore, a storage device such as a disk device using a floppy disk, hard disk, or the like as a storage medium may be provided to store and search data. In this example, this workstation is used to input and transmit information related to image data to be transmitted.

Further, 7 and 8 are digital copying devices. In this example, it is assumed that the digital copying device 7 is under the control of the workstation 6, and when communicating from the digital copying device 7 to another terminal via the network, first the data is received from the workstation 6 to the node 4. It is assumed that the transmission process is performed via the workstation 6 even when a request is made and transmission is performed from another terminal to the digital copying apparatus 7. On the other hand, since the digital copying device 8 is directly connected to the node 5, it is assumed that it performs both transmission and reception by itself.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a data transmission processing procedure in such a system configuration, and in this example, a case where image data is transmitted from the digital copying device 7 to the digital copying device 8 will be illustrated.

First, in step S2, it is determined whether or not image data is being communicated. Specifically, for example, it is determined whether the operator has made an input to communicate using the workstation (WS) a. Here, if the determination is negative, the digital copying apparatus 7 can be used as a stand-alone to perform a normal copying operation (local copying) in step S4.

On the other hand, when communicating, in this example, the display on the workstation 6 indicates whether or not to add a cover page (hereinafter referred to as a front page) with transmission information such as the destination, sender, date, and time. Displayed on the device and confirmed by the operator. In response to this, if the operator selects that the front page is not required, for example using the input key, a negative determination is made in step s6, and the process proceeds to step 510 and subsequent steps for image transmission.

On the other hand, if a selection input indicating that a front page is required is made, the workstation 6 executes the front page creation procedure of step S8.

This front page can be expressed in a wide variety of ways, and in that sense, installing workstations on the LAN means that the front page can be created in accordance with requests such as text and image composition, editing, graphic processing, etc. It is suitable for creating. Generally, when sending a message to a recipient by facsimile, etc., information such as the subject, addressee, sender, date and time of sending, number of sheets, etc. may be written on the front page. For example, suppose that the operator inputs information in an interactive manner and creates a front page F as shown in FIG. 3, for example. After completing the creation of the front page F in this manner, the process proceeds to step SIO.

In step 510, the workstation 6 makes a reception request to the node 4, specifying the other party. In response, in step 512, node 4 transmits a reception request command to node 5, which is the designated destination in this case, via network 1, based on the protocol (communication protocol). In response to receiving this command, the node 5 performs step S1
At step 4, a reception request is made to the connected digital copying device 8.

In response to this, the digital copying device 8 starts checking the failure location and preparing for reception (step 516). When the preparation is completed, transmission permission is given to the notebook 5 in step 518. As a result, node 5 performs step S2.
0, a response command for permission to send to the above-mentioned reception request command is transmitted to the node 4 based on the protocol. Then, in step S22, the node 4 transmits the transmission permission to the workstation 6.

Therefore, it is determined in step S24 whether or not a front page has been created, and if the determination is affirmative, step S2
At step 6, the workstation 6 transmits the front page data to the digital copying device 8, and the digital copying device 8 responsively outputs the image of the front page at step 528.

After the processing in step S28 is completed, or if a negative determination is made in step S24, the process proceeds to step S30, where the workstation 6 issues transmission permission to the digital copying device 7, and in step S32, the digital copying device 7 Send the image data to step S
At 24, digital copying device 8 outputs the image data.

Next, the process proceeds to step 536, and if the transmission of all originals has been completed, the process ends, and if the transmission is to be continued, the next original is set in step 538, and then step S3
Return to step 2 and repeat the following steps.

It goes without saying that error processing, failure processing, etc. can be provided in addition to the processing procedure shown in the second figure.

Through the above processing procedure, the front page created on the workstation 6 can be added to the image read by the digital copying device 7 and transmitted to the digital copying device 8.

In other words, according to this example, the front page is created while referring to the display device of the workstation, so there is no need for paper or writing utensils, and it is possible to edit, insert, correct, add, etc. one character, one image, one figure. Moreover, there is no need for complicated manual operations such as erasing and rewriting or cutting and pasting.

Additionally, if you create a front page on your workstation, if your workstation is equipped with a storage device such as a disk drive, you can store the front page or format on the storage medium so that it will be remembered for next use. It can be easily reused by simply changing or writing the front page or format.

Furthermore, since the workstation used in this example performs both front page creation processing and sending processing,
There is no need to create and print a front page on another workstation that is not connected to the network, read it with a digital copying device, and then send it. Front pages can be created and printed using only the internal processing of the workstation. This means that it will be possible to send

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the data transmission system of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the labor of the operator when transmitting a document, reduce the time and cost required for transmission, and transmit images to the data transmission path. The effect of maximizing the benefits of the network connecting the forming devices can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the basic configuration of a data transmission system, Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a data transmission processing procedure according to the present invention, and Figure 3 can be created and transmitted by the workstation in Figure 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the format of a front page. l...Data transmission path, 2.3...Transceiver unit, 4.5...Communication control unit (node), 6...Work station, 7.8...Digital copying device. Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) In a data transmission system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to a data transmission path and capable of mutually communicating data, an image forming apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus and associated with image data transmission. A data transmission system comprising means for receiving input information and, when transmitting image data to another image forming apparatus, adding and transmitting the information to the other image forming apparatus. . 2) The data transmission system according to claim 1, characterized in that the means has the form of a workstation that has an input means and a display means and performs composition and editing of at least characters, figures, and images. data transmission system. 3) In the data transmission system according to claim 1 or 2, the means transmits a title as the information before transmitting the image data from the connected image forming apparatus to another image forming apparatus. , a data transmission system characterized by transmitting data regarding the addressee, sender, date and time, and number of sheets sent as a cover page.