JPS63102536A - Picture communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the operator convenient by providing a means displaying information relating to a time till the end of recording output in recording and outputting received picture information stored in a storage means. CONSTITUTION:The received picture data is stored in a memory circuit 34 in either the G2 or G3 mode, a control section 44 counts a scanning line density, a reception line number, and a reception page number in case of the memory reception and stores the result in the internal memory. Thus, the control section 44 obtains the time required for the recording by a prescribed equation. Then the result of calculation is displayed on a display circuit 42. The calculation and display are executed for the reception of each line or each page. Thus, in recording and outputting the picture data stored, the operator checks the display of the display circuit 42 to recognize the time till the end of recording output to facilitate the schedule of job.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image communication device, and particularly to an image communication device having means for storing inputted information in a predetermined format and means for recording and outputting the stored information. It is something.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in communication devices such as facsimile machines,
2. Description of the Related Art Devices are known that include a memory for storing received image information. Early facsimile machines recorded and output the received image information sequentially, but as the cost of memory elements decreased, new technologies were introduced, such as installing large-capacity image memory and buffering the received image data to shorten communication time. technology is starting to be used. The image memory of the facsimile machine is also used to store received confidential image information and to prevent the image from being output unless a predetermined ID number or the like is input.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In applications where all of the transmitted image information is stored as described above, once the image memory becomes full, it will no longer be able to operate. A configuration is known in which the number of pages or the memory size occupied by the received data is displayed to prevent the reception operation from exceeding the storage capacity.

The amount of stored data displayed in this way can be used not only for memory capacity management, but also as a guideline for estimating the time it will take to record and output it. Even if the number of pages is displayed, the recording time will differ depending on the original size, and if the image data is encoded and compressed and stored, the recording time will also differ depending on the nature of the image information of the original. .

Therefore, with the conventional apparatus, it was not possible to accurately know the time required to record and output the stored information.

In particular, facsimile machines are not equipped with very high-speed recording devices, so if operators can accurately know the recording output time, they can plan their work and use their time more effectively. Conceivable.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an image processing system having means for storing received image information in a predetermined format and means for recording and outputting the stored image information. In the communication device, a configuration is adopted in which means is provided for displaying information regarding the time until the end of recording and outputting when the information stored in the storage means is to be recorded and outputted.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the operator can easily know the time required to record and output the stored information in the predetermined format.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an image communication device employing the present invention.
2. This figure shows the structure of a facsimile machine that can also be used in G3 mode.

In the figure, reference numeral 2a is a telephone line, and the NCU 2 is connected to this telephone line 2a. The NCU 2 switches the telephone line 2a between the facsimile device after the hybrid circuit 6 and the telephone set 4, maintains the loop, and controls connection to the telephone network.

NCU2 is connected to hybrid circuit 6 via signal line 2c. The NCU 2 is controlled by the control unit 44 through a signal line 44a. In NCU2, the signal line 44a is logic “O”
In this case, the line 2a is switched to the telephone 4 side, and when the signal line 44a is "1", the line 2a is switched to the facsimile machine side.

The hybrid circuit 6 is a circuit that separates transmitted and received signals and transmits them bidirectionally, and a transmitted signal and a received signal are input and output to this circuit via signal lines 22a and 6a, respectively. The transmitting circuit is configured as follows.

Reference numeral 22 denotes an adder circuit that adds the transmitted signals and provides them to the hybrid circuit, which connects the tonal signal transmitting circuit 8, V21 modulator 10 . A
M-PM-VSB modulator 14, CCITT recommendation V27t
A transmission signal is inputted via a modulator 20 compliant with er to V29.

The tonal signal sending circuit 8 is for transmitting various tonal procedure signals, and is connected to a signal line 44b.

44c. That is, when the signal line 44b becomes logic "1", a tonal signal is transmitted, and the frequency of the tonal signal output at that time is designated by the signal line 44c. “0” and “1” output to signal line 44c
, "2", "3", and "4", the tonal signal sending circuit 8 outputs 462.1080.1650.1850.
．． Outputs a 2100 Hz tonal signal.

The V21 modulator 10 converts the procedure signal input from the control unit 44 via the signal line 44d into CCITT recommendation v2 recommendation type 2.
The modulation is performed using the first modulation method.

The AM-PM-VSB modulator 14 modulates the image signal using the AM-PM-VSB modulation method, which is a standard modulation method in G2 facsimile.

The LV29 modulator 2o modulates the image signal in the G3 facsimile transmission mode. AM-PM-VSB modulator 14, and V
The use of the V.27ter or V2929c modulators 20 is determined by the control section 44 via the signal line 44e. That is, the modulators 14 to 2o are selected depending on whether the signal line 44e is "0", rlJ, or "2".

The transmitted original image information is read by a reading circuit 12 configured using a CCD line sensor or the like. The read image information is AM-PM-VSB in G2 mode.
The signal is applied directly to the modulator 14, but in the G3 mode, it is compressed by the encoding circuit 16 using a predetermined encoding method such as MH (modified Huffman) or MR (modified read), and then sent to the memory circuit via the signal line 16a. 18 or V27ter to V29 modulator 20.

The memory circuit 18 stores the encoded image data output to the signal line 16a, and is composed of a RAM or the like.

On the other hand, the receiving circuit connected to the hybrid circuit 6 is configured as follows.

The tonal signal detection circuit 24 detects a G2 facsimile procedure signal using a tonal signal.
When each tonal signal of 80.1650.1850.2100Hz is detected, "0", rlJ, "2",
Numerical values of "3", "4", and "5" (in the case of no detection) are outputted to the signal line 24a to notify the control unit 44 which tonal signal has been received.

The demodulator 26 performs a demodulation operation corresponding to the modulation method of the V21 modulator IO, and the demodulated procedural signal is output to the control section 44 via the signal line 26a.

The AM-PM-VSB demodulator 28 is the AM-PM-VSB demodulator 28
It performs a demodulating operation corresponding to the modulation method of the SB modulator 14, and the demodulated image signal is output to the encoding circuit 30 or the recording circuit 38 via the signal line 28a.

The demodulator 32 corresponds to the modulation method of the V27ter to V29 modulator 20, and the demodulated signal is sent to the memory circuit 34 or the decoding circuit 36 via the signal line 32a.
is input.

The memory circuit 34 is for storing image data demodulated by the recording circuit 38 and further encoded by the encoding circuit 30, or undecoded image data demodulated by the demodulator 32. The signal line 44f that controls the memory circuit 34 becomes "0" when the communication mode is 62, and becomes rlJ when the communication mode is 03. In response, the memory circuit 34 selects and stores the output data of the encoding circuit 30, V27ter, or V29 demodulator 32, respectively.

The decoding circuit 36 inputs the output of the demodulator 32 or the memory circuit 34 according to the control of the signal line 44g by the control unit 44, and performs a decoding operation of the MH or MR method. When the signal line 44g is "0", the decoding circuit 36 outputs the output signal of the demodulator 32 from the signal line 32a, and the signal line 44g is connected to rlJ.
In this case, the output of the memory circuit 34 is input from the signal line 34a.

The recording circuit 38 records the image data output from the AM-PM-VSB demodulator 28 or the decoding circuit 36 using a recording mechanism such as a thermal printer. Recording circuit 38
The recording start pulse for
given via i. Moreover, input signal switching is performed via the signal line 44h. When the signal line 44h is "0", the recording circuit 38 is the AM-PM-VSB demodulator 28.
When the signal line 44h is rlJ, the output of the decoding circuit 36 is input.

The operation unit 40 has a full keyboard, a numeric keypad, start, stop, and other function keys arranged on the operation panel, and input signals corresponding to operations on the operation unit 40 are transmitted via signal lines 40a to 40c. and is input to the control section 44. The signal line 40a has letters from rAJ to “
The output of the alphabet key corresponding to "Z" is output on the signal line 40b, the output of the numeric keypad from "0" to "9", "book", "#" etc. is on the signal line 40c, and the start key,
The output of the stop key and other function keys are output respectively.

The display circuit 42 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display disposed on the operation panel of the operation unit 40 or other parts of the device, and in this embodiment, displays information on the time required to record and output the image data stored in the memory. used for

The control unit 44 is composed of a microprocessor, a control memory, and the like, and controls the operation of each part of the device according to a predetermined program.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained in detail.

In the above configuration, G2. The received image data can be stored in the memory circuit 34 in any mode of G3, but the control unit 44 calculates the scanning line density, the number of received lines, and counts the number of received pages p during this memory reception operation. and store it in internal memory.

By storing the above data, the control unit 44 can calculate the time T required for recording using the following equation.

”r=(L@t+p・α) Here, α is the time required to eject or cut the recording paper for each page, and t is the minimum processing time depending on the scanning line density such as standard or fine. (transmission) time.

Therefore, if calculation is performed using the above equation during the recording operation, the time required to complete recording can be displayed. The display of the recording time can be calculated and rewritten according to the progress of the recording operation. For example, by decreasing the value of L and recalculating each time one line is recorded, the time required from that point to the end of recording can be displayed.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the control procedure of the control section 44 during image reception or image recording will be explained in detail.

First, in a standby state before starting reception, the control unit 44 sets the signal line 44a to "0" in step S2 of FIG.
Switch U2 to the telephone side.

In step S3, it is determined whether a memory reception mode in which the received image information is stored in the storage medium, that is, the memory circuit 34, is selected. This determination is made by the signal line 40a
This can be done by checking the output of the operation unit 40 through 40c. The above reception mode can be specified when receiving confidential image information.

If the memory reception mode is specified in step S3, the process moves to step S4, the signal line 44a is set to "1", and the NC
Switch U2 to the facsimile side.

Next, in step S5, a pre-communication procedure is performed prior to image reception, here G2. The communication mode such as G3, the scanning line density such as standard or fine mode, the communication speed, etc. are determined. For transmitting and receiving procedure signals in this pre-communication procedure, a tonal signal sending circuit 8, a tonal signal detecting circuit 24 (G2 mode), a V21 modulator 10, a V2
A procedural signal transmitting/receiving circuit such as a demodulator 26 (G3 mode) is used.

Next, in step S6, facsimile images are received according to the communication conditions determined in step S4. At this time, the scanning line density, the number of received lines, and the number of pages are sequentially counted, and calculations are made based on the grant. The display circuit 42
to be displayed. Calculation and display operations are performed for each line received.
Alternatively, it may be performed every time one page is received.

The data necessary for calculating the recording output time is stored in a memory within the control unit 44 so that it can be displayed not only at the time of reception but also at the time of recording and output, which will be described later.

In the image receiving operation in step S6, the received image data is stored in the memory circuit 34.

In the G2 mode, image data demodulated by the AM-PM-VSB demodulator 28 is encoded by the encoding circuit 30 and input to the memory circuit 34. Furthermore, in the G3 mode, the undecoded output of the V27ter or V29 demodulator 32 is input to the memory circuit 34. The input switching of the memory circuit 34 is performed by the control section 44 via the signal line 44f as described above. The memory circuit 34 has G2. Since encoded data is stored in any mode of G3,
The memory capacity is quite small.

When the receiving operation is completed, a post-communication procedure is performed in step S7 to cut off the line connection, and the process returns to the standby state in step S2.

On the other hand, if step S3 is negative, step S8
to move to. In step S8, the output of the operation unit 40 is read to determine whether or not a command has been input to the memory circuit 34 to designate the recording output of the received image data that has been fertilized. If recording output is not specified, step S3
loop to.

If step S8 is affirmative, the recording circuit 38 records and outputs the received image data stored in the memory circuit 34 in step S9.

At this time, the display circuit 42 displays and outputs the time required for recording output. The calculation procedure at this time is the same as in step S6 above, and the time until the end is rewritten according to the progress of the recording operation.

In the above recording output operation, the received image data is stored as is in the memory circuit 34, so if the recording paper size of the recording circuit 38 is smaller than the stored image size, for example, the stored image data B4,
When the recording paper size of the recording circuit 38 is A4, the image data must be thinned out and reduced during recording.Reduction from B4 to A4 involves thinning out one line every five scanning lines, and also thinning out one line out of every five scanning lines. This is done by deleting one bit for each bit. In this case, the amount of information in the image data is 415
The time required to record and output line data also decreased to 41
It becomes 5. Therefore, when reducing the image size from B4 to A4 for recording and output, the above formula can be changed to T = ('4/5 L @t + p・α). Or, when enlarging the image, by making a corresponding correction, the display circuit 42 can always display the correct recording output time.

As described above, when recording and outputting stored image data, the operator can check the display on the display circuit 42 to know the time until the end of recording and outputting, and can easily make a work plan. Therefore, the utilization efficiency of the device can be greatly improved.

The recording output time displayed on the display circuit 42 is “12 more
It may be displayed in a subtractive manner, such as "minutes," or if the device has a built-in clock IC, the scheduled recording output end time may be displayed. The display may be prohibited using a switch or the like.

In the above embodiment, R is used as a storage means for the received image data.
Although a memory element such as an AM is exemplified, a storage means such as a magnetic disk device may also be used.

The above configuration is not limited to facsimile machines, but can be applied to various image communication devices.

[Effects] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, in an image communication apparatus having means for storing received image information in a predetermined format and means for recording and outputting the stored image information,
When recording and outputting the information stored in the storage means, the configuration includes means for displaying information regarding the time until the end of the recording and outputting, so that when recording and outputting the stored image data, there is no need to operate By checking the displayed information on the recording output time, the operator can know the time until the recording output ends, and can easily make a work plan, which is an excellent tool that can greatly improve the efficiency of using the equipment. effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a facsimile machine employing the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the control section of FIG. 1. 2...NCU 18.34...Memory circuit 28...AM-PM-VSB demodulator 30...Encoding circuit 32...-V27ter or V29 demodulator 36...
Decoding circuit 38...recording circuit 40...operation unit
42... Display circuit 44... Control section

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an image communication device having a means for storing received image information in a predetermined format and a means for recording and outputting the stored image information, when the information stored in the storage means is recorded and outputted, there are An image communication device characterized by comprising means for displaying information regarding time.