JPS63193667A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To mitigate an inconvenience imposing on the opposite side subscriber by providing an opposite terminal decision means and a re-dial termination control means, and terminating a re-dial in case a terminal equipment other than a facsimile equipment responds. CONSTITUTION:To a facsimile equipment with radial function, the opposite terminal decision means A and the re-dial termination control means B are provided. In case a call is made by using the re-dial function, the means A decide whether or not a prescribed facsimile control signal comes in from the opposite terminal after the responding from the opposite terminal. As a result, if the means A decides that there is no prescribed facsimile control signal coming, the equipment is returned to a waiting status by the means B, and a re-dial action thereafter is hung up. In such a way, the inconvenience imposing on the opposite side subscriber can be relieved, and the line can be effectively used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an improvement in a facsimile machine having a redial function.

(Prior Art) In recent years, with the promotion of office automation, facsimile machines have come into widespread use, and some of them are equipped with a redial function. This re-dial function sends a dial signal when the other party's phone number is entered by dialing, and monitors the status of the other party's terminal after sending the dial signal.If the other party's terminal is in a state where reception is not possible, If the caller is busy or there is no answer, the caller stops the ringing operation, returns to standby mode, stores the caller's phone number in memory, and automatically calls the caller based on the caller's phone number stored in this memory after a few minutes. The dial signal is sent out at the same time. Using a device with such a function eliminates the need for the operator to repeat the same dialing operation each time the other party is unable to receive a call, which is very convenient and saves operational effort.

However, conventional facsimile machines equipped with such a repeat dialing function do not only call when the other party's machine is busy or does not respond, but also when the call cannot be sent for some reason even if the other party responds. The device is configured to return to a standby state and re-dial a prescribed number of times at predetermined intervals. For this reason, for example, even if a call is made to a telephone instead of a facsimile machine due to an incorrect input of the operator's telephone number, the call will be made the specified number of times even though the other party is a telephone. As a result, the telephone subscribers are inconvenienced and the lines are used unnecessarily, which is very undesirable.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the conventional device unconditionally re-dials a specified number of times even if the other party is a terminal other than a facsimile machine. It's a nuisance,
Another problem is that the line is wasted, so the present invention focuses on this point and stops redialing when a terminal other than the facsimile machine responds. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile machine that can reduce the inconvenience caused and make effective use of lines.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) The present invention provides a facsimile machine having a redial function, which includes a partner terminal determination means A and a redial cancellation control means B as shown in FIG. When a call is made using the re-dial function, the partner terminal determining means A determines whether or not a predetermined facsimile control signal arrives from the partner terminal after the partner terminal responds. When it is determined that a predetermined facsimile control signal has not arrived, the re-dial cancellation control means returns to the standby state and cancels subsequent re-dial operations.

(Function) As a result, if the called destination is a terminal other than a facsimile machine, redialing is canceled, so if you ring a telephone due to a dialing error, for example, you will not be able to call the telephone unnecessarily in the future. This reduces the inconvenience caused to the other subscriber, and also reduces wasteful communication, making it possible to use the line more effectively.

(Actual Travel Example) FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a facsimile machine in an embodiment of the present invention. This device has a scanning section 1 for reading and scanning documents to be transmitted, and an image signal outputted from the scanning section 1 is encoded by an encoding section 2, and then passed through a control section 3 to a transmitting/receiving section 4.
has been introduced.

The transmitter/receiver 4 includes a modulation/demodulation circuit (MOD) 41 and a network control circuit (NCU) 42, and transmits the encoded image signal to the MCU.
After being modulated by the OD 41, it is sent from the NCU 42 to a line 5 such as a subscriber line as image data. In addition, 6 is the above NCL1
42, the telephone is connected to the line 5 alternatively to the facsimile main body side. On the other hand, when image data arrives from the communication partner device via the line 5, this image data is transferred to the NCU 4.
2, the received signal is demodulated by the MOD 41, and then introduced into the decoding section 7 via the control section 3, decoded by the decoding section 7 to reproduce an image signal, and this image signal is introduced into the recording/scanning section 8. I am trying to record it on recording paper.

The device also includes an operation panel 9 having an input section 91 with dial keys, function keys, etc. and a display section 92 such as a liquid crystal display, and a memory 10 consisting of a RAM. This memory 10 is used for abbreviated dialing registration and also for storing the other party's telephone number for redialing.

By the way, the control unit 3 has, for example, a microcomputer as a main control circuit, and in addition to control means for transmission/reception and reading/recording, it also has a redial control means 31 related to redialing as shown in FIG. It includes a determination means 32 and a re-dial cancellation control means 33.

After sending the dialing signal, the redial control means 31 first determines whether or not the other party's terminal is capable of receiving the dial signal, and if the terminal is unable to receive the signal, it temporarily returns the device to a standby state and stores the telephone number of the other party in the memory 10. The telephone number is stored in the memory 10, and a dial signal is sent out based on the telephone number of the other party stored in the memory 10 every time a predetermined period of time (for example, several minutes) elapses. The destination terminal determining means 32 monitors whether or not a predetermined facsimile control signal is sent from the destination terminal when the destination terminal responds, and determines from this monitoring result whether the destination terminal is a facsimile terminal or something else such as a telephone. This is to determine whether or not the terminal is a terminal.

The redial cancellation control means 33 determines that redialing is unnecessary and cancels the subsequent redialing operation when the other party terminal determining means 32 determines that the other party terminal is a terminal other than a facsimile terminal. .

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be explained according to the control procedure of the control section 3. In the standby state, the control unit 3
Step 4a and step 4b as shown in FIG.
Incoming call monitoring and outgoing call monitoring are carried out at step 4C, and it is further determined in step 4C whether the redial mode is set.

Now, in this state, when the operator operates the call key to send a facsimile and further inputs the telephone number of the other party using the dial key, the control unit 3 detects this in step 4b and shifts to call control. . That is,
After the DC loop of the line is closed by the NCU 42, as shown in FIG. 5(a), the telephone number of the other party is first inputted from the input section 91 in step 5a, and this telephone number is sent to step 5b.
Store some of the information in the buffer, and then select N in step 5C.
The dial signal sending circuit in the CLJ 42 is driven and controlled to send a dial signal corresponding to the above telephone number to the line 5. When the transmission of the dial signal is finished, the control unit 3 monitors the presence or absence of a response from the other party's terminal from the detection output of the polarity reversal detection circuit provided in the NCU 42 in step 5d, and also monitors the presence or absence of a response from the other party's terminal in step 5d. In step 5e and step 5f, it is determined whether the device is busy or being called, respectively. If the call is in progress, it is determined in step 5g whether a certain period of time (for example, about 20 seconds) has elapsed after the dial signal was sent. In this state, if the other party's terminal is busy or does not respond even if called for a certain period of time, the control unit 3 moves to step 5h, releases the DC loop of the line 5, and then steps 51 In step 5j, it is determined whether or not the redial mode is set, and if it is not set, in step 5j, the telephone number of the other party is temporarily stored in the buffer and transferred to a predetermined area in the memory 10 and stored therein.

Then, in step 5, the re-dial mode is set by setting a flag to 1'', for example, and then the process returns to the standby state.

When the redial mode is set, the control unit 3 monitors incoming calls and outgoing calls while on standby, and also monitors time in step 4d. When a certain period of time (for example, several minutes) has elapsed after returning to the standby state, the process moves from step 4d to step 4e as shown in FIG. 4, where the DC loop of line 5 is closed, and then step 4f The other party's telephone number is read from the memory 10, and a dial signal is sent out in step 4q. The re-dialing is then carried out, and after this re-dialing, the control section 3 moves on to monitoring the state of the other party's terminal in steps 5d to 5Q described above. If the other party's terminal does not respond to this call because it is busy or absent, the control unit 3 proceeds to step 5h.
Then, the DC loop of the line 5 is released, and since the redial mode has already been set in this case, the process moves to step 5°C, where the number of redials is counted up, and the system returns to the standby state. Note that the above re-dial control is repeated a prescribed number of times, for example, twice, until the partner terminal responds.

On the other hand, if the other party's terminal responds to the call before setting the redial mode or the call due to the redial, the controller 3 controls the process from step 5d to FIG. 5(b).
) The process moves to redial cancellation control shown in ( ). That is, the control unit 3 waits for a certain period of time (for example, about 30 seconds) in step 50.
While monitoring the time, the arrival of a special facsimile CED signal (21008Z) or a facsimile signal of a 300 bps HDLC frame sent from the other party's terminal is monitored in steps 5m and 5n, respectively. If the other party's terminal is a facsimile machine set to automatic reception mode, a CED signal of 2100H2, which is an initial identification signal, is first sent after the response. If the other party's terminal is set to manual reception mode, a facsimile signal of a 300 bps HDLC frame is sent when the other party's operator operates the receive button after answering the telephone. Therefore, when these signals are detected by, for example, the MOD 41, the control unit 3 determines that the other party's terminal is a facsimile machine and shifts to well-known facsimile transmission control.

On the other hand, if the other party's terminal is a telephone rather than a facsimile machine, the above-mentioned CED signal and 300 bps HDLC frame will not arrive from the other party's terminal. It is determined that it is a terminal, and the process moves to step 5p, where the DC loop of the line 5 is released, and then, in step 5q, a message is displayed on the display section 92 to the effect that the other party's terminal is not a facsimile machine. Then, in step 5r, the re-dial mode is reset to return to the standby state.

In this embodiment, if the other party's terminal is other than a facsimile machine, this will be recognized when the other party's terminal answers and the redial mode will be reset. Entered incorrectly,
As a result, if the telephone rather than the facsimile machine is called, redialing can be avoided. Normally, redialing is repeated several times until the fax can be sent to the other party, so if the other party's terminal is a telephone, the subscriber of this telephone will repeatedly receive incoming calls that cannot be made. Very annoying. However, with the device of this embodiment, such problems can be prevented and the inconvenience caused to the other subscriber can be reduced. Furthermore, since the problem of unnecessary line connections each time due to re-dialing is eliminated, it is possible to use the line more effectively. Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the other party's terminal is other than a facsimile machine, this is displayed on the display section 92 to notify the operator, so the operator can accurately determine the reason why transmission was not possible. can be known.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, if the other party's terminal is other than a facsimile machine, the line is simply disconnected.
The line may be disconnected after a voice synthesis circuit is used to send a voice message to the subscriber of the other party's telephone indicating that the call is a mistake. Further, in the above embodiment, the fact that the other party's terminal is other than a facsimile machine is visually displayed on the display unit 92, but at the same time, a sound is generated, a voice message is generated, and a warning list is created. It may also be output to the recording scanning section 8.

In addition, the configuration of the partner terminal determining means, the control procedure and control contents of the redial control means and the redial cancellation control means can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, when a call is made using the redial function, a predetermined facsimile control signal arrives from the other party's terminal after the other party's terminal responds by the other party's terminal determining means. When the destination terminal determining means determines that a predetermined facsimile control signal has not arrived, the re-dial abort control means returns to a standby state and cancels subsequent re-dial operations. By doing so, it is possible to cancel redialing when a terminal other than the facsimile machine responds, thereby reducing the inconvenience caused to the other party and providing a facsimile machine that can effectively utilize the line. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows the functions of the control section of the device. The functional block diagrams shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the control procedure and control contents of the control section shown in FIG. 3. A: Other party terminal determination means, B: Redial cancellation control means, 3: Control unit, 31: Redial control means, 32: Other party terminal determination means, 33: Redialing Abort control means, 4... Transmission/reception unit, 41... Modulation/demodulation circuit (MOD), 42... Network control circuit (NCU), 5
...Line, 6...Telephone, 9...Operation panel, 9
1... Input section, 92... Display section, 10... Memory. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Facsimile machine Figure 1

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a facsimile machine equipped with a re-dial function, when a call is made using the re-dial function, the other party's terminal determination determines whether or not a predetermined facsimile control signal arrives from the other party's terminal after the other party's terminal responds. and redial cancellation control means for returning to a standby state and canceling subsequent redialing operations when the destination terminal determining means determines that a predetermined facsimile control signal has not arrived. facsimile machine. (2) The redial cancellation control means returns to a standby state, cancels subsequent redialing operations, and notifies the operator to that effect when it is determined that a predetermined facsimile signal has not arrived. Claim No. 1
) Facsimile machine described in paragraph 2.