JPS63316560A - Control system for facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily setup a receiving time at a foreign destination in case of transmitting picture information to the destination by referring a time difference storing means to change a set transmission specification time. CONSTITUTION:A time difference storing part 2 is referred by using a destination telephone number as an address under control based upon a system control part 1 in accordance with the depression of a start key and its corresponding time difference is read out. The set transmission specification time at the time of a foreign time specified transmission mode is automatically changed and transmitted in accordance with the time difference. In case of transmitting picture information to a foreign destination, the receiving time at the destination can be easily and surely set up.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field] The present invention relates to a control method for a facsimile machine.

[Prior Art] In recent years, facsimile machines equipped with various useful transmission functions have been put into practical use, one of which is a time-specified transmission function.

This time-specified transmission function transmits image information to a specified destination at a specified time.If you use this time-specified transmission function, for example, you can transmit image information at night when communication charges are low, or when transmitting image information overseas. It is possible to transmit image information to a destination in time for the start of work at that destination.

Now, when you try to send image information to an overseas destination, there is a time difference. For example, if you want the destination to receive image information at 9 a.m., you need to take the time difference into account when setting the specified sending time. Must be set.

For this reason, conventionally, there has been an inconvenience that it takes a lot of time and effort to set the time.

[Purpose] The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the inconveniences of the prior art, and provides a transmission method for facsimile machines that allows easy setting of the reception time at the destination when transmitting image information to an overseas destination. The purpose is to provide

[Configuration] In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes a time difference storage means that stores the relationship between a telephone number and a time difference, reads out time difference information corresponding to the input destination telephone number from the time difference storage means, and sets the time difference information. The specified transmission time is changed based on the read time difference information. Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a system control unit 1 controls the entire facsimile machine, a time difference table storage unit 2 stores a time difference table that shows the relationship between telephone numbers and time differences, and a clock circuit 3 stores the current time. It is for outputting .

The scanner 4 is for reading a transmitted original at a predetermined resolution, and the plotter 5 is for recording and outputting a received image at a predetermined resolution.

The operation display section 6 is for operating the facsimile machine, and the image memory 7 is for storing image information in an encoded and compressed state.

The encoding/decoding unit 8 encodes and compresses the transmitted image signal number, and decodes the received image information into the original image signal.
The communication control unit 9 is for executing a predetermined facsimile transmission control procedure to transmit images to the other party, and the modem 10 can use a public telephone line, which is an analog line network, as a transmission line. The network control unit 11 is for connecting the facsimile machine to the public telephone line network.

Note that this network control device 11 has an automatic call originating and receiving function.

Also, a system control unit 1, a time difference table 2, a clock circuit 3
, scanner 4, plotter 5, operation display section 6, image memory 7, encoding/decoding section 8, communication control section 9, modem 10, and network control device 11 exchange data with each other via a system bus 12. are doing.

The time difference table storage unit 2 stores a time difference table as shown in FIG. This time difference table consists of the country code TN of the international telephone number and the time difference TD between the standard time of each country based on Japan Standard Time. Also,
If multiple standard times are set for one country, for example, the country code is extended to the area code set to identify the region within that country, and the standard time corresponding to each area code is used. Similar information is stored about.

An example of the operation display section 6 is shown in FIG.

In the figure, a start key 61 is used to start a sending operation, a receiving operation, etc., a stop key 62 is used to stop an operation in progress, and a numeric keypad 63 is used to enter numerical data such as a telephone number. The telephone key 64 is for specifying input of a telephone number from the numeric keypad 63, and the clear key 65 is for inputting a telephone number.
is for clearing numerical values etc. inputted immediately before using the numeric keypad 63.

The character display device 66 is for displaying character string information such as operation guidance messages and warning messages.
The ES key 67 and the NO key 68 are used to enter a YES/NO response to the content displayed on the character display 66, and the mode key 69 is used to select various operation modes such as time-specified transmission mode and image storage mode. This is for specifying.

With the above configuration, when transmitting an image to an overseas destination by specifying the time at which the destination receives the image information (this transmission mode is referred to as overseas time specified transmission mode), the operator of the facsimile machine first sends the image to the scanner 4. With the original to be transmitted set, the mode key 69 is used to set the overseas time designated transmission mode.

As a result, the system control section 1 displays a guidance message such as "Please set the reservation time for the destination" on the character display 66 of the operation display section 6, and prompts the operator to input the reservation time at the destination. Process 101; see FIG. 4).

In response to this guidance message, the operator enters the reservation time using the numeric keypad 63, and after confirming the input, the operator is prompted with the message ``Please set the recipient's phone number.''
etc. is displayed on the character display 63, and the operator is prompted to input the destination telephone number (process 1).
02). At this time, the international prefix number, country code,
Then, the user is prompted to input the domestic numbers separated by the "I" key on the numeric keypad 63. Furthermore, if the domestic number is further divided into several parts, "ne" is inserted between them.

When the operator inputs the destination telephone number 5 using the numeric keypad 63 in response to this guidance message, the country code of the input telephone number is identified after confirming the input. Then, the time difference table stored in the time difference table storage unit 2 is searched using that country code, and the corresponding time difference TD is determined.
103), and converts the input reservation time to Japan Standard Time based on the time difference TD (process 1).
04).

Then, when the operator turns on the start key 61 to command the start of transmission, the system control unit 1 checks whether the image information storage mode is set at that time (determination 105), and if it is set, The scanner 4 reads the image of the transmission document set, the read image signal is encoded and compressed by the encoder/decoder 8, and then stored in the image memory 7 (processing 106), and the image signal is stored at the scheduled time. (NO loop of judgment 107). Further, when the result of the judgment 105 is No, the process jumps to the process 106 and proceeds to the judgment 107.

When the reserved time is reached and the result of the judgment 107 becomes YES, the telephone number of the destination set at that time is transferred to the network control device 11 to make a call to the destination, and a predetermined facsimile transmission operation is started.

Thereby, the image information is received at the destination at the time specified by the operator.

In this way, when the overseas time specified transmission mode is used, the operator only needs to specify the reserved time at the destination, which reduces the operator's effort.

By the way, in the embodiment described above, one transmission destination is specified, but two or more destinations can also be specified. In addition, each destination country may be selected at that time. In this case, the system control unit 1 converts the reserved time by a difference of 7 hours corresponding to each destination so that the data can be transmitted to each destination at the specified time.

Thereby, one piece of image information can be transmitted to multiple countries so that it can be received at the same time in each country's standard time. However, since this is a special case of broadcast transmission, it is necessary to store the transmitted image information in the image memory 7.

In the above-described embodiment, the time difference table storage section stores the relationship between the country code for each country and the time difference. For example, when registering a destination in one-touch dialing or speed dialing, Information can also be registered at the same time, and when specifying a destination, it can be entered using one-touch dialing or speed dialing, and the corresponding telephone number and time difference can be retrieved to convert the specified sending time.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the time difference standard is set to Japan Standard Time, but if the facsimile machine is installed outside Japan, it is necessary to set the time difference based on the standard time of the country where it is installed. There is.

In addition, the time difference based on Greenwich Mean Time is memorized, and the time difference based on the home country's standard time is calculated based on the time difference from Greenwich Mean Time in the country's standard time and the time difference from Greenwich Mean Time in the destination country's standard time. The calculation result can also be used.

[Effects] As explained above, according to the present invention, the present invention includes a time difference storage means that stores the relationship between a telephone number and a time difference, and reads out and sets time difference information corresponding to the input destination telephone number from the time difference storage means. Since the designated transmission time is changed based on the read time difference information, when image information is transmitted to an overseas destination, the reception time at the destination can be easily set.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a time difference table, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an operation display section, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a time difference table. It is a flowchart which shows a processing example. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... System control part, 2... Time difference table storage part, 3... Clock circuit, 6... Operation display part. Agent Patent Attorney Crest 1) Makoto ゝ1・-7・′ Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a control system for a facsimile machine having a time-specified transmission function, the facsimile device is provided with a time difference storage means that stores the relationship between a telephone number and a time difference, and the time difference information corresponding to the input destination telephone number is read from the time difference storage means and set. A control method for a facsimile machine, characterized in that a specified transmission time is changed based on read time difference information.