KR20070034387A - Fax Receiving Method of Fax Receiving System with Multiple Fax Devices Networked - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fax receiving method of a fax receiving system having a plurality of fax devices connected by a network. The fax receiving method includes the steps of: detecting a remaining amount of a predetermined printing consumable item in the plurality of fax devices, and comparing the detected remaining amount to determine a fax device having the largest remaining amount of the printed consumable item; Transmitting fax data to at least one of the plurality of fax apparatuses from an external transmission fax apparatus; If the fax device receiving the fax data corresponds to the device with the most printing consumables, printing is performed based on the fax data, and if the printing consumables do not correspond to the fax device with the most consumables, the fax data is printed. And sending to the fax machine with the most consumables. As a result, when the remaining amount of the printed consumables is insufficient, it is possible to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being output and to reduce the power consumption.

Fax reception system, printing consumables, power save

Description

FAX RECEIVING METHOD OF FAX RECEIVING SYSTEM COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF FAX APPARATUS CONNECTED TOGETHER BY NETWORK}

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fax receiving system operated by an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a receiving fax apparatus of FIG. 1;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of performing a fax receiving method according to the present invention using the receiving fax apparatus of FIG.

Figure 4a is a view comparing the remaining amount of the consumables for the name and IP address of the fax stored in the receiving fax device of Figure 2,

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating the name of an addable or deleteable fax device stored in the receiving fax device of FIG. 2 and an IP address corresponding thereto.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

 10: receiving fax machine 20: network

 30: PSTN (public telephone network) 40: Transmission fax device

 100: control unit 110: data determination unit

 120: data storage unit 130: input unit

 140: network control unit 150: printer unit

 160: network communication unit 170: data storage unit

The present invention relates to a fax receiving method of a fax receiving system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a fax receiving method of a fax receiving system for preventing the deterioration of printed matters output when the remaining amount of printed consumables is insufficient, and for reducing power consumption caused by operating a plurality of receiving fax machines. .

The fax receiving system may include a plurality of receiving fax apparatuses connected through a network. When an external transmission fax apparatus receives a fax transmission command from a sender, an external transmission fax apparatus scans an image, such as a text, a photo, or a picture, formed on a recording medium such as paper, to generate fax data corresponding to the image, and to designate it by the sender. Send to receiving fax machine. The transmission fax apparatus may transmit the fax data to the reception fax apparatus through a public switched telephone network (PSTN). The plurality of receiving fax apparatuses connected through a network prints an image corresponding to a recording medium such as paper based on the fax data received from an external transmission fax apparatus. Therefore, when the receiving fax machine prints and prints the fax data received from the external sending fax machine, when the consumables of the receiving fax machine, for example, toner, run out, the quality of the printed output is reduced and the printed characters or images are generated. There is a problem that cannot be read correctly by the user. In addition, when a plurality of receiving fax apparatuses receive and output each fax data image from an external transmission fax apparatus at a predetermined time or a predetermined time in a standby mode, power consumption increases. .

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, to provide a fax receiving method of a fax receiving system which can prevent the print quality from deteriorating when the remaining amount of the printing consumables is insufficient, and can reduce the power consumption.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a fax receiving method of a fax receiving system having a plurality of fax devices connected via a network. The method for receiving a fax comprises: detecting a remaining amount of a predetermined printing consumable item in the plurality of receiving fax devices, comparing the detected remaining amount to determine a fax device having the largest remaining amount of the printed consumable item, and transmitting externally. Transmitting fax data from at least one fax device to at least one of the plurality of fax devices; and if the fax device receiving the fax data corresponds to the device with the most consumables, printing is performed based on the fax data. And, if the printed consumables do not correspond to the largest number of the fax machine provides a fax receiving method characterized in that the step of transmitting the fax data to the fax device with the most consumables.

       On the other hand, the above object of the present invention, in the fax receiving method of the fax receiving system having a plurality of fax devices connected to the network, the other fax device except the determined fax device is switched to the power saving mode, and Renewing the remaining information of the consumables for each fax device to determine the fax device with the most remaining consumables of the printed consumables, and the IP address of the fax device to be added or excluded to the fax receiving system. Expanding or reducing the fax receiving system by adding or deleting the same, and the printing consumables may be achieved by a fax receiving method, characterized in that it includes at least one of remaining amount of toner and remaining amount of paper.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a fax receiving method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. The fax receiving system applied to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a plurality of receiving fax apparatuses 10 connected through a mutual network 20. The plurality of receiving fax apparatuses 10 are connected to an external transmission fax apparatus 40 through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 30. The public switched telephone network (PSTN) 30 is a public telephone network that connects the communication between the external transmission fax apparatus 40 and the plurality of reception fax apparatuses 10. In addition, the network (Network) 20 is a connection network for connecting a plurality of receiving fax apparatus 10 to each other and to connect their communication.

As shown in FIG. 2, each reception fax apparatus 10 includes a control unit 100, a data determination unit 110, a data storage unit 120, an input unit 130, a network control unit 140, and a printer unit ( 150, a network communication unit 160, and a communication unit 170.

The input unit 130 may receive a fax transmission command from a user and receive fax data through the control unit 100. The input unit 130 of the present embodiment may be implemented as, for example, an operation panel.

The data storage unit 120 stores the IP address of the corresponding receiving fax apparatus and the other receiving fax apparatus and the remaining amount of the printed consumables, for example, the remaining amount of toner or paper. 4A shows the IP addresses and the remaining amounts of the consumables stored in the plurality of receiving fax apparatuses in the data storage unit 120 of the present embodiment. The data storage unit 120 may be implemented as a memory such as a flash memory.

The data determination unit 110 detects the remaining amount of the consumable item from the data stored in the data storage unit 120. In addition, the remaining amount of the consumables is compared with each other to determine the receiving fax machine in which the most consumables remain. As shown in Fig. 4A, the data determination unit 110 converts the remaining amount of toner corresponding to the IP address, for example, 111.111.114 into a score " 5 ", and the remaining amount of paper to a score " 3 ". Convert. And "O" corresponding to the user setting indicates that the printing consumables are replaced by the user according to the availability of the receiving fax machine. In addition, the score "10" corresponding to Total indicates the remaining amount of the total printed consumables. Therefore, the data determination unit 110 determines the reception fax apparatus corresponding to the IP address with the most remaining amount of the entire printed consumables. The data determination unit 110 may be implemented as a program executed by a microprocessor.

The network controller 140 controls the network communication unit 160 in the network 20. The network controller 140 may be implemented through a network circuit unit.

The network communication unit 160 serves to transmit and receive fax data in the network 20. The network communication unit 160 may be implemented through a network module.

The communication unit 170 interconnects the plurality of receiving fax apparatuses 10 and the external transmission fax apparatus 40 through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 30 and receives the fax data to be transmitted. The communication unit 170 may be implemented as a modem.

The printer unit 150 forms an image corresponding to a recording medium such as paper based on the fax data transmitted from the external transmission fax apparatus 40. The printer unit 150 may be implemented as a printer engine.

The control unit 100 instructs the data determination unit 110 to read an IP address of the reception fax apparatus having the largest amount of print consumption stored in the data storage unit 120. The data determination unit 110 reading the IP address instructs to transmit the fax data to the corresponding IP address. In addition, the control unit 100 switches the power of the remaining receiving fax apparatuses to a power save on mode except for the receiving fax apparatus having the largest printing consumption. The control unit 100 of each receiving fax apparatus 10 of the present embodiment may be implemented as a computer program executed by a microprocessor. In this case, the computer program may be stored in a memory such as a flash memory. The computer program is programmed in a language suitable for a microprocessor to perform an operation of the control unit 100 of the reception fax apparatus 10.

Referring to Figure 3 will be described the process of performing the fax receiving method according to the present invention. First, the data determination unit 110 of the receiving fax apparatus 10 detects an IP address of the receiving fax apparatus 10 and the remaining amount of the printed consumables, and transmits the same to the data storage 120. In addition, the data determination unit of the remaining receiving fax apparatus except for the receiving fax apparatus 10 also detects the corresponding IP address and the remaining amount of the consumables, and transmits the same to each receiving fax apparatus 10 connected to each other through a network (S10). ).

The data storage unit 120 stores the IP address received from the data determination unit 110 and information on detecting the remaining amount of the printed consumables (S20).

The data determination unit 110 converts the information, which detects the remaining amount of print supplies, i.e., toner and paper, of the IP address of each receiving fax apparatus 10 into the data storage unit 120 into points, respectively. The total score is calculated by summing the scores, and the receiving fax apparatus having the highest score among the total scores is determined as the receiving fax apparatus having the most printing consumables (S30).

On the other hand, when the external transmission fax apparatus 40 receives a transmission command of the fax data from the sender, the external transmission fax apparatus 40 communicates with the reception fax apparatus in the plurality of reception fax apparatuses connected to the network 20 (S40).

The reception fax apparatus corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of reception fax apparatuses connected to the network 20 receives the fax data transmitted by the external transmission fax apparatus 40 (S50).

The control unit 100 reads the information of the data storage unit 120 transmitted and stored from the data determination unit 110, that is, the IP address of the receiving fax apparatus in which the remaining amount of the consumable product remains. In the case of the receiving fax device having the most remaining amount, the data is transmitted to the printer unit 150 (S60).

When the external transmission fax apparatus 40 transmits the fax data to one of the plurality of reception fax apparatuses other than the reception fax apparatus in which the remaining amount of the consumables remains the most, the sender controls the control unit 100 of the corresponding reception fax apparatus. ) Transmits the transmitted fax data to the receiving fax apparatus in which the remaining amount of the consumables remains the most, and the remaining plurality of receiving fax apparatuses are switched to the power save mode by the control unit 100 (S70). .

An external transmission fax apparatus 40 transmits the fax data to the receiving fax apparatus having the largest number of printed consumables by the sender, or receives the fax data from the receiving fax apparatus having the most print consumables from one of the plurality of receiving fax apparatuses. In this case, the control unit 100 transmits the received fax data to the printer unit 150 and prints it (S80).

In the process of performing the fax receiving method according to the present invention using the receiving fax apparatus of FIG. 3, the remaining plurality of receiving fax apparatuses detect the remaining amount of the consumables of the printed goods through the network 20. The remaining amount information of the consumables is updated. In addition, in the remaining plurality of receiving fax apparatuses, the receiving fax apparatus with the largest remaining amount of the consumables of the printed consumables may be selected again. In addition, the remaining plurality of receiving fax apparatuses maintains a power save mode, and transmits the received fax data to the receiving fax apparatus having the largest amount of consumables and outputs the fax data image. As described above, the remaining plurality of receiving fax apparatuses outputs the received fax data image by updating the remaining information of the printing consumables and repeating the step of determining the receiving fax apparatus having the most remaining consumables of the printing consumables.

4B shows an IP address of a fax apparatus stored in a fax receiving system. Here, "fax 1 to fax 4" indicates a name corresponding to the receiving fax apparatus 10, and "111.111.111 to 111.111.114 indicates an IP address of the currently stored receiving fax apparatus. And the fax The fax receiving system can be enlarged or reduced by adding or deleting an IP address of the receiving fax apparatus 10 to be added or excluded from the receiving system.

According to the fax receiving method of the fax receiving apparatus, it is possible to prevent the print quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated when the remaining amount of the consumables of printing is insufficient. In addition, the other receiving fax apparatuses, except for the receiving fax apparatus having the most remaining amount of printed consumables, are switched to a power save mode, thereby reducing power consumption.

As mentioned above, the present invention has been described in detail through preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited thereto and may be variously implemented within the scope of the claims.

As described above, according to the fax receiving system according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the print quality output when the remaining amount of the consumables is insufficient. In addition, when the reception fax apparatus having the most remaining amount of printed consumables is determined, the remaining plurality of reception fax apparatuses may be switched to a power save mode to reduce power consumption.

Claims (5)

In a fax receiving method of a fax receiving system having a plurality of fax devices connected by a network, Detecting a remaining amount of a predetermined printing consumable item in the plurality of fax devices, and comparing the detected remaining amount to determine a fax device having the largest remaining amount of the printed consumable item; Transmitting fax data to at least one of the plurality of fax apparatuses from an external transmission fax apparatus; If the fax device receiving the fax data corresponds to the device with the most printing consumables, printing is performed based on the fax data, and if the printing consumables do not correspond to the fax device with the most consumables, the fax data is printed. Fax transmission method comprising the step of transmitting to the fax device with the most consumables.       The method of claim 1,       The remaining fax apparatus except for the determined fax apparatus further comprises the step of switching to a power saving mode.       The method of claim 1,       And updating the remaining information of the consumable item for each of the fax devices to determine the fax device having the largest amount of the consumable item of the consumable item.       The method of claim 1,      And expanding or reducing the fax receiving system by adding or deleting an IP address of a fax device to be added or excluded from the fax receiving system to each of the fax devices. .       The method of claim 1,       And the printed consumable includes at least one of remaining amount of toner and remaining amount of paper.

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