CN1184792C - Method for recording outgoing message using portable unit in facsimile apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for recording an output message by a microphone on a portable unit of a facsimile apparatus having a telephone responding function. In the method, the portable unit transmits the output message which is to be recorded and is prescribed by a user using a microphone of the portable unit to the facsimile apparatus. The facsimile apparatus stores the received output message in a memory.

Description

Method for recording output message using portable unit of facsimile device

technical field

The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a telephone answering function with a portable unit, and more particularly, to a method for recording an output message using a microphone prepared in the portable unit.

Background technique

Typically, facsimile machines with a telephone answering function are equipped with a microphone that allows the user to record an outgoing message (OGM). Such facsimile devices may have one or more hand-held units. In this case, although the portable unit has its own microphone (ie, microphone), the user should use the microphone mounted on the facsimile device to record the output message, which is inconvenient. Moreover, when the user is some distance away from the facsimile device, he has to approach the facsimile device inconveniently to record the outgoing message.

Therefore, there is a need for a facsimile device in which the user can record outgoing messages using a microphone mounted on the handheld unit.

Contents of the invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for recording outgoing messages using a microphone mounted on a handheld unit.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for recording an output message using a microphone on a portable unit of a facsimile device with a telephone answering function, the method comprising the following steps: pressing an output button on the portable unit of the facsimile device After the message recording key, utilize the microphone on the portable unit to tell about the output message to be recorded, and the output message output from the microphone is sent to the facsimile device landline; and the described output message is stored in the memory of the facsimile device base phone

Description of drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is the block diagram that is used in the portable unit in the facsimile device of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the block diagram that is used for the facsimile apparatus with telephone answering function of the present invention; With

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of recording an output message using a microphone mounted on the handheld unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following description, various specific details are referred to in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the practice of the present invention does not require these specific details. In other instances, well-known functions or constructions are not described in order not to obscure the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a portable unit used in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. Handheld unit controller 12 controls the overall operation of the handheld unit. Several function keys and number keys are arranged on the keyboard 10, and the user dials a telephone number with the keyboard. The key data output by the keyboard 10 are sent to the handheld unit controller 12 . The memory 16 stores the control program and the password of the portable unit. The RF (Radio Frequency) transmitter 18 transmits the voice signal output from the voice processor 14 and the data output from the hand-held unit controller 12 through the antenna 20 under the control of the hand-held unit controller 12 . The RF receiver 22 demodulates the RF signal received through the antenna 20 according to the control data output from the handheld unit controller 12 and outputs the demodulated signal to the voice processor 14 . The signal controller 24 controls the RF transmitter 18 and the RF receiver 22 according to the control data output from the handheld unit controller 12 . The speech processor 14 processes the speech signal input from the portable unit microphone 26 and the speech signal output from the RF receiver 22 , and sends the processed speech signal to the RF transmitter 18 . In addition, the voice processor 14 processes the voice signal received through the RF receiver 22 and outputs the processed voice signal through the speaker 27 .

Referring to FIG. 2, the landline of the facsimile apparatus having the portable unit of FIG. 1 includes an RF section 70 and a facsimile section 72. Referring to FIG. Regarding the structure of the RF section 70, the base unit controller 32 controls the overall operation of the base unit. The base unit controller 32 has an internal memory including a ROM (Read Only Memory) for storing programs and a RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporarily storing data generated in executing the programs. In particular, the internal memory can store passwords for the hand-held unit. The RF transmitter 34 modulates the input signal under the control of the base unit controller 32 and outputs the modulated signal via the antenna 44 . The RF receiver 36 demodulates the signal received through the antenna 44 under the control of the base phone controller 32 , and outputs the demodulated signal to the voice processor 62 of the facsimile part 72 through the line controller 42 . The signal controller 38 controls the RF transmitter 34 and the RF receiver 36 according to the channel data output from the base unit controller 32 . The line controller 42 selects a voice communication line and a data communication line under the control of the base unit controller 32, so as to transmit/receive voice signals and communication data.

Regarding the structure of the facsimile section 72 , a central processing unit (CPU) 50 controls the overall operation of the facsimile section 72 according to a control program stored in the memory 54 . Particularly, CPU 50 controls facsimile machine part 72 like this, makes the user can use hand-held unit microphone 26 to record output message when hearing the recording start tone that landline controller 32 produces. A line interface unit (LIU) 60 connects the telephone line to the modem 58 under the control of the CPU 50, detects an incoming ring signal, and sends the detected ring signal to the CPU 50. The modem 58 demodulates the modulation signal input from the LIU 60, and modulates the transmission signal so as to transmit the signal to the telephone line through the LIU 60. An operation panel device (OPE) 52 includes several keys for setting various functions supported by the facsimile machine and inputting various instructions. The OPE 52 sends the key data input by the user to the CPU 50. And, OPE 52 has LCD (liquid crystal display), is used for displaying facsimile machine running state under CPU 50 control. The printer 56, under the control of the CPU 50, prints image data received from a counterpart or read from a file on recording paper. Memory 54 comprises ROM and RAM, and wherein ROM stores the control program of CPU 50, and RAM stores the image data that receives from the other party or reads from file and the digital voice data that is output from voice processor 62, and temporarily registers in execution. Data generated during certain functions of the fax machine. The speech processor 62 converts the analog speech signal input from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) into digital speech data, so that the digital speech data is stored in the memory 54, and/or the digital speech data is read out from the memory 54, and the readout The voice data is converted into an analog voice signal, and the signal is output to the speaker 64 or PSTN.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart for recording output messages using the microphone 26 of the handheld unit, wherein steps 101-110 are controlled by the handheld unit of FIG. 1 and steps 201-209 are controlled by the base unit of FIG. 2 .

Please refer to Figure 1 to Figure 3. At step 101 the hand held unit controller 12 checks whether the hand held unit user has entered an OGM record command by pressing the OGM record key on the keyboard 10 . If the OGM recording command has been input, then step 101 goes to step 102, otherwise the program ends. In step 102, the RF transmitter 18 under the control of the handheld unit controller 12 wirelessly transmits the OGM recording signal to the landline of the facsimile device. Thereafter, in step 201, the CPU 50 checks whether the RF receiver 36 in the RF section 70 has received an OGM recording signal from the portable unit. If the OGM recording signal has been received, then step 201 goes to step 202, otherwise the procedure ends. In step 202, the RF transmitter 34, under the control of the base unit controller 32 and the CPU 50, transmits an acknowledgment (ACK) signal notifying receipt of the OGM recording signal to the hand-held unit. Once the response signal is sent, the CPU 50 starts an internal counter (not shown) in step 203. The internal counter is used when it is necessary to limit the OGM readout time to a specified time. Thereafter, the portable unit controller 12 checks in step 103 whether the RF receiver 22 has received a reply signal from the landline of the facsimile device. If the answer signal has been received, then step 103 goes to step 104, otherwise wait for the answer signal. In step 104, the handheld unit controller 12 generates a specific recording start tone, such as a beep, instructing the facsimile device to start recording an output message (OGM). Once the recording start tone is heard, the user speaks the outgoing message at step 105 using the microphone 26 on the handheld unit. In step 106, the transmission information output from the microphone 26 is converted into a voice signal by the voice processor 14, and transmitted by the RF transmitter 18 to the base phone. Thereafter, the CPU 50 checks in step 204 whether the RF receiver 36 has received an output message to be recorded from the portable unit. If the output message to be recorded has been received, then step 204 goes to step 205, otherwise it waits for the output message to be recorded. In step 205, the voice processor 62 converts the received output message to be recorded into digital voice data under the control of the CPU 50. At step 206, the digital speech data is stored in memory 54. Thus, the output message spoken by the user using the hand-held unit microphone 26 is stored in the memory 54 of the base unit. Thereafter, the handheld unit controller 12 checks at step 107 whether the user has input an OGM recording end instruction using the keyboard 10 . If the OGM recording end command has been input, step 107 jumps to step 109, so that the RF transmitter 18 can send an OGM recording end signal to the base phone. However, if the OGM recording end command is not input, step 107 proceeds to step 108 to check whether the RF receiver 22 receives a time-out signal from the base unit. If do not receive overtime signal, then step 108 returns to step 105. Simultaneously, in step 207, CPU 50 checks whether RF receiver 36 has received the OGM recording end signal that portable unit sends. If the OGM recording end signal has been received, the program ends. However, if the OGM recording end signal is not received, step 207 goes to step 208 to check whether the prescribed time has come. If the prescribed time has arrived, then step 208 proceeds to step 209, otherwise returns to step 205. In step 209, the RF transmitter 34 sends a timeout signal to the handheld unit under the control of the CPU 50. In step 108, once the timeout signal is received, the portable unit controller 12 proceeds to step 109 to generate an OGM recording end signal to the base unit. Thereafter, at step 110, the voice signal processor 14 generates an OGM recording end sound under the control of the handheld unit controller 12. Here, the OGM recording end sound may be a beep sound having a frequency different from that of the OGM recording start sound.

As described above, the facsimile apparatus with telephone answering function according to the present invention can use the microphone on the portable unit to record output messages, so that a separate microphone for recording output messages is not required on the facsimile apparatus landline. Furthermore, even if the user is some distance away from the base unit, he can conveniently record outgoing messages using the microphone on the hand-held unit.

Although the present invention has been shown and described in conjunction with certain preferred embodiments, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the subject matter defined by the appended claims. The spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the claims.

Claims (5)

1. A method utilizing a microphone on a hand-held unit of a facsimile device with a telephone answering function to record an output message, said method comprising the steps of: After pressing an output message recording key on the portable unit of the facsimile device, the microphone on the portable unit is used to describe the output message to be recorded, and the output message output from the microphone is sent to the base phone of the facsimile device; and The output message is stored in the memory of the base phone of the facsimile device. 2. The method for recording an output message according to claim 1, wherein said output message is stored in the memory within a predetermined time in response to an output message recording signal from the portable unit. 3. The method for recording an output message according to claim 2, further comprising the step of causing the portable unit to generate a recording start sound after transmitting the output message recording signal. 4. according to the method for recording output message of claim 2, also comprise the following steps: The output message to be recorded is converted into digital voice data, and the digital voice data is recorded. 5. The method for recording output messages according to claim 1, characterized in that: storing said output messages into said memory within a predetermined time.

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