JPH0630223A - Interrupt communication method in facsimile broadcasting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and to an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting apparatus, which enables communication or copy operation by a telephone or a facsimile apparatus without waiting for completion of transmission of image information in an image memory. It is possible to provide an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device that can be enabled and can improve a communication function by omitting useless waiting time, and can most appropriately perform processing after interruption. Has an aim. [Structure] Transmission of image information in an image memory 9 is interrupted in the middle of a predetermined page, and at this time, communication or copy operation by a telephone or a facsimile device is enabled, processing after interruption is displayed, and a plurality of operations are performed. The method of restarting the broadcast transmission is selected depending on the selection mode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device, and more specifically, while a predetermined page is being transmitted, the transmission of image information of the page is temporarily interrupted and a telephone, The present invention relates to an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device that can perform communication or copy operation by a facsimile device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Facsimile devices include a so-called multi-address transmitter which temporarily stores image information of a document to be transmitted in an image memory and then transmits the image information to a designated destination. An example of the broadcast device is that described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-103462.

In this device, a notification is issued by a buzzer or the like at the end of the transmission by a predetermined button operation during transmission, and at the same time as the notification, the transmission of the image information in the image memory is stopped so that a telephone or a facsimile is provided. A period during which only the interrupt transmission by the device is possible is provided, and after the communication by the telephone or the facsimile device is completed within the period, the transmission of the image information in the image memory is restarted again.

Therefore, in this device, the operator can quickly perceive this at the end of the broadcast transmission, and can promptly perform the transmission by the telephone or the facsimile device when necessary.

[0005]

However, in the interrupt communication method in such a conventional facsimile broadcasting apparatus, after transmitting all the image information in the image memory, the image information in the image memory is transmitted. Therefore, the interruption transmission or the copying operation cannot be performed by the facsimile device or the telephone during the transmission of the predetermined page because the interruption is stopped and the interruption transmission is performed by the telephone or the facsimile device.

That is, in this device, when the memory transmission is once started, the stop operation by the button operation functions after the specified number (for example, all pages) of the image information is sent, so that the operator can be urgently different. When sending the original document, it is necessary to wait until the buzzer or the like notifies that the transmission of the specified number of image information in the memory is completed, which causes a problem that communication efficiency deteriorates.

Further, when the transmission of the image information in the image memory is restarted after the communication by the telephone or the facsimile machine is completed within the interruption period, the transmission of the image information becomes unnecessary during the memory transmission. There is a problem in that this cannot be erased and unnecessary communication costs are incurred. In addition to this, if the entire image information cannot be transmitted and the transmission is interrupted and the call is recalled, it is necessary to select a function such as file clear to delete the file. There was a problem that it was troublesome.

Further, when the operation button is unnecessarily pressed, an interruption period occurs for a certain period of time, so that the image information is not immediately transmitted and an extra waiting time occurs. There was a problem. Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 interrupts transmission of image information in the image memory in the middle of a predetermined page to enable communication or copy operation by a telephone or a facsimile device, and displays processing after the interruption. By making it possible to select by a plurality of selection modes, it is possible to perform communication or copy operation by a telephone or a facsimile device without waiting for the transmission of the image information in the image memory, thereby eliminating unnecessary waiting time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device that can improve the communication function and can most appropriately perform processing after interruption.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2, the mode selectable by the operator is an immediate transmission restart mode in which transmission of untransmitted image information immediately after transmission interruption is started, and non-transmission after a lapse of a fixed time after transmission interruption. By setting the transmission restart mode after a certain period of time when the transmission of the image information is started and the transmission cutoff mode in which the transmission is immediately stopped, communication by a facsimile device or the transmission image information of the image memory is performed after the interruption. To provide an interrupt communication method in a multifunctional facsimile broadcasting apparatus capable of erasing a message or restarting a broadcast transmission immediately after the interruption, and performing processing after the interruption in response to various situations. It is an object.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the stop key of the operation panel is pressed while a predetermined page is being transmitted from the image memory, the transmission is immediately terminated in the middle of the page, or By selecting whether to wait until the page transmission is completed depending on the operation mode, if you want to urgently perform communication or copy operation by the telephone or facsimile machine, immediately end the transmission in the middle of the page and wait for the waiting time. In addition to being able to greatly reduce the time, when it is not necessary to urgently communicate with a facsimile machine, etc., it is possible to prevent the same page from being retransmitted by waiting until the page transmission is completed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an interrupt communication method in a facsimile device that can improve the performance.

[0011]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting apparatus in which image information of a document to be transmitted is temporarily stored in an image memory and then the image information is transmitted to a designated destination, in a predetermined page from the image memory. By pressing the stop key on the operation panel while the message is being transmitted, the transmission of the specified page is interrupted and the broadcast communication is terminated. It is characterized in that communication or copy operation is possible, operation after waiting is displayed on the operation panel, and selection is possible by a plurality of predetermined operation modes.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 2 sets the plurality of operation modes to an immediate transmission restart mode in which transmission of untransmitted image information is immediately started after transmission interruption,
It is characterized by being set to three types of a transmission restart mode in which transmission of untransmitted image information is started after a lapse of a fixed time after transmission interruption, and a transmission cutoff mode in which transmission is immediately stopped.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by sending the transmission immediately in the middle of the page when the stop key of the operation panel is pressed while the predetermined page is being transmitted from the image memory. It is characterized in that the operation mode can be selected to end or wait until the transmission of the page ends.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the transmission of the image information in the image memory is interrupted in the middle of a predetermined page, and at this time, the communication or copy operation by the telephone or the facsimile device becomes possible. Later processing is displayed, and a method of restarting broadcast transmission is selected by a plurality of selection modes.

Therefore, the communication or copying operation by the telephone or the facsimile device can be performed without waiting for the completion of the transmission of the image information in the image memory, the wasteful waiting time can be omitted and the communication function can be improved, and after the interruption. The processing is carried out appropriately by the operator. In the invention according to claim 2, the mode selectable by the operator is an immediate transmission restart mode in which the transmission of the untransmitted image information is immediately started after the transmission is interrupted, and the transmission of the untransmitted image information is performed after a lapse of a certain time after the transmission is interrupted. The transmission restart mode after a fixed time after the start of the transmission and the transmission stop mode for immediately stopping the transmission are set.

Therefore, when the immediate transmission restart mode is selected, when the stop key is erroneously pressed and the broadcast transmission is interrupted, the broadcast transmission is immediately restarted, and the adverse effect of the malfunction of the stop key is caused. Will be promptly dealt with.
Further, when the transmission restart mode after a certain period of time is selected, the communication or copy operation by the telephone or the facsimile device becomes possible within the certain period of time, and the communication function is improved.

Further, when the transmission cutoff mode is selected, the transmission is immediately terminated when the transmission of the broadcast becomes unnecessary, and the communication cost is saved. Moreover, when the transmission of all the originals in the image memory is not completed and the call is in the re-call waiting state, it is not necessary to delete the file by using the function such as file clear, and the erasing operation is easily performed. .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the stop key of the operation panel is pressed while a predetermined page is being transmitted from the image memory, the transmission is terminated immediately in the middle of the page, or the transmission of the page is stopped. Whether to wait until the transmission is completed is selected according to the operation mode. Therefore, if you want to make an emergency call or copy operation using a telephone or a facsimile machine, the transmission will be terminated immediately in the middle of the page and the waiting time will be greatly shortened. If there is not, the same page is not retransmitted by waiting until the transmission of the page is completed, and the economy of transmission is improved.

[0019]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below based on examples.
1 to 4 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a facsimile broadcasting device for achieving an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

First, the structure will be described. In FIG. 1, 1
Is a facsimile broadcasting device, and the facsimile broadcasting device 1 includes a CPU 2, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 3, and an R.
AM (Random Access Memory) 4, modem 5, NCU
(Network control device) 6, plotter 7, scanner 8, image memory 9, DCR (encoding / decoding device) 10, operation panel 11 and the like.

The CPU 2 controls the facsimile broadcasting device 1 as a whole, and controls each part of the facsimile broadcasting device 1 according to the basic program as a broadcasting device stored in the ROM 3 and the transmission interruption program of the present invention. The sequence as the facsimile broadcasting device 1 is executed and the transmission interruption process of the present invention is executed. RAM4 is
Various data necessary for control of the facsimile broadcasting device 1 are stored, and in particular, various data required for broadcast transmission processing are stored. For example, RAM3 is a file table shown in FIG.
21, a page table 22, and a destination table 23. The file table 21 manages the file type, the number of pages, and the reservation time, and also stores the image information in the image memory 9
Is stored in the destination table 23. The destination table 23 stores destination information to be transmitted, transmission results, information for re-calling, files to be transmitted, and the like.

More specifically, the file table 21 is divided into items a1 to a7, and the following information is stored in each item a. That is, the valid (in use) / invalid flag of the area and the broadcast transmission end flag are stored in a1 and the number of pages of transmission image information (stored in the image memory 9 managed by the file) is stored in a2. Number of pages)
The reserved time for the start time of the broadcast transmission is indicated in a3, the page table of the image information to be transmitted first in a4, specifically, the storage location (address) of the image memory as indicated by the page table 22 is a5. Is the code number of the TSI (transmitting terminal identification signal) of the received facsimile machine, a6 is the first destination table, and a7 is the next file ID.
Remembered.

The destination table 23 is divided into items b1 to b10, and the items b1 to b10 store the following information. That is, the valid (in use) / invalid flag of the area, the highest priority call request flag, and the call request flag are stored in b1, and the file I to be transmitted is stored in b2.
D, b3 is the destination code, b4 is the group code, b5 is the call date and time, and b6 is the call time.
In 7, the page number of the file stored in b2 is transmitted, in b8, the number of outgoing calls, in b9, transmission error information, and in b10, the table of the next destination is stored. ing.

The modem 5 transmits a transmission signal at the line L,
For example, it is modulated into a form suitable for transmission of the telephone line L, and
At the time of reception, the modulated signal sent from the line L is demodulated.
The NCU 6 is connected to the line L and automatically receives an incoming call from the line and also performs an automatic outgoing call process to the line. As the plotter 7, for example, a thermal recording device using a thermal element is used.
Is recorded directly on the thermal recording paper or indirectly on the ordinary recording paper via an ink sheet.

The scanner 8 may be, for example, a CCD (Cha
An image scanner using a rge coupled device) is used, and the scanner 8 scans a document, reads the document, and outputs it as image information. The image memory 9 is composed of, for example, a hard disk and has a predetermined capacity. The image memory 9 stores image information (image information for transmission) of a document read by the scanner 8 and image information (received image information) sent from a partner facsimile machine via the line L,
The image information in the image memory 9 is file-managed by the RAM 4. In particular, the image information stored in the image memory 9 is called by the CPU 2 and transmitted to a designated facsimile machine at a designated time.

The DCR 10 is intended to shorten the transmission time of image information and improve the efficiency thereof. The image information is compressed (encoded) at the time of transmission, and the encoded image information is reproduced as the original information at the time of reception. (Decrypt) The image information of the document read by the scanner 8 is encoded by the DCR 10 and then stored in the image memory 9. The operation panel 11 is provided with various operation keys such as a numeric keypad and a start key, and various commands such as a transmission command are input by operating the operation keys. Further, the operation panel 11 has a stop key, and the CPU 2 temporarily stops the broadcast transmission of the image information when the key is pressed.

Further, the operation panel 11 has a plurality of operation modes. The operation modes are an immediate transmission restart mode in which transmission of untransmitted image information is immediately started after the transmission is suspended after the stop key is pressed, and a transmission suspension. It is composed of three types: a transmission restart mode after a certain period of time in which the transmission of untransmitted image information is started after a certain period of time, and a transmission stop mode in which the transmission is immediately stopped.

In addition to this, when the stop key is pressed, there are provided two kinds of selection modes for instructing whether the transmission is to be ended immediately in the middle of the page or to wait until the transmission of the page is ended. The operation modes described above are displayed after the stop key is pressed,
When pressed by the operator, each of the above functions is exerted.

Next, the interrupt method in the broadcast transmission of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart of the transmission interruption processing shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 show the CP of this embodiment.
It constitutes the software executed in U2.
In the present embodiment, basically, a task consisting of three groups that perform the operations as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is configured, and apparently three tasks can run at the same time. And, normally, there are three activation monitoring tasks, and when these find some activation factor, they activate the task in the same group,
When there is no activation factor, the process moves to the activation monitoring task of the next group and the processes of groups 1 to 3 are performed.

In the facsimile broadcasting device 1 of the present embodiment, the destination of the transmission, the items to be transmitted, etc. are input by the operation panel 11 in advance, and the image information of the original read by the scanner 8 is encoded by the DCR 10 to obtain the image memory 9.
Accumulated in. The stored image information is managed by the tables 21 to 23 on the RAM 4 as shown in FIG.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. First, the second group of tasks finds a destination table whose calling time has passed based on the file table 21 of the RAM 4, and performs the calling task shown in S11. After the call is completed, the protocol task shown in S12 is activated, phase B is executed, and after completion, the image information transmission task shown in S13 is activated.

Here, the image memory calling task shown in S31 of the third group is started, and the image memory 9 is called as shown in S32.
Perform the work to call the transmission image information in. Specifically, after the specified image information in the image memory 9 is read, the DC
This image information is decoded by R10 and one line data is arranged in the line buffer on the RAM4. When one line is prepared, S33 is activated to monitor the first group (operation task).

On the other hand, in the image information transmission task, S14 is activated, and the image information called in the line buffer on the RAM 4 is encoded by the DCR 10 in order to match the mode of the facsimile apparatus of the transmission destination, and then the modem 5 and N are connected.
After outputting to the line L via the CU 6, the third group is activated as shown in S15. At this time, in the third group, as shown in S34, it is determined whether the decoding of one page of the transmission image information is completed or not by RTC (control return signal) or EO which is a page end signal.
Monitor by FB. Next, if the decryption of this page is not completed, that is, if the page is in the middle, S
35 is started, and whether the operator has pressed the stop key is monitored. If the stop key is pressed, S36 is started and it is monitored whether the continuation flag is turned on until the end of the page.

If the continuation flag is not ON, the operation panel 11 displays "Continue to end of page /
"Immediate interruption" is displayed, and the operator's response is monitored while the first page is being decoded. Next, S38 is started, and if the operator does not instruct immediate termination, S39 is started, and it is monitored whether or not the operator has instructed to continue, and if it is instructed to continue, S40 is started. The flag to continue until the end of the page is turned on.

Next, when the decoding of one page is completed through S32 to S34, S41 is activated, and it is monitored whether or not there is a next page. If there is, the S42 is activated and the stop key is pressed. Whether or not the button has been pressed is monitored, and if the button has been pressed, the process proceeds to S43 to end the processing, and shifts to control of startup monitoring. As a result, the broadcast transmission is temporarily interrupted when the decoding of the first page is completed.

On the other hand, when the operator gives an immediate interruption in S38, the process proceeds to S43, the processing is terminated, and the control of the start monitoring is performed. At this time, the decoding is suspended in the middle of one page. At the same time the start monitoring is performed by the third group, S is performed by the second group.
After coding one line in 14 and monitoring the activation of the third group in S15, it is monitored in S16 whether or not the encoding of one page is completed. Therefore, in S43, the activation monitoring control of the third group is performed. When it is determined that the stop key has been pressed in S18 in response to this, after executing the termination protocol in S19,
In S20, the process is terminated and the process proceeds to start monitoring, and 1
After shifting to the operation task shown in S1 of the group, S
As shown in 2, the operation panel 11 is used to "restart immediate transmission", "restart transmission after a certain time", and "terminate transmission".
Is displayed.

Therefore, each of the above modes is displayed while the broadcast transmission is temporarily interrupted. At this time, if the operator wants to send an urgent manuscript or the like by a facsimile device, makes an urgent call, or makes an urgent copy, the mode is pressed. At this time, the call origination time of the destination table 23 item b6 is updated after 5 minutes as usual, and the transmission start page, the number of call originations and the transmission error information of the items b7 to b9 are updated. Therefore, at the time of this interruption, the operator can send an urgent manuscript or the like. Then, after 5 minutes, the broadcast transmission is restarted again.

On the other hand, if the stop key is pressed by mistake, the operator presses the mode. At this time, the calling time of the item b6 of the destination table 23 is rewritten to the current time, and the highest priority calling bit is set in the item b1. Then, at the time when this operation is completed, the call initiation is immediately started by the activation monitoring of the second group, and the image information can be continuously transmitted.

On the other hand, when the transmission information becomes unnecessary,
The operation pushes the mode. At this time, the valid bit of the item a1 of the file table 21 is dropped, and all the page tables 22 linked in the table 21
The valid bit of the first byte of the destination table 23 is dropped, and FFH (stop code) is put in the page table 22 to clear the file.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the transmission of the image information in the image memory 9 is interrupted in the middle of a predetermined page, and at this time, the communication or copy operation by the telephone or the facsimile device is enabled, and the processing after the interruption is performed. While displaying
Since the method of restarting the broadcast transmission is selected according to a plurality of selection modes, it is possible to enable the communication or copy operation by the telephone and the facsimile device without waiting for the end of the transmission of the image information in the image memory 9. As a result, wasteful waiting time can be omitted to improve the communication function, and the operator can appropriately perform the processing after the interruption.

Further, the mode selectable by the operator is set to three types: an immediate transmission restart mode, a transmission restart mode after a certain time, and a transmission abort mode. Therefore, when the immediate transmission restart mode is selected, when the stop key is pressed by mistake and the broadcast transmission is interrupted,
The broadcast transmission can be immediately restarted, and the adverse effect due to the malfunction of the stop key can be promptly dealt with.

Further, when the transmission restart mode after a certain period of time is selected, the communication or copy operation by the telephone or the facsimile device can be enabled within the certain period of time, and the communication function can be improved. Furthermore, when the transmission cutoff mode is selected, the transmission can be immediately terminated when the broadcast transmission is no longer required, and the communication cost can be saved. In addition, when the transmission of all the originals in the image memory 9 is not completed and the call waiting state is started, it is not necessary to delete the file by using the function such as file clear. Work can be performed easily.

Further, when the stop key of the operation panel 11 is pressed while a predetermined page is being transmitted from the image memory 9, the transmission is ended immediately in the middle of the page, or the transmission of the page is ended. Whether to wait until is selected according to the operation mode.
For this reason, if you want to make an emergency such as a communication or a copy operation with a telephone or a facsimile machine, you can greatly reduce the waiting time by ending the transmission immediately in the middle of the page, and make the communication with the facsimile machine urgent. If it is not necessary to do so, it is possible to wait until the transmission of the page is completed and prevent the same page from being retransmitted, thereby improving the economical efficiency of the transmission.

[0044]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the communication or copy operation by the telephone or the facsimile device can be made possible without waiting for the completion of the transmission of the image information in the image memory, thereby reducing the wasteful waiting time. The communication function can be improved by omitting it, and the operator can appropriately perform the processing after the interruption.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the immediate transmission restart mode is selected, the broadcast transmission is immediately restarted when the stop key is pressed by mistake and the broadcast transmission is interrupted. Therefore, it is possible to promptly deal with the adverse effect due to the malfunction of the stop key. Further, when the transmission restart mode after a certain period of time is selected, the communication or copy operation by the telephone or the facsimile device can be enabled within the certain period of time, and the communication function can be improved.

Further, when the transmission abort mode is selected, the transmission can be immediately terminated when the broadcast transmission is no longer required, and the communication cost can be saved.
In addition, when the transmission of all the originals in the image memory is not completed and the call is in the standby state for recalling, it is not necessary to delete the file by using the function such as file clear. Can be done easily.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when it is urgent to perform communication or copy operation by the telephone or the facsimile machine, the transmission can be immediately ended in the middle of the page and the waiting time can be greatly shortened. In addition, it is possible to prevent the same page from being retransmitted by waiting until the transmission of the page is completed, when it is not necessary to urgently perform communication using a facsimile device, etc. Can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile broadcasting device for achieving an interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a file table, a page table, and a destination table of a facsimile broadcasting device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile broadcasting device of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the facsimile broadcasting device of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Facsimile Broadcasting Device 2 CPU 3 ROM 4 RAM 5 Modem 6 NCU 7 Plotter 8 Scanner 9 Image Memory 10 DCR 11 Operation Panel

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting apparatus, wherein image information of a document to be transmitted is temporarily stored in an image memory and then the image information is transmitted to a designated destination. By pressing the stop key on the operation panel while the operation is in progress, the transmission of the specified page is interrupted and the broadcast communication is terminated, and then the transmission standby state of the page is set, and communication or copying by the telephone or facsimile device is performed. An interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device, which enables operations, displays operations after waiting on an operation panel, and enables selection by a plurality of predetermined operation modes. 2. A plurality of operation modes, an immediate transmission restart mode for immediately starting transmission of untransmitted image information after transmission interruption, and a fixed time for starting transmission of untransmitted image information after a lapse of a fixed time after transmission interruption. 2. The interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device according to claim 1, wherein three types of a post-transmission restart mode and a transmission abort mode for immediately aborting the transmission are set. 3. When the stop key of the operation panel is pressed while a predetermined page is being transmitted from the image memory, the transmission is immediately terminated in the middle of the page or the transmission is waited until the transmission of the page is completed. 3. The interrupt communication method in a facsimile broadcasting device according to claim 1, wherein whether to perform the communication is selectable according to an operation mode.