JPH07307828A - Facsimile health check circuit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Detecting abnormalities of a facsimile device at an early stage without requiring modification of software and hardware in the facsimile device. [Construction] A facsimile health check circuit 1 is provided between a higher-level device 3 and a facsimile device 2 connected via lines 17 and 18. The health check circuit is a device via a photocoupler 12 and a line loop detection circuit 21. When the standby state of No. 2 is detected, the oscillator 11 is driven to send the tone signal to the device 2, and the operation of the device 2 for closing and opening the loop of the line 18 by receiving the tone signal is performed by the photocoupler and the line loop. It is detected through the detection circuit and output to the host device. As a result, the abnormality of the device 2 can be detected early without modifying the device 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile health check circuit for self-diagnosis of a facsimile used by connecting to a host device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when performing a self-diagnosis of a facsimile machine of this type used by connecting to a host apparatus, if the software and hardware in the facsimile machine are remodeled and an abnormality of the machine is detected, this abnormality is detected. Is output as a contact signal to the outside, and a second method that does not have such an interface to the outside.

That is, in the case of the first method, the control software inside the apparatus detects that an abnormality has occurred in the apparatus, and when it is determined that it is difficult to recover from this fault naturally, it is output to a specific output port. The information is output, and an alarm of the device is notified to the outside through a relay contact controlled by this output port. In the case of the second method, the abnormality of the facsimile apparatus is recognized by the host apparatus if an abnormality occurs when the apparatus is actually used and communication is started without modifying the facsimile apparatus.

[0004]

However, in the case of the first method, there is a drawback in that both software and hardware of the facsimile apparatus need to be modified. Further, the facsimile apparatus generally has a short product life cycle, and requires similar modification every time the product is changed, so that it is inefficient. Further, in the case of the second method, the abnormality of the device is not detected until the facsimile device is actually activated and starts to operate. Then, in the case of such an abnormality, the abnormality is notified by opening the captured line. As described above, in the case of the second method, since the abnormality is not detected until the apparatus is actually activated, the upper apparatus cannot recognize the abnormal state of the facsimile apparatus in advance, and accordingly, the abnormal state of the apparatus cannot be recognized. The repair is performed after the actual communication, and as a result, the communication after the abnormality detection is undelivered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to detect an abnormality of a facsimile device at an early stage, when the self-diagnosis of the facsimile device is performed, without modifying software and hardware in the device.

[0006]

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a system comprising a facsimile device and a host device connected to the facsimile device through a line and detecting an abnormality of the facsimile device. , A diagnostic circuit for diagnosing whether the facsimile machine is correct is provided between the facsimile machine connected via the line and the host machine, and the diagnostic circuit has a standby state detecting means for detecting the standby state of the facsimile machine, and a standby state. A starting means for starting the facsimile apparatus according to the detection output of the state detecting means, an operation detecting means for detecting the operation of the started facsimile apparatus, and a reporting means for reporting the detection result of the operation detecting means to a host device are provided. It is a thing. Further, a line loop detecting circuit for detecting a line loop and an oscillator for generating a tone signal having a frequency of 1300 Hz are provided in the diagnostic circuit, and the standby state detecting means detects the standby state of the facsimile machine via the line loop detecting circuit. At the same time, the start-up means drives the oscillator to send a tone signal to the facsimile apparatus via the line, and the operation detecting means operates the line loop detection circuit to close the operation of the facsimile apparatus to close the loop of the line by receiving the tone signal. It is intended to be detected through.

[0007]

The diagnostic circuit provided between the facsimile apparatus and the host apparatus connected through the line detects the standby state of the facsimile apparatus, activates the facsimile apparatus, and at the same time detects this operation. Report to the host device. Therefore, when the self-diagnosis of the facsimile apparatus is performed, it is not necessary to modify the software and hardware in the apparatus, and the abnormality of the apparatus can be detected early. Further, a line loop detection circuit and an oscillator are provided in the diagnostic circuit, and when the standby state of the facsimile machine is detected through the line loop detection circuit, the oscillator is driven to send a tone signal to the facsimile machine, and the line is received by receiving the tone signal. The operation of the facsimile machine that closes the loop is detected by the line loop detection circuit. As a result, the facsimile health check can be performed with a simple and inexpensive structure.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 1 is a facsimile health check circuit (hereinafter, health check circuit; diagnostic circuit), and this health check circuit 1 is provided between the facsimile device 2 and a host device 3 for detecting an abnormal state of the facsimile device 2. It is arranged. The host device 3 is, for example, an exchange,
These include network monitoring devices and other control devices.

In FIG. 1, the health check circuit 1 is constructed as follows. That is, 11 is an oscillator that generates a 1300 Hz signal, 12 is a photocoupler, 13 is a control unit that controls the health check circuit, 14 and 15 are amplifiers, 16 is a line transformer, 17 and 18 are lines, and 19 is a line transformer.
Is an interface, 20 is a timer circuit, and 21 is a line loop detection circuit.

By the way, the health check circuit 1 connected to the host device 3 and the facsimile device 2 via the lines 17 and 18 performs the following operations. In the standby state where the facsimile device 2 is not performing facsimile communication, the timer circuit 20 periodically outputs a health check request to the control unit 13. In this case, the control unit 13 uses the photo coupler 12 and the line loop detection circuit 21.
If it is confirmed that the facsimile device 2 is not communicating through the
The frequency of the oscillator 11 to the facsimile device 2 is set to 1300.
Instruct to output the Hz tone signal.

As a result, the tone signal output from the oscillator 11 is amplified by the amplifier 14, and then the facsimile apparatus 2 is passed through the line transformer 16 and the photocoupler 12.
Is output to. In this case, the facsimile apparatus 2 that has received this tone signal determines that an incoming call from the subscribed facsimile network has arrived, and once closes the loop of the line and responds to this incoming call. In such a case, in general, the facsimile machine opens the closed line loop after a certain period of time when it detects an abnormality in the apparatus that interferes with reception of the facsimile.

The opening of the line of the facsimile apparatus 2 is detected by the photocoupler 12 as a change in the loop state of the line 18, and further detected by the line loop detection circuit 21 and transmitted to the control unit 13. On the other hand, the control unit 13 sends a tone signal output request to the oscillator 11, and then the line 1 is sent via the photo coupler 12 and the line loop detection circuit 21.
8 states are constantly monitored. Then, when the loop of the line 18 closed by sending the tone signal to the facsimile device 2 is not opened, the control unit 13
The facsimile device 2 judges that the device is normal, and transmits a health check OK (health check normal) message to the host device 3 via the interface 19.

When the loop of the line 18 which is once closed by the facsimile apparatus 2 is immediately opened, the control unit 13 judges that the facsimile apparatus 2 is abnormal and determines the higher order apparatus 3 via the interface 19. Notify that the health check is NG (health check error).

Thus, this health check circuit
It is possible to periodically check whether or not the facsimile device is in the receivable state and notify the host device of the result by simply adding the device to a general facsimile network compatible device. As a result, it is possible to detect a fault in the facsimile device at an early stage, and thus improve the reliability of communication. Even if the standard facsimile machine is not modified, the facsimile machine can be checked in advance by adding this circuit as an adapter or incorporating it as a part of the higher-level equipment, and therefore the life of the product can be checked. This makes it possible to reduce the modification cost of a facsimile machine with a short cycle and increase the degree of freedom in the alternative model of the facsimile machine.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, a diagnostic circuit is provided between a facsimile apparatus connected via a line and a host apparatus, and the facsimile apparatus is activated when the standby state of the facsimile apparatus is detected. Since the operation result is detected and the result is reported to the host device, when performing the self-diagnosis of the facsimile device,
It is not necessary to modify the software and hardware in the device, and the abnormality of the device can be detected early. Further, a line loop detection circuit and an oscillator are provided in the diagnostic circuit, and when the standby state of the facsimile machine is detected via the line loop detection circuit, the oscillator is driven to send a tone signal to the facsimile machine and the tone signal is received. Since the operation of the facsimile apparatus that closes the loop of the line is detected through the line loop detection circuit, the facsimile health check can be performed with a simple and inexpensive structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Facsimile health check circuit (diagnosis circuit), 2
... Facsimile device, 3 ... Host device, 11 ... Oscillator, 1
2 ... Photo coupler, 13 ... Control part, 14, 15 ... Amplifier, 16 ... Line transformer, 17, 18 ... Line, 19 ...
Interface, 20 ... Timer circuit, 21 ... Line loop detection circuit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising a facsimile device and a host device connected to the facsimile device via a line and detecting an abnormality of the facsimile device, wherein the facsimile device and the host device connected via the line A diagnostic circuit for diagnosing whether the facsimile machine is correct or not is provided between them, and the diagnostic circuit starts standby mode detecting means for detecting the standby mode of the facsimile machine and the facsimile machine according to the detection output of the standby mode detecting means. A facsimile health check circuit, comprising: an activation unit for performing the operation, an operation detection unit for detecting an operation of the activated facsimile apparatus, and a reporting unit for reporting the detection result of the operation detection unit to the host device. 2. The facsimile health check circuit according to claim 1, wherein a line loop detection circuit that detects a loop of the line and an oscillator that generates a tone signal having a frequency of 1300 Hz are provided in the diagnostic circuit, and the standby state is established. The detecting means detects the standby state of the facsimile apparatus via the line loop detection circuit, and the starting means drives the oscillator to send the tone signal to the facsimile apparatus via the line to perform the operation. A facsimile health check circuit, characterized in that the detecting means detects the operation of the facsimile device that closes the loop of the line by receiving the tone signal via the line loop detection circuit.