JPH09214664A - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: The present invention provides a facsimile device that appropriately and automatically transmits in response to a plurality of transmission requests from a terminal device connected to a network. A facsimile apparatus 1 includes terminal devices Ta and T.
When there is a transmission request from b, ..., If the automatic transmission can be immediately performed, the request is accepted, and an acceptance notification is sent to the request source. When automatic transmission cannot be performed immediately because the image reading unit is out of order or is being transmitted or received, the facsimile device 1 rejects the transmission request or puts it in an acceptance standby in the order of the transmission request, and issues the rejection notification or the acceptance standby notification. To notify. When the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the standby state for acceptance, after performing the automatic transmission process of the accepted transmission request, it switches from the standby state for acceptance to the acceptance in the order of the transmission request, and notifies the request source of that fact.
Send automatically.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine which accepts transmission requests from a plurality of terminal devices such as personal computers connected via a network and appropriately transmits them.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, image information obtained by reading an image of an original with a scanner or the like is used as PSTN (Public Swiched Telephone N).
etwork: public telephone network) and other analog communication networks and ISDN
A facsimile apparatus that transmits and receives image information by transmitting the image information to the other party via a digital communication network such as (Integrated Services Digital Network) has been developed and put into practical use.

Particularly recently, in addition to the above public line,
A LAN (Local Area Network) or the like is formed as a computer network in the same building or in the same site, and the LAN is a terminal such as a facsimile machine as an information device for transmitting and receiving image information, a personal computer, or a workstation. Multiple devices are connected. Image data is transmitted / received to / from a facsimile device or a terminal device connected to the LAN, a facsimile device connected via a public line connected to the LAN, or the like.

Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus connected to such a LAN scans a document set in the facsimile apparatus and communicates with a destination connected via a terminal connected to the LAN or a public line connected to the LAN. The image information sent from the other party is only received and recorded and output, and is specified according to a transmission request from another terminal device connected to the LAN. It was requested to send the image information of the original document to the specified destination.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application is composed of a terminal device connected by a communication means and an information device having a document transmission or document reception function, and the information device can operate under the control of the terminal device. In another information system, a document and a document transmission request are sent from the terminal device to the information device, with a document transmission destination designating unit that designates a document transmission destination, and a document transmission destination designated by the unit. In this case, an information system (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-225073) is proposed, which is provided with a transmitting means for transmitting the document to a designated destination. According to this information system, by remotely operating an information device such as a facsimile device having a document transmitting or receiving function using a terminal device such as a personal computer, a document can be transmitted to a desired destination, or You can receive incoming documents.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional information system, remote operation of information equipment such as a facsimile machine from a plurality of terminal devices has not been considered, and therefore, the image of the information equipment is not considered. There is room for consideration when a transmission request for requesting another information device to transmit the image information read by the reading unit is issued from a plurality of terminal devices at the same time.

That is, when transmitting image information from a predetermined facsimile device to another facsimile device, first,
It is necessary for the image reading unit to read the transmission image and transmit the read image information to the destination. Therefore, when the facsimile device receives transmission requests from a plurality of terminal devices at the same time, these transmission requests cannot be processed at the same time, so that the processing order is determined or the transmission requests of the terminal devices in the latter order are sequentially processed. However, conventionally, no consideration has been given to the processing in such a situation.

Therefore, in the invention described in claim 1, the transmission request is accepted only when the transmission request is made when the automatic transmission can be immediately performed, and the acceptance notification of the acceptance is given, and
Immediately when automatic transmission is impossible, by rejecting the transmission request and notifying the refusal, it is possible to appropriately perform automatic transmission when the transmission requests are made from a plurality of terminal devices at the same time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device that enables a requested terminal device to know how the transmission request has been processed.

According to the second aspect of the invention, even if the automatic transmission cannot be immediately performed, the transmission request is not rejected and the terminal device is notified to that effect in the acceptance standby state.
An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that can eliminate the trouble of making a transmission request again by notifying the terminal device of that fact even when the standby for acceptance is changed to acceptance.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by displaying on the facsimile device whether or not the transmission request has already been accepted from the terminal device, when the operator of the facsimile device performs a transmission operation, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device which can avoid erroneous transmission such as erroneous transmission to a designated destination.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the once accepted transmission request can be canceled only by the terminal device that has made the transmission request, and the once accepted transmission request at the terminal device is no longer necessary. If you want to cancel a transmission request for some reason, you can cancel it by remote control only from the requesting terminal device, which is convenient because you do not have to go to the installation location of the facsimile device one by one and cancel it. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile machine that cannot be easily canceled.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, only the terminal device that has made the transmission request that has once waited for acceptance can cancel the transmission request, and the transmission request that has once been on standby for acceptance is no longer necessary at the terminal device. If you want to cancel the transmission request for some reason, you can cancel the transmission request waiting for acceptance by remote operation only from the requesting terminal device, which is convenient because you do not have to go to the installation location of the facsimile device one by one and cancel it. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device which is not inadvertently canceled by another terminal device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, when the transmission request is canceled due to the fact that the transmission function of the facsimile apparatus cannot be used, the transmission request is accepted from the transmission terminal by operating the facsimile apparatus itself. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device with good usability by enabling the cancellation of acceptance waiting and acceptance.

According to the invention described in claim 7, when the transmission request is canceled by the operation of the facsimile device itself, the fact that the transmission request is canceled is notified to each terminal device, and the transmission request is canceled on the terminal device side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of recognizing that a document has been transmitted and preventing a discrepancy that a document, which was naturally recognized as being transmitted, is not actually transmitted.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the transmission request from the facsimile apparatus itself is prioritized to process the transmission request from the terminal apparatus, and even if the document needs to be transmitted urgently, It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which can interrupt a transmission request from the apparatus and can be automatically transmitted with priority, and which has good usability.

[0016]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile device which is connected to a plurality of terminal devices via a network and to a plurality of facsimile devices via a public line. In response to a transmission request designating a transmission destination from the image reading means, an automatic transmission function for reading the original set in the image reading means and transmitting the image information of the original read by the image reading means to the designated transmission destination. A facsimile device provided with the terminal device, the determination means for determining whether or not the automatic transmission can be immediately performed in response to a transmission request from the terminal device; and the determination when there is a transmission request from the terminal device. When the means immediately determines that the automatic transmission is possible, the transmission request is accepted, and the transmission request is accepted by the terminal device that has made the transmission request. When the determination means immediately determines that the automatic transmission is impossible, the transmission request is rejected and the transmission request is rejected to the terminal device that has made the transmission request. The above-mentioned object is achieved by including a transmission request management means for making a refusal notification of.

Here, the facsimile machine is a LAN (Lo
A network such as a cal area network is connected to terminal devices such as personal computers and workstations, and the PSTN (Public
Swiched Telephone Network: ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) for public telephone networks and digital communication networks
(ork: integrated service digital network) is connected to another facsimile apparatus via a public line such as a service integrated digital network), and image information such as a document or graphic read by the image reading means can be transmitted and received. In addition, as a terminal device for remotely operating the facsimile device, there is a personal computer, a workstation, or the like, and a plurality of terminal devices and information devices are connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The facsimile device responds to a transmission request from a terminal device connected to the network.
A document set on an image reading means such as a scanner is read and transmitted from a terminal device to a designated destination, for example, another facsimile device connected to a public line. Therefore, the operator of the terminal device once goes to the place where the facsimile device is installed and sets the original, and thereafter, at the intended time, the terminal device only requests the facsimile device to transmit via the network. It is possible to cause the intended recipient to transmit to the facsimile device.

When there is a transmission request from the terminal device, the judging means checks whether communication is currently being performed, whether the image reading means is available, etc., and the destination specified immediately in response to the transmission request. To determine if it can be sent automatically to.

When there is a transmission request from the terminal device, the transmission request management means waits for the determination means to determine that the automatic transmission can be performed immediately or not, and then the determination means immediately performs the automatic transmission. If it determines that the transmission is possible, it accepts the transmission request from the terminal device, notifies the acceptance of the acceptance to the terminal device, and when the determination means determines that the automatic transmission cannot be immediately performed, it rejects the transmission request and rejects it. To the terminal device.

According to the above configuration, when there is a transmission request from a plurality of terminal devices, the transmission request is rejected except for the earliest transmission request, and the terminal device requesting the refusal is notified. The rejected terminal device can appropriately process the transmission requests from the plurality of terminal devices by repeatedly sending the transmission requests until the acceptance notification is received.

In this case, for example, as described in claim 2, the transmission request management means, when the transmission request is made from the terminal device, the determination means immediately determines that the automatic transmission is possible. When the transmission request is accepted, the transmission request is accepted, and an acceptance notification indicating that the transmission request is accepted is given to the terminal device that has made the transmission request, and the determination means immediately determines that the automatic transmission is impossible. When this is done, a predetermined management number is assigned in the order of transmission requests, and management is performed in association with the identification information that identifies the terminal device that made the transmission request, and the terminal device that has made the transmission request accepts the transmission request. When the determination means determines that the automatic transmission is immediately possible with respect to the transmission request that has been waiting for reception, the determination number is determined in the order of the management numbers. Serial to accept the transmission request in the acceptance waiting, it may perform an acceptance notification of the acceptance of the said transmission request to said terminal device that has the transmission request the acceptance.

Here, the transmission request management means does not reject a transmission request that cannot be automatically transmitted immediately when the transmission requests are concentrated from a plurality of terminal devices,
A management number is assigned in the order in which the transmission requests are sent, and management is performed in association with the identification information for identifying the terminal device, and the terminal device is notified of the acceptance standby state in the acceptance standby state. Then, the transmission request management means automatically transmits the transmission request in the acceptance state, and when the transmission request in the acceptance standby state is ready to be automatically transmitted immediately, in a predetermined order, for example, in the assigned management number order. The transmission request in the acceptance standby state is set to the acceptance state, and the terminal device is notified of that fact, and then automatically transmitted.

According to the above construction, when there is a transmission request from a plurality of terminal devices and automatic transmission cannot be immediately performed, a management number is assigned as a standby for acceptance and managed without rejecting,
Notify the terminal device that it is waiting for acceptance, and when it becomes possible to automatically send the transmission request that was placed in acceptance standby, accept the transmission request that was placed in acceptance standby based on the management number and notify the acceptance to the terminal device. The operator of the terminal device can know the transmission request is handled automatically while being automatically transmitted by the facsimile device by only making the transmission request once. as a result,
The usability of the facsimile machine can be improved.

Further, for example, as described in claim 3, the facsimile apparatus further comprises operation display means for performing various operations such as transmission operation and displaying various information, and the transmission request management means When the transmission request from the terminal device has already been accepted, the operation display means may display that the transmission request has been accepted.

According to the above configuration, since it is displayed whether or not the transmission request has already been accepted from the terminal device, when the operator of the facsimile device performs a transmission operation or the like, the destination specified by the terminal device is erroneously specified. It is possible to avoid erroneous transmissions such as being transmitted as a result, and it is possible to properly use the facsimile apparatus.

Further, for example, as described in claim 4, when there is a cancellation request for canceling the transmission request from the terminal device, the transmission request management means identifies the terminal of the terminal device that has made the cancellation request. The presence or absence of acceptance of the transmission request from the terminal device may be determined based on the information, and cancellation of the transmission request may be accepted only for the transmission request from the terminal device.

According to the above configuration, only the terminal device that has made the transmission request that has once been accepted can cancel the transmission request, and the transmission request that has been once accepted by the terminal device is no longer necessary. If it is desired to cancel, the transmission request being accepted can be canceled only by remote control from the requesting terminal device. As a result, it is not necessary to go to the installation location of the facsimile device one by one and cancel the accepted transmission request, the usability of the facsimile device can be improved, and it is prevented from being accidentally canceled by another terminal device. be able to.

Further, for example, as described in claim 5, when there is a cancellation request for canceling the transmission request from the terminal device, the transmission request management means identifies the terminal of the terminal device that has made the cancellation request. Based on the information, the presence or absence of the acceptance standby of the transmission request from the terminal device may be determined, and the cancellation of the transmission request may be accepted only for the transmission request from the terminal device.

According to the above configuration, only the terminal device that has made the transmission request that has once been in the standby state for accepting can be canceled, and the transmission request that has once been in standby for acceptance at the terminal device is no longer needed. When it is desired to cancel the request, the transmission request on standby for acceptance can be canceled by remote control only from the requesting terminal device. Therefore, it is not necessary to go to the installation place of the facsimile device one by one and cancel the transmission request that has been waiting for acceptance, and it is possible to improve the usability of the facsimile device and prevent it from being accidentally canceled by another terminal device. be able to.

Further, for example, as described in claim 6, the facsimile apparatus further includes a canceling unit for instructing cancellation of the transmission request, and the transmission request managing unit is configured to send the transmission request from the canceling unit. When the cancellation request is issued, the cancellation of the accepted transmission request or the cancellation of the transmission request waiting for the acceptance may be accepted in response to the cancellation request.

According to the above configuration, when it is desired to cancel the transmission request due to the fact that the transmission function of the facsimile apparatus becomes unusable, etc., the transmission request from the transmission terminal is made by the canceling means such as the operation unit of the facsimile apparatus. It is possible to cancel the transmission request that has been accepted or is waiting for acceptance, and it is possible to improve the usability of the facsimile apparatus.

Further, for example, as described in claim 7, when the transmission request management means cancels the transmission request which is in the acceptance or the acceptance waiting state in response to the cancellation request of the cancellation means, the transmission is performed. The communication terminal that has canceled the request may be notified that the transmission request has been canceled.

According to the above configuration, when the transmission request is canceled by the operation of the facsimile device itself, the fact that the transmission request has been canceled is notified to each terminal device of the transmission request, so that the operator of the terminal device whose transmission request has been canceled is notified. Can recognize that the transmission request has been canceled, prevent the discrepancy that the document that was supposed to be transmitted is not actually transmitted, and improve the usability of the facsimile device. it can.

Further, for example, as described in claim 8, the facsimile apparatus further comprises operation means for performing various operations such as transmission operation, and when the transmission operation is performed from the operation means, the transmission request is made. The management means prioritizes the transmission request from the operation means when the transmission request from the terminal device is already accepted or waiting for the acceptance, and sets the accepted transmission request to the acceptance standby. May be

According to the above configuration, the transmission request from the facsimile device itself is processed before the transmission request from the terminal device is processed. Therefore, when it is necessary to urgently transmit a document, the transmission request from the terminal device is transmitted. The transmission request can be interrupted and the transmission request from the facsimile device can be automatically transmitted with priority, so that the usability of the facsimile device can be improved.

[0036]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and therefore, various technically preferable limitations are added. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following description. The embodiments are not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified.

1 to 9 are views showing a facsimile machine to which an embodiment of the facsimile machine of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication network to which the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is applied. The facsimile apparatus (described as FAX in FIG. 1) 1 includes a plurality of terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Is connected to a local area network (hereinafter, referred to as LAN) 20 together with other facsimile machines (FAX) Fa, Fb, ... Via the public line L such as PSTN and the exchange 21.
It is connected to the.

The facsimile apparatus 1 receives a transmission request designating a transmission destination and a cancellation request of the transmission request from a plurality of terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Through the LAN 20, and through the public line L and the exchange 21. Automatically sends to the destination facsimile devices Fa, Fb, ... Requested by the transmission request, and requests the transmission request acceptance result, rejection result, or acceptance standby result, as described later. It transmits to the said terminal device Ta, Tb, ....

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the facsimile apparatus 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2,
ROM (Read Only Memory) 3, RAM (Random Acces
s Memory) 4, operation display unit 5, image reading unit 6, image output unit 7, encoding / decoding unit 8, modem 9, network control unit 10,
Communication control unit 11 for public line (PSTN), LAN
The communication control unit 12 for 20 is provided, and the above units are connected to each other via a bus 13.

The ROM 3 stores various programs such as a basic program as a facsimile machine, a transmission request management processing program described later, and system data, and various data necessary for performing transmission request management processing.

CPU (determination means, transmission request management means) 2
Controls each part of the facsimile apparatus 1 according to the basic program stored in the ROM 3, executes the sequence as the facsimile apparatus 1, and performs the transmission request management processing based on the transmission request management processing program in the ROM. That is, the CPU 2 checks whether the image reading unit 6 is available or facsimile communication is possible when a transmission request is issued from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Connected to the LAN 20, It is determined whether or not the automatic transmission can be immediately performed in response to the transmission request, and if the automatic transmission can be immediately performed, the terminal device Ta, Tb, which has accepted the transmission request and requested that transmission, ································ At the same time, it will automatically send based on the accepted send request,
When there is a transmission request waiting for acceptance, the transmission requests are accepted in the order in which they are requested and automatically transmitted.

The RAM 4 temporarily stores the image information read by the image reading unit 6 and the image information received from other facsimile machines, and also stores various parameters necessary for executing a series of operations. Further, the RAM 4 has a management table area for managing transmission requests from a plurality of terminal devices as an acceptance standby state in a transmission request management process described later, and the management table is shown in FIG. As described above, the management number, the terminal identification information of the terminal device that has made the transmission request, and each data of the designated transmission destination are stored.

That is, when a plurality of transmission requests are concentrated at the same time, the CPU 2 assigns a younger management number to the reception order in which the transmission requests that can be automatically transmitted but cannot be immediately transmitted are set as acceptance standby. The RAM stores the terminal identification information and the transmission destination sent from the terminal device at the time of the transmission request.
No. 4 in the management table, and each time one transmission process is completed, the management table is referred to, the transmission requests on standby for acceptance are set in the acceptance state in ascending order of the management numbers, and the image reading unit 6 is sent to the designated destination. The image information of the transmission original set in is automatically transmitted. The transmission request management process will be described in detail later.

Operation display section (operation display means, cancellation means) 5
Is equipped with various operation keys such as a numeric keypad, a start key, and other function keys for performing a transmission operation and causing the facsimile apparatus 1 to perform various operations, and an LED (Light Emitting Diode).
And a display for operation display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). In particular, the operation display unit 5 includes a cancel key (cancel means) for canceling a transmission request that has been accepted or waited for acceptance, and the CPU 2 cancels the transmission request that has been accepted or waited for acceptance by the cancellation key, as described later. In response to the instructed contents, the acceptance or acceptance-waiting transmission request is canceled, and the acceptance or acceptance-waiting transmission request is canceled is notified to the terminal device making the transmission request.

The image reading unit (image reading means) 6 is composed of, for example, an image scanner in which CCDs (Charge Coupled Devices) and the like are arranged in an array, and the image scanner and the document surface are moved relatively to perform scanning. Then, the image information of the document is read at a predetermined resolution.

The image output unit 7 is, for example, a thermal recording device using a thermal element or an electrophotographic recording device, and receives image information received, image information read by the image reading unit 6, or a communication report. Etc. are recorded and output on recording paper.

The encoding / decoding unit 8 encodes the image information in accordance with a predetermined encoding method in order to improve the efficiency when storing the image information in an image information memory (not shown) and shorten the transmission time. Also, the encoded image information is decoded.

The modem 9 operates under the control of the CPU 2,
The transmission signal is modulated and the reception signal is demodulated. The network control unit 10 is a so-called AA-NCU (Network Cont.
rolUnit), which automatically receives a call from the public line L and performs automatic call processing to the public line L. The communication control unit 11 is connected to the public line L, and another facsimile device Fa connected to the public line,
Facsimile control signals are exchanged with Fb, ... And a facsimile communication procedure is executed.

The communication control unit 12 is connected to the LAN 20 and exchanges signals with terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Connected to the LAN 20 such as personal computers and workstations to execute a predetermined communication procedure. Then, the transmission request or the cancellation request from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Is accepted, and the processing results such as the transmission request are notified to the facsimile device 1 to the requesting terminal devices Ta, Tb ,.

Next, the operation will be described. The facsimile device 1 is connected to the public line L in response to a transmission request from terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Connected to the LAN 20 such as personal computers. Facsimile device F
The characteristic is that the documents of the originals set in the image reading unit 6 are automatically transmitted to a, Fb, .... The transmission request management process will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

First, the transmission request processing and the transmission request cancellation processing in the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Will be described below.

FIG. 4 shows the terminal devices Ta and T that make transmission requests.
6 is a flowchart showing the operation on the side of b, ..., When the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Make a transmission request to the facsimile device 1 via the LAN 20, as shown in FIG. In response to a predetermined transmission request operation in the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Of the operator, Ta, Tb, ... First, transmit a transmission request to the facsimile device 1 via the LAN 20 (step S1). Next, the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Send their own terminal identification information, that is, the terminal identification information of the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Making a transmission request to the facsimile device 1 (step S2). Finally, the destination information (for example, telephone number or terminal identification number) is transmitted to the facsimile device 1 (step S3). As a result, the transmission request operation from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... To the facsimile device 1 is completed.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation on the side of the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Making a request to cancel the transmission request. The terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Are the terminal devices Ta, Tb of the operator. In response to a predetermined transmission request cancel operation in the ..., The facsimile device 1 via the LAN 20.
A cancellation request of the transmission request is transmitted to (step S1).
0). Next, the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Are self-terminal identification information, that is, the terminal device Ta that requests cancellation,
The terminal identification information of Tb, ... Is transmitted (step S1).
1). Thus, the cancel request operation of the transmission request from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... To the facsimile device 1 is completed.

Next, the operation of the facsimile apparatus 1 that has received the transmission request and the cancellation request will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the basic operation of the facsimile apparatus 1 when a transmission request or a cancellation request is received from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ....

As shown in FIG. 6, the facsimile machine 1
Stands by for the terminal device T via the LAN 20 in the standby state.
It is checked at every predetermined timing whether a transmission request is received from a, Tb, ... (Step P1), and if there is no transmission request at Step P1, it is checked whether a transmission request cancellation request is received (Step P1). P2). In step P2, when the cancellation request is not received, it is checked whether or not the accepted transmission request already exists (step P3). When there is no accepted transmission request,
The process returns to step P1 and the same process is performed.

When the transmission request is received in step P1, the CPU 2 of the facsimile apparatus 1 performs the acceptance determination / notification process of the transmission request described later (step P4) and returns to step P1 to perform the same process as above. .

When the cancellation request of the transmission request is received in step P2, the CPU 2 executes the cancellation / notification process of the transmission request described later (step P5), and the step P5.
Returning to 1, the same processing as above is performed.

Further, when there is a transmission request that has already been accepted in step P3, the CPU 2, as will be described later,
The automatic transmission / acceptance update process of the document according to the transmission request is performed (step P6), and the process returns to step P1 to perform the same process as above.

Next, in step P4, the terminal device Ta,
FIG. 7 shows the acceptance determination / notification process of the transmission request when there is a transmission request from the facsimile device 1 from Tb.
A description will be given based on the flowchart of FIG.

When the CPU 2 of the facsimile apparatus 1 receives the transmission request from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ..., At the time of receiving the transmission request, the image reading section 6 reads the image information of the document and automatically transmits it. It is checked whether it is possible (step P11). This automatic transmission check is performed, for example, by checking whether the image reading unit 6 has become unusable due to a failure or the like, and whether there is an abnormality in another function of the facsimile apparatus 1 and transmission is impossible. It is a thing.

When the CPU 2 determines that the automatic transmission is impossible by this check, it notifies the transmission requesting terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... That the transmission request is rejected (step P12). Here, in the case of notifying the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ...
As shown in FIG. 4, since the terminal identification information is transmitted from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... To the facsimile device 1 together with the transmission request (see steps S1 and S2), the CPU 2 notifies the reception information. RAM4 that stores
The terminal identification information of the refusal notification destination is read from and the refusal notification is transmitted to the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Shown by the terminal identification information via the communication control unit 12.

The terminal devices Ta, T which have received the refusal notification
By displaying the fact that the transmission request is rejected on the screens (displays) of the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... By notifying the operator that the transmission request is rejected. It can be seen that the transmission request made earlier is rejected by the facsimile machine 1. Therefore, the operator of each of the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Rejected the transmission request rejects the transmission request without going to the installation location of the facsimile apparatus 1 to check whether the transmission request has been rejected. It is possible to recognize that, by sending a request again after a predetermined time,
It can be appropriately transmitted to the facsimile device 1.

When the CPU 2 determines in step P11 that automatic transmission is possible, the CPU 2 checks whether or not there is a transmission request that has already been accepted (step P1).
3) If there is no accepted transmission request,
Immediately, it is determined that automatic transmission is possible, the transmission request is accepted, and the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ...
Is notified of the acceptance of the transmission request (step P14), the acceptance of the transmission request is displayed on the display of the operation display unit 5, and the operator of the facsimile apparatus 1 is notified of that (step P14). Step P1
5).

The terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Having received the acceptance notification in step P14 notify the operator by displaying that the transmission request has been accepted on their display screens. Therefore, the operator of the terminal device Ta, Tb, ... Can set the transmission document on the image reading unit 6 of the facsimile device 1 by seeing the acceptance display, and confirm whether or not the facsimile device 1 is available. , Without going to the installation location of the facsimile machine 1 many times to check
It is possible to set a transmission original after making a transmission request from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... As a result, the usability of the facsimile machine 1 can be improved. As will be described later, when the facsimile apparatus 1 accepts the transmission request and then the transmission document is set in the image reading unit 6, the facsimile apparatus 1 reads the transmission document set by the image reading unit 6 and requests the transmission. The image information of the transmission original set in the destination facsimile machine Fa, Fb, ...

In step P14, the fact that the transmission request has been accepted is displayed on the operation display unit 5 of the facsimile apparatus 1, so the operator of the facsimile apparatus 1 recognizes that the transmission destination has already been set. Therefore, when the operator of the facsimile apparatus 1 subsequently sets the transmission document, it is possible to prevent erroneous transmission in which the transmission document is transmitted to the destination designated by the transmission request.

In step P13, when the already accepted transmission request exists, the CPU 2 determines whether the transmission request newly generated this time is from the main body of the facsimile apparatus 1 or the terminal devices Ta, Tb ,. It is sent from the terminal device Ta, Tb, ...
A management number is given to the terminal identification information and the transmission destination sent together with the transmission request, and they are stored in the management table of the RAM 4 shown in FIG. 3 to be in the acceptance standby state (step P
17). In this acceptance standby, as will be described later, the CPU 2 adds the management numbers in the normal state from "1" in the order in which the transmission requests are received, and when the automatic transmission process of the accepted transmission requests is completed, the CPU 2 sequentially starts from the smallest management number. The transmission request that has been made to wait for acceptance is set to the acceptance state.

Upon completion of the acceptance standby, the CPU 2
The terminal device Ta, Tb, ... Of the transmission request source is notified that the acceptance has been waited, and the acceptance determination / notification process ends (step P18). The terminal device Ta that has received the acceptance standby notification,
Tb, ... Displays on the screen of its own device that the transmission request is on standby for acceptance, and prompts the operator to confirm that it is on standby for acceptance. The operator of the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Sees this display, finds that the previously requested transmission request is waiting for acceptance, and waits until the transmission request is accepted.

If the transmission request is a request from the main body of the facsimile apparatus 1 in step P16, the CPU 2
The transmission request that has already been accepted is put in the acceptance waiting state (step P19), and the interrupt transmission request from the facsimile apparatus 1 main body is accepted (step P20). In response to the accepted transmission request from the facsimile apparatus 1, the transmission original set in the image reading unit 6 is read and transmitted.

To preferentially accept the transmission request from the facsimile machine 1, the operator of the main body of the facsimile machine 1 hurries when the document transmission process using the facsimile machine 1 is executed in the order in which the transmission request is received. This is because in order to eliminate this inconvenience, it is necessary to wait until the turn comes even if it is necessary to transmit the data. Here, the management number of the transmission request in the acceptance waiting state is set to "0" as shown in FIG. 3, so that it can be immediately accepted after the automatic transmission of the interrupt transmission request from the facsimile apparatus 1 main body is completed. However, the method is not limited to this.

Therefore, the facsimile apparatus 1 accepts the transmission request only when there is a transmission request when the automatic transmission can be immediately performed, gives an acceptance notification of the acceptance, and automatically when an abnormality of the image reading unit 6 occurs. When the transmission is impossible, the transmission request is rejected and the terminal devices Ta, Tb ,.
.. By sending rejection notifications to multiple terminal devices T
If transmission requests from a, Tb, ... Are automatically sent at the same time, appropriate transmission can be performed, and how the transmission requests are processed by the requested terminal devices Ta, Tb ,. You can know

Immediately, even if automatic transmission is impossible, if there is no abnormality in the image reading unit 6 or the like, the transmission request is not rejected and the terminal device Ta, Tb is notified of that fact. ... is notified, so that it is possible to eliminate the trouble of making a transmission request again.

Further, since the facsimile device 1 displays on the operation display unit 5 whether or not the transmission request has already been accepted from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ..., The operator of the facsimile device 1 can perform a transmission operation or the like. When performing, the terminal device T
It is possible to avoid erroneous transmission such as erroneous transmission to designated destinations from a, Tb, ....

Next, based on FIG. 8, step P of FIG.
The cancellation / notification process of the transmission request of No. 5 will be described below.

In the cancellation / notification processing of the transmission request, as shown in FIG. 8, when the CPU 2 receives the cancellation request of the transmission request, whether or not the cancellation request is from the main body of the facsimile apparatus 1, that is, the operation display. It is checked whether or not the transmission request from the unit 5 is a cancellation request (step P3).
1).

In step P31, if the request is a cancellation request from the main body of the facsimile apparatus 1, the CPU 2 cancels all the transmission requests (accepted or waiting for acceptance) (step P32), and sends the canceled request of the transmission request. The terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Are notified that the transmission request has been canceled (step P33).

Therefore, if the communication function becomes unusable after accepting the transmission request or waiting for the acceptance, if the transmission request is not canceled, the state in which the document is not transmitted continues and the availability of the facsimile apparatus 1 is improved. Can be prevented from becoming worse. In addition, a notification that the transmission request has been canceled by the facsimile device 1 is sent to the terminal devices Ta, Tb ,.
.., the terminal device Ta, Tb, ... displays that the transmission request has been canceled on the display screen, and the terminal device Ta, Tb, ...・
Can be recognized by the operator. As a result, the operators of the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Can take measures such as requesting again, if necessary. In step P32 of FIG. 8, if there is a cancellation request from the facsimile device 1, all transmission requests are canceled. However, the operator of the facsimile device 1 selects from among the transmission requests that are accepted or waiting for acceptance. It is also possible to specify a transmission request that is accepted or waiting for acceptance and selectively cancel it.

In step P31, when the cancellation request is not from the main body of the facsimile apparatus 1, that is, when the cancellation request is from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ..., The terminal identification information sent together with the cancellation request. (Fig. 5
Based on step S11), the transmission request requested by the terminal device is searched from the management table of the RAM 4 and is canceled (step S34).

Therefore, each terminal device Ta, Tb, ...
Indicates that the previously requested transmission can be canceled as necessary, and the usability of the facsimile apparatus 1 can be improved.

Finally, in step P6 of FIG.
The acceptance update process will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

The CPU 2 checks whether the transmission original is set in the image reading section 6 (step P4).
1) If the original is not set, it is determined that the preparation for transmission has not been completed, and the processing ends.
When the transmission original is set in step P41, automatic transmission is performed based on the accepted transmission request (step P42). That is, the facsimile apparatus 1 reads the transmission document set in the image reading unit 6,
After being encoded by the encoding / decoding unit 8, the other party designated by the transmission request is called and transmitted.

When the automatic transmission is completed, the CPU 2 causes the RA
The management table of M4 is searched and it is checked whether or not there is a transmission request waiting for acceptance (step P
43) If there is no transmission request in the acceptance standby state, the automatic transmission / acceptance update process is ended as it is.

If there is a transmission request in the acceptance standby state in step P43, the CPU 2 searches the management table in the RAM 4 for the transmission request with the smallest management number, and accepts the transmission request. (Step P4
4), based on the terminal identification information stored in the management table of the RAM 4, the terminal device T that is the request source of the transmission request.
The notification that the transmission request has been accepted is sent to a, Tb, ... (Step P45), and the fact that the transmission request has been accepted is displayed on the display of the operation display unit 4 of the facsimile apparatus 1, and the facsimile apparatus is displayed. No. 1 operator is notified, and the automatic transmission / acceptance update process ends (step P46).

The terminal devices Ta, Tb, ...
.. By the notification of acceptance, the operator can recognize that the transmission request made earlier has changed from acceptance standby to acceptance, and the transmission original is set in the image reading unit 6 of the facsimile apparatus 1. You can grasp the timing. When the transmission original is set in the image reading unit 6, the facsimile apparatus 1 detects the transmission original in step P41 and performs the transmission process.

Further, the operation display section 5 of the facsimile apparatus 1
Since it is displayed on the display that there is an accepted transmission request, the operator of the facsimile apparatus 1 can be notified that the transmission request has already been accepted and the destination has been set. However, it is possible to prevent another transmission original from being erroneously transmitted to the transmission destination designated by the transmission request from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ...

As described above, according to this embodiment, even if a plurality of transmission requests from a plurality of terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Acceptance, waiting for acceptance, or refusal of acceptance, and the result is determined by the requesting terminal device Ta, Tb ,.
.. by notifying each terminal device Ta, Tb ,.
It is possible to grasp the processing state of the transmission request in the facsimile machine 1 by means of .. and improve the usability of the facsimile machine 1.

Further, even if the transmission request made from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... To the facsimile device 1 is accepted or waits for acceptance, the requesting terminal device Ta, Tb ,. It can be canceled and the facsimile apparatus 1 can be used efficiently and appropriately.

Further, even when a plurality of transmission requests are generated at the same time, the transmission is sequentially performed in order of waiting for acceptance in the order of transmission requests, so that the facsimile apparatus 1 can be used fairly and waiting for acceptance can be performed. Since the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Are notified of the switching from the acceptance standby to the acceptance, the transmission original is updated when the acceptance standby is updated to the acceptance on the display screens of the terminal devices Ta, Tb ,. Since it may be set, the usability of the facsimile device 1 can be further improved.

Although the invention made by the inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

For example, in the above embodiment, LA
In the case where the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Connected to the N20 make a transmission request to the facsimile device 1 to request transmission to the other facsimile devices Fa, Fb ,. As I explained, the sender is
It is not limited to the other party connected to the public line L, but L
It may be the other party connected to the AN 20. Also, the transmission request is made by the terminal device T connected to the LAN 20.
It is not limited to a, Tb, ..., For example, it may be a terminal device connected to the public line L.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the document original is read by the image reading unit 6 and the transmission processing is performed by the transmission request from the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... However, the transmission original document may be a document stored in an image memory (not shown), the RAM 4, or the like after being read by the image reading unit 6. In this case, when the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ... Send the transmission request to the facsimile device 1, the terminal devices Ta, Tb, ...

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the transmission requests in the standby state for acceptance are assigned management numbers in the order in which they are requested, and the automatic transmission process is performed by shifting to acceptance in the order of the management numbers. The transmission request management method described above is not limited to the above-described one, and for example, the terminal devices Ta, T
It is also possible to set the priority according to the importance of the transmitted document such as urgent or normal from b, ..., And perform the processing according to the priority.

[0094]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when there are transmission requests from a plurality of terminal devices, the transmission requests are rejected except for the earliest transmission request, and a request for refusal is made. Since it is notified to the terminal device that has transmitted, the rejected terminal device can appropriately process the transmission requests from the plurality of terminal devices by repeatedly sending the transmission requests until the acceptance notification is received.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the invention described in claim 2, when there are transmission requests from a plurality of terminal devices and automatic transmission cannot be immediately performed, the transmission request is not rejected and a management number is set as an acceptance standby. When it is possible to automatically send the transmission request that has been placed in the standby state for acceptance, the terminal device accepts the transmission request that has been placed in the standby state based on the management number. , The acceptance can be notified to the terminal device, and the operator of the terminal device only needs to make a transmission request once and can know automatically how the transmission request is handled by the facsimile device. it can. As a result, the usability of the facsimile machine can be improved.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, since whether or not the transmission request has already been accepted from the terminal apparatus is displayed and notified, when the operator of the facsimile apparatus performs a transmission operation or the like, It is possible to avoid erroneous transmission such as erroneous transmission from the terminal device to the designated destination, and it is possible to properly use the facsimile device.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the invention described in claim 4, only the terminal device which has once made the transmission request can cancel the once-accepted transmission request, and the terminal device does not need the once-accepted transmission request. When it is desired to cancel the transmission request for some reason, the transmission request being accepted can be canceled only by remote operation from the requesting terminal device. As a result, it is not necessary to go to the installation location of the facsimile device one by one and cancel the accepted transmission request, the usability of the facsimile device can be improved, and it is prevented from being accidentally canceled by another terminal device. be able to.

According to the fifth aspect of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, only the terminal requesting the transmission request can be canceled, and the terminal apparatus needs the transmission request once it is on standby for acceptance. When it is desired to cancel the transmission request because it is no longer available, the transmission request waiting for acceptance can be canceled by remote control only from the requesting terminal device. Therefore, it is not necessary to go to the installation location of the facsimile device one by one and cancel the transmission request that has been waiting for acceptance, and it is possible to improve the usability of the facsimile device and prevent it from being accidentally canceled by another terminal device. be able to.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when it is desired to cancel the transmission request due to the fact that the transmission function of the facsimile apparatus becomes unusable, the canceling means such as the operation unit of the facsimile apparatus is used. It is possible to cancel a transmission request that has been accepted or awaiting acceptance for the transmission request from the transmission terminal, and improve the usability of the facsimile apparatus.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the transmission request is canceled by the operation of the facsimile device itself, the fact that the transmission request is canceled is notified to each terminal device. The operator of the canceled terminal device can recognize that the transmission request has been canceled, and prevent the discrepancy that the document, which was recognized as being to be transmitted, is not actually transmitted. The usability can be improved.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, since the transmission request from the facsimile apparatus itself is processed with priority over the transmission request from the terminal apparatus, it is necessary to urgently transmit a document. In such a case, the transmission request from the terminal device can be interrupted and the transmission request from the facsimile device can be automatically transmitted with priority, so that the usability of the facsimile device can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network to which a facsimile device to which an embodiment of a facsimile device of the present invention is applied is connected.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a management table formed in the RAM of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 2 for managing the standby for acceptance of a transmission request.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a transmission request process in the terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a cancellation request process of a transmission request in the terminal device.

6 is a flowchart showing the basic processing of transmission request management processing by the facsimile apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of acceptance determination / notification processing of the transmission request of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of cancellation / notification processing of the transmission request of FIG.

9 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of automatic transmission / acceptance update processing of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Facsimile device 2 CPU 3 ROM 4 RAM 5 Operation display unit 6 Image reading unit 7 Image output unit 8 Encoding / decoding unit 9 Modem 10 Network control unit 11, 12 Communication control unit 13 Bus 20 LAN 21 Exchanger Ta, Tb, ... Terminal devices Fa, Fb, ... Facsimile devices

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image reading device connected to a plurality of terminal devices via a network and to a plurality of facsimile devices via a public line, and image reading in response to a transmission request from the terminal device designating a destination. A facsimile apparatus having an automatic transmission function of reading an original set on a means and transmitting image information of the original read by the image reading means to the designated destination, and a transmission request from the terminal device. According to the determination means for determining whether or not the automatic transmission can be performed immediately, and when there is a transmission request from the terminal device, the determination means immediately determines that the automatic transmission is possible. , Accepting the transmission request, notifying the terminal device that has made the transmission request that the transmission request has been accepted, and the determination means immediately executes the automatic transmission. When it is determined that the transmission request is impossible, the transmission request is rejected, and a transmission request management unit that performs a refusal notification indicating that the transmission request is rejected to the terminal device that has made the transmission request is provided. And a facsimile machine. 2. The transmission request management means accepts the transmission request when the determination means immediately determines that the automatic transmission is possible when the transmission request is made from the terminal device, and the transmission request management means When the determination unit immediately determines that the automatic transmission cannot be performed, the terminal device that has made the transmission request notifies the terminal device that the transmission request has been accepted, and when the determination unit immediately determines that the automatic transmission cannot be performed, a predetermined management number is assigned Then, the terminal device that has made the transmission request is managed in association with the identification information that identifies the terminal device, and an acceptance standby notification indicating that the terminal device that has made the transmission request is waiting for acceptance of the transmission request is issued. At the same time, when the determination means determines that the automatic transmission is possible immediately for the transmission request that has been waiting to be received, the transmission requests that are waiting for the acceptance are accepted in the order of the management numbers, Facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the acceptance notification of the acceptance of the said transmission request to said terminal device that has the transmission request Nuo. 3. The facsimile device further comprises operation display means for performing various operations such as transmission operation and displaying various information, and the transmission request management means has already transmitted the transmission request from the terminal device. When accepting,
3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation display means displays that the transmission request has been accepted. 4. When there is a cancellation request for canceling the transmission request from the terminal device, the transmission request management means, based on the terminal identification information of the terminal device that has made the cancellation request, the transmission request management unit from the terminal device. It is determined whether or not the transmission request is accepted, and only for the transmission request from the terminal device,
4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein cancellation of the transmission request is accepted. 5. The transmission request management means, when there is a cancellation request for canceling the transmission request from the terminal device, based on the terminal identification information of the terminal device that has made the cancellation request, the transmission request management means from the terminal device. The facsimile according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein it is determined whether or not the acceptance of the transmission request is on standby, and the cancellation of the transmission request is accepted only for the transmission request from the terminal device. apparatus. 6. The facsimile apparatus further comprises cancellation means for instructing cancellation of the transmission request, and the transmission request management means responds to the cancellation request when there is a cancellation request for the transmission request from the cancellation means. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the accepted transmission request or cancellation of the transmission request waiting for the acceptance is accepted accordingly. 7. The transmission request management means cancels the transmission request that has been accepted or waited for the acceptance in response to the cancellation request of the cancellation means, and sends the transmission request to the communication terminal that canceled the transmission request. 7. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the facsimile apparatus notifies that the cancellation has been made. 8. The facsimile apparatus further comprises operation means for performing various operations such as transmission operation, and when a transmission operation is performed by the operation means, the transmission request management means causes the transmission from the terminal device to be performed. 8. When the request is already accepted or waiting for acceptance, the transmission request from the operation means is prioritized, and the accepted transmission request is placed in the acceptance standby. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of 1.