JPH10117210A - Internet facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate inconveniences caused in a transmitting operation mode by storing the main address information of Internet and a telephone number of a public network with relation to each other and transmitting the transmitting image information to the destination terminal, after converting it into the electronic mail text data. SOLUTION: A domain DM1 installed in the U.S. consisting of a mail server terminal SV1 which performs the electronic mail service for the client terminal CL1 and CL2 and an Internet facsimile equipment FI1 around a local area network LAN1 and a router RT1. A domain DM2 that is installed in Japan has an exactly the same constitution as the DM1 of the U.S. The electronic mails received from the terminals CL1 and CL2 are once stored at the terminal SV1, sent to Internet INET via the router RT1 and stored at a main server terminal SV2 of the opposite party side. On the other hand, every terminal inquires on both terminals SV1 and SV2 about the mails addresses to it in a proper cycle and fetches electronic mails addressed to it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a function of exchanging e-mail data on a local area network and the Internet, connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a public network. The present invention relates to an Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of the Internet, a local area network has been connected to the Internet by connecting it to an Internet provider via a dedicated line. A so-called Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging information as electronic mail has been put to practical use.

[0003] Further, such an Internet facsimile apparatus further includes communication means of a general switching network or an ISDN (hereinafter, referred to as a public network) so as to be able to communicate with a partner terminal connected to the public network. Practical.

[0004]

In such an Internet facsimile apparatus, data can be exchanged between terminals having the same function via the Internet, and image information can be exchanged with a normal facsimile apparatus via a public network. It is possible to exchange, but at the time of image information transmission operation, it is necessary to specify whether to use the Internet or a general switching network, and it is necessary to confirm to which terminal the other terminal is connected Yes, inconvenient.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a facsimile apparatus that can eliminate inconvenience during a transmission operation.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, a function of exchanging e-mail data on the local area network and the Internet, and In an Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging facsimile data according to a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a network, mail address information used when exchanging data via the Internet with a destination terminal having the same function has the same function as the mail address information. Destination management information storage means for storing destination management information stored in association with a destination telephone number when exchanging data via the public network with the destination terminal provided with the destination telephone number specified in the remote location. And the destination telephone number is the destination management information. If registered in the storage means, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the mail address information stored in the destination management information storage means is converted to the destination mail address for the destination telephone number. To form the e-mail data in which the e-mail text data is set as the text data, and transmit the e-mail data to the destination terminal via the local area network and the Internet. Is used to send a call to the designated destination telephone number, and transmit the transmission image information to the destination terminal by a predetermined facsimile transmission procedure.

Also, a function of exchanging e-mail data on the local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network In an Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging facsimile data, mail address information for exchanging data with a destination terminal having the same function via the Internet, and a public network being connected to a destination terminal having the same function. Destination telephone number when exchanging data via
A destination management information storage unit for storing destination management information storing the terminal in which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when data is exchanged via the public network, and If the telephone number is registered in the destination management information storage means as one of the final destination numbers, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the final destination number is converted to the destination management information. The e-mail address information stored in the storage means is set in the To field of the header information of the e-mail data, the designated final destination number is set in the Subject field of the header information of the e-mail data, and the e-mail text data is set. The e-mail data set in the body data is formed, and the e-mail data is When the final destination number is set in the Subject field of the header information of the received e-mail data while transmitting to the destination terminal via the network and the Internet, the transmission image information is transmitted from the received e-mail data. The reverse conversion is performed, a call is sent to the final destination number using the public network, and the transmission image information formed by the reverse conversion is transmitted. In addition, the Sub information of the header information of the e-mail data
The final destination number set in the "ject" field may be converted to a local number based on the destination telephone number stored in the destination management information storage means.

Further, a function of exchanging e-mail data on the local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network In an Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging facsimile data, mail address information for exchanging data with a destination terminal having the same function via the Internet, and a public network being connected to a destination terminal having the same function. Destination telephone number when exchanging data via
A destination management information storage unit for storing destination management information storing the terminal in which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when data is exchanged via the public network, and When the telephone number is registered as the destination telephone number in the destination management information storage unit, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the destination telephone number is stored in the destination management information storage unit. Is set in the To field of the header information of the e-mail data, and a predetermined unique value is set in the S field of the header information of the e-mail data.
The e-mail data set in the object field is formed, and the e-mail data is transmitted to the destination terminal via the local area network and the Internet.
When the predetermined eigenvalue is set in the object field, the transmission image information is inversely converted from the received e-mail data, the transmission image information is decoded into the original image data, and the image obtained as a result of the decoding is obtained. Is recorded and output.

Also, a function of exchanging e-mail data on the local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network In an Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging facsimile data, mail address information for exchanging data with a destination terminal having the same function via the Internet, and a public network being connected to a destination terminal having the same function. Destination telephone number when exchanging data via
A destination management information storage unit for storing destination management information storing the terminal in which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when data is exchanged via the public network, and If the telephone number is registered in the destination management information storage means as one of the final destination numbers, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the final destination number is converted to the destination management information. The e-mail address information stored in the storage means is set in the To field of the header information of the e-mail data, the designated final destination number is set in a predetermined item of the main body of the e-mail data, and the e-mail main body data is set in the main body. Form the e-mail data set in the data, and send the e-mail data to the local area network and the interface. While transmitted through the network to the destination terminal, to a predetermined item of the body of the e-mail data received,
If any final destination number is set,
The transmission image information is inversely converted from the received electronic mail data, a call is made to the final destination number using the public network, and the transmission image information formed by the above-described inverse conversion is transmitted. The final destination number set in a predetermined item of the body of the e-mail data may be converted into a local number based on the destination telephone number stored in the destination management information storage means. Good.

[0010] Further, a function of exchanging e-mail data on the local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network In an Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging facsimile data, mail address information for exchanging data with a destination terminal having the same function via the Internet, and a public network being connected to a destination terminal having the same function. Destination telephone number when exchanging data via
A destination management information storage unit for storing destination management information storing the terminal in which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when data is exchanged via the public network, and When the telephone number is registered as the destination telephone number in the destination management information storage unit, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the destination telephone number is stored in the destination management information storage unit. The e-mail address information is set in the To field of the header information of the e-mail data, a predetermined unique value is set in a predetermined item of the body of the e-mail data to form e-mail data, and the e-mail data is stored in a local area network. And the body of the received e-mail data while sending to the destination terminal via the Internet When the predetermined item has the predetermined unique value, the transmitted image information is inversely converted from the received e-mail data, the transmitted image information is decoded into the original image data, and the image obtained as a result of the decoding is obtained. Is recorded and output.

[0011] In the From field of the header information of the electronic mail data, a mail address registered in the terminal itself may be set. Further, after the processing of the e-mail data, an e-mail text for notifying the communication result may be created, and the e-mail text may be notified to the e-mail address set in the From field of the header information of the received e-mail data. .

In the From field of the header information of the e-mail data, a mail address registered in the terminal itself is set, and after the processing of the e-mail data, an e-mail text for notifying a communication result is created. The e-mail text is notified to the e-mail address set in the From field of the header information of the received e-mail data, and the predetermined unique value is set in the Subject field of the header information of the e-mail data. It is something to do.

In the From field of the header information of the e-mail data, a mail address registered in the terminal itself is set, and after the processing of the e-mail data, an e-mail text for notifying a communication result is created. The e-mail text is notified to the e-mail address set in the From field of the header information of the received e-mail data, and the predetermined unique value is set in a predetermined item of the e-mail data text. It is like that.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises setting means for setting whether or not to perform an operation of transmitting the transmission image information by the electronic mail.

[0015]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, electronic mail is mainly taken as an application using the Internet, and therefore, in the following description, applications other than electronic mail are omitted.

This communication system mainly comprises a domain DM1 centered on a local area network LAN1 provided in the United States and a domain DM2 centered on a local area network LAN2 provided in Japan. Also, the facsimile machine FX1
The facsimile machine FX2 is a Group 3 facsimile machine installed in the United States that uses the international telephone network PSTN as a transmission line, and the facsimile device FX2 is installed in Japan and uses the international telephone network PSTN as a transmission line.

Further, each domain DM1, DM2
Is connected to the Internet I via the routers RT1 and RT2.
A dedicated line is connected to a NET service provider (network connection provider; not shown).

Here, in the domains DM1 and DM2, unique network addresses are set by dividing the assigned network addresses by applying a predetermined value of the subnet address.
1 and DM2 can perform data transmission via the routers RT1 and RT2 and the Internet INET.

The domain DM1 is provided with client terminals CL1 and CL2 connected to the local area network LAN1 and a mail server terminal SV1 for providing an electronic mail service to the Internet facsimile machine FI1. Also, for example,
Each of the client terminals CL1 and CL2, the Internet facsimile machine FI1, and the mail server terminal SV1 is set with a unique host address obtained by connecting a unique address to the network address of the domain DM1. Is set to a user address obtained by connecting the host address of one of the client terminals CL1 and CL2 to a unique user name.

Similarly, the domain DM2 is provided with client terminals CL3 and CL4 connected to the local area network LAN2 and a mail server terminal SV2 for providing an electronic mail service to the Internet facsimile machine FI2. Further, for example, each of the client terminals CL3 and CL4, the Internet facsimile machine FI2, and the mail server terminal SV2 is set with a unique host address obtained by linking a unique address to the network address of the domain DM2. , This domain DM2
Is set to a user address obtained by connecting the host address of one of the client terminals CL3 and CL4 to a unique user name.

Also, Internet facsimile FI
1, FI2 is a local area network LAN1,
A transmission function for exchanging image information as e-mail by connecting to the LAN 2 and an international telephone network (public network) P
It has a transmission function for connecting to the STN and transmitting image information according to the group 3 facsimile transmission procedure using the international telephone network PSTN as a transmission path.

Basically, data exchange between terminals connected to the local area networks LAN1 and LAN2 and data exchange performed via the Internet INET are called TCP / IP.
This is performed by applying a combination (a so-called protocol suite) of a transmission protocol up to a transport layer called a transport layer and a communication protocol of a higher layer than that. For example, in the exchange of e-mail data, SMTP (Simple) is used as the upper layer communication protocol.
A communication protocol called Mail Transfer Protocol is applied.

Further, in this embodiment, the electronic mail is transmitted in a storage delivery type transmission form in which the electronic mail is temporarily stored in the mail server terminals SV1 and SV2 and then delivered to the destination. At this time, if the value of the destination address (to be described later) attached to the e-mail includes the network address set in each of the domains DM1 and DM2,
The e-mail is sent to the corresponding mail server terminal SV1,
The value of the destination address stored directly in the SV2 and attached to the e-mail is stored in each domain DM.
1, if it contains a value other than the network address set in DM2, the e-mail is sent to the router RT.
The data is sent to the Internet INET via the RT1 and is transmitted to an appropriate domain or host having a network address corresponding to the value of the destination address by the data transfer function of the Internet INET.

Therefore, for example, electronic mail from each user of the domain DM1 to each user of the domain DM2 is temporarily stored in the mail server terminal SV1, and the electronic mail stored in the mail server terminal SV1 is transmitted via the router RT1. Is transmitted to the Internet INET, and is transmitted via the Internet INET to the mail server terminal SV2 of the other party's domain DM2 and stored.

On the other hand, each terminal (the client terminal and the Internet facsimile machine) makes an inquiry to the mail server terminals SV1 and SV2 at a suitable period to receive an e-mail addressed to the user of the terminal, and sends an e-mail addressed to the user. Is stored in the mail server terminals SV1 and SV2, the e-mail is received from the mail server terminals SV1 and SV2, and the terminal user is notified of that fact. However, in this case, the Internet facsimile apparatus handles the e-mail address set in its own terminal as the user address.

Here, each terminal is a mail server terminal SV.
The protocol applied to confirm the receipt of an e-mail addressed to a user for SV1 and SV2 is a so-called POP (Po
stOffice Protocol) is applied.

Communication protocols such as TCP / IP, SMTP, and POP, and data formats and data structures of electronic mails are described in IETF (Intranet).
ternet Engineering Task F
orce), an RFC (Request) issued by an organization that summarizes technical content related to the Internet.
st For Comments) document. For example, TCP is RFC793, IP is RFC
793, SMTP is defined by RFC821, and the format of electronic mail is defined by RFC822, RFC1341, RFC1342, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the Internet facsimile apparatuses FI1 and FI2.

In FIG. 1, a system control unit 1 performs various control processes such as a control process of each unit of the facsimile apparatus and a facsimile transmission control procedure process. A control processing program to be executed, and various data necessary for executing the processing program are stored.
The work area of the system control section 1 is constituted. The parameter memory 3 is for storing various information unique to the facsimile apparatus. The clock circuit 4 is for outputting current time information. is there.

The scanner 5 is for reading an original image at a predetermined resolution, the plotter 6 is for recording and outputting an image at a predetermined resolution, and the operation display section 7 is a facsimile apparatus. To operate,
It consists of various operation keys and various indicators.

The encoding / decoding section 8 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal.
This is for storing a large number of image information in a coded and compressed state.

The group 3 facsimile modem 10 is for realizing a group 3 facsimile modem function. The group 3 facsimile modem 10 is a low speed modem function (V.21 modem) for exchanging transmission procedure signals, and mainly exchanges image information. High-speed modem function (V.17 modem,
V. 34 modem, V.34. 29 modem, V.29. 27ter modem etc.).

The network control device 11 is for connecting the facsimile apparatus to the international telephone network PSTN, and has an automatic transmission / reception function.

The local area network interface circuit 12 is for connecting the Internet facsimile apparatus to a local area network, and the local area network transmission control unit 13
It is for executing communication control processing of a predetermined protocol suite for exchanging various data with other data terminal devices via the local area network and the Internet.

The system control unit 1, system memory 2, parameter memory 3, clock circuit 4, scanner 5, plotter 6, operation display unit 7, encoding / decoding unit 8, image storage device 9, group 3 facsimile modem The network controller 10, the network controller 11, and the local area network transmission controller 13 are connected to an internal bus 14. Data exchange between these elements is mainly performed via the internal bus 14. I have.

Data exchange between the network controller 11 and the group 3 facsimile modem 10 is directly performed.

Further, the Internet facsimile apparatus F
The parameter memories 3 of I1 and FI2 are connected via the local area networks LN1 and LN2 and the Internet INET to the telephone numbers to be referred to when connecting to the respective destination Internet facsimile apparatuses via the international telephone network PSTN. A telephone number conversion table indicating the relationship with the user address to be referred to at the time is stored. FIG. 3A shows an example of the telephone number conversion table.

In this case, a host name that can be easily recognized is used as the host address value of the corresponding mail address corresponding to the user address. This host name is, for example, a DNS (Dom) that collectively manages a correspondence table of host addresses corresponding to the host names in each domain.
ain Name System; RFC1034, R
FC1035) It is converted to a corresponding IP address by a server or the like. In this case, the host name-IP address conversion function of the DNS server or the like is performed by the mail server terminal S.
V1 and SV2 have both. Therefore, this host name-IP address conversion process is performed by the mail server terminal S
V1 and SV2.

With the above configuration, this Internet facsimile apparatus FI (FI, FI2) determines whether the destination telephone number input at that time is an overseas one when the user performs a transmission operation. And if it is overseas, refer to the contents of the telephone number conversion table to see if the destination telephone number entered at that time is registered.

If not registered, the network controller 1
In step 1, a call is made to the destination telephone number, and thereafter, a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission procedure is executed, and the image information of the transmission original set in the scanner 5 is transmitted to the destination terminal.

When the destination telephone number input by the operation is registered in the telephone number conversion table, the registered corresponding mail address is taken out, and the taken out corresponding mail address is used as the destination address. 5 to form an electronic mail in which the image information of the transmission original set in the main body 5 is set in the body data, and transmits the electronic mail to the local area network transmission control unit 13 and the local area network interface circuit 12.
To the mail server terminal of the local area network via

FIG. 4 shows an example of the electronic mail transmitted in this case.

An e-mail basically includes header information and body information. The header information basically includes a “Date” field for setting transmission date and time information and information for identifying the e-mail. "Messag
e-ID "field," Fr "for displaying the caller
An "om" field and a "To" field for displaying a destination address.

Therefore, in this case, the transmission date and time is "Tu
e, 23 Jul 1996 15:45:21 +
0900 (indicating JST) ”and the identification information of the e-mail is“ <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX @ jpnbox.
*****. co. jp> ”. In addition, the sender is "Marketing_DIV1 <NETFAX_
JPN @ jpnbox. *****. co. jp>", and the destination address is"<NETFAX_USA @ "in the United States.
usabox. *****. co. jp> ”.

In the present embodiment, the user address "<NETFAX__" of the Internet facsimile apparatus on the transmitting side is provided in the "From" field for displaying the sender.
JPN @ jpnbox. *****. co. jp> ”, the content“ Marke ”of the transmission terminal identification information (TSI) set in the Internet facsimile apparatus.
By adding “ting_DIV1”, the receiving side can know identification information other than the user address of the transmitting side.

The text information must be basically 7-bit readable information. In this case, since the image information to be transmitted is binary data, it cannot be directly transmitted. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, MIME (Multipurpose Int)
ernet Mail Extensions (multi-purpose mail); converted to information in RFC1341, RFC1342) format.

That is, the text information in this case is "MIME" indicating that the text information is in MIME format.
-Version "field (the value is" 1.0 "
Fixed), "Cont" to indicate the content encoding method
The “ent-Transfer-Encoding” field (in this case, it indicates that the “base64” encoding method is used), and the image information is “base64”.
It is composed of MIME information after encoding according to the encoding rule.

FIG. 5 shows a processing example on the transmitting side of the Internet facsimile apparatuses FI1 and FI2 in this case.

When the user performs a transmission operation and inputs a destination telephone number (process 101), it is checked whether or not the destination telephone number is overseas (decision 102). In this judgment 102, specifically, whether or not the calling number of the international telephone service company (for example, "001" of KDD in Japan) is added at the head, whether the destination telephone number is overseas , To determine if it is domestic.

If the result of decision 102 is YES, it is checked whether the telephone number entered at that time is registered in the telephone number conversion table (decision 10).
3). When the result of the determination 103 is YES, it means that the other terminal is an Internet facsimile machine.

In this case, the corresponding mail address is extracted (step 104), the header information as described above is edited (step 105), and the image data formed by reading the transmission original set on the scanner 5 is read. The encoding and decoding unit 8 encodes and compresses the image information, and converts the image information formed by the encoding and decoding by the above-described base64 encoding method to the MIM.
E information is formed (step 106).

Then, a predetermined SMTP procedure is started (step 107), and header information and body information (MIME information) are sequentially transmitted to the local area network (step 10).
8) The SMTP procedure ends (step 109), and the image information transmission operation by e-mail ends.

If the telephone number entered at that time is domestic, and the result of determination 102 is NO,
Or, if the phone number entered is overseas,
If it is not registered in the telephone number conversion table and the result of determination 103 is NO, a call is made to the international telephone network PSTN using the telephone number input at that time (process 110), and a predetermined group A three facsimile transmission process is executed to transmit the image information of the transmission original set on the scanner 5 (process 111).

When the transmission of the image information is completed, the line is restored (step 112), and a series of image information transmission operations is completed.

FIG. 6 shows a processing example when the Internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail.

When the e-mail is received (the result of judgment 201 is YES), the MIME information of the body information is changed to base64.
The image information data is formed by performing an inverse conversion by an encoding method (process 202), and the image information data is decoded into the original image data by the encoding / decoding unit 8 (process 203), and the image data obtained by the process is obtained. Is transferred to the plotter 6 to record and output the received document image (process 204).

As described above, in the present embodiment, when transmitting image information to an overseas Internet facsimile machine, the Internet I
Since NET is used, communication costs can be significantly reduced.

In the present embodiment, the Internet is used when transmitting to an Internet facsimile machine installed overseas, but when transmitting to an Internet facsimile apparatus installed in a remote place, the Internet is used. It can also be used.

By the way, in the communication system of FIG.
When transmitting image information from the Internet facsimile apparatus FI2 in Japan to the facsimile apparatus FX1 in the United States, the international telephone network PSTN can be used. However, since international telephone communication charges are charged, the same country (ie, the United States) is used. Internet facsimile machine FI installed
1 is disadvantageous in cost as compared with the case of transmitting image information.

In this case, for example, from the Internet facsimile machine FI2 in Japan to the facsimile machine F in the United States
If the image information transmission to X1 is performed by relaying the Internet facsimile machine FI1 in the United States, the additional billing amount is reduced by the Internet facsimile machine FI1 in the United States.
Only the domestic communication fee from the US to the domestic facsimile machine FX1, and the communication cost can be greatly reduced.

FIG. 3B shows an example of a telephone number conversion table for realizing such a relay operation.

The facsimile number indicates a destination telephone number, etc., and the corresponding mail address indicates the address of an Internet facsimile apparatus serving as a relay station.
TFAX-Flag indicates whether the terminal of this facsimile number is an Internet facsimile,
The transfer destination facsimile number indicates the telephone number of the final destination facsimile when the terminal of this facsimile number is used as a relay station.

For example, as the destination telephone number “001-1”
-201-673-XXXX "is entered,
Send the image information by e-mail to the corresponding mail address.

As the destination telephone number, "001-1"
-201-673-YYYY "is input.
"001-201-201-673-YYYY" for the Internet facsimile machine of the corresponding mail address
Send an e-mail requesting a relay transmission to. Also,
In this case, since the input telephone number is an international telephone number, when a transfer destination is specified, it is converted into a domestic telephone number at the relay station, and the transfer destination is specified by the domestic telephone number. That is, the telephone number of the transfer destination in this case is converted to “0201-673-YYYY”.

[001-43-ANY] is
"001-43" is applied to all telephone numbers to which "001-43" is added (that is, all Australian destination telephone numbers). For example, "001-43-
When the telephone number “1-797-11-3425” is input, the corresponding mail address “<NETFAX_A
ST @ astbox. *****. co. jp> ”, an electronic mail requesting a relay transmission is transmitted. Also, since the transfer destination in that case is converted to a domestic number, "01-797"
−11-3425 ”.

"* 01" is the abbreviation number "01"
Is applied when is specified. In this case, the corresponding mail address "<NETFAX_FRA @
frabox. *****. co. jp> ”, an electronic mail requesting a relay transmission is transmitted. In this case, the transfer destination is “99-84-XXXX”.

Similarly, when the abbreviated number “* 02” is input, the value of the NETFAX-Flag is set to OFF, so that it is specified that the user address is a user address other than the Internet facsimile machine. .

When the abbreviation number “* 03” is entered, the corresponding mail address “<NETFAX_F
RA @ frabox. *****. co. jp> ”is transmitted by e-mail.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the electronic mail in this case. Note that the basic format is an e-mail in the same MIME format as that of the e-mail shown in FIG. 4, and a description of the same parts as in FIG. 4 will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, in the case of an e-mail instructing relay transmission, the telephone number of the transfer destination is set as the value of the "Subject" field of the header information.
Here, the “Subject” field is usually used for displaying a title of the text.

On the other hand, if the electronic mail does not instruct relay transmission, that is, if the destination of the electronic mail is the final receiving terminal of the image information (for example, “* 03” is specified), “Subject” A predetermined value, for example, “000” is set in the field. As the predetermined value, an appropriate value can be used as long as it can be distinguished from other values.

Therefore, the Internet facsimile apparatus that has received the e-mail transmits the “Subj” header information.
Inspect the contents of the “ect” field and find that the value is
If "0", the terminal recognizes that the terminal is the receiving terminal, and records and outputs the original of the received image information.

If the value of the “Subject” field is other than “000”, the M
The contents of the IME information are converted into image information, and “Subject
call to the destination telephone number specified in the [t] field,
The image information is transmitted.

FIG. 8 shows a processing example on the transmitting side of the Internet facsimile machines FI1 and FI2 in this case.

When there is a transmission operation by the user and a destination telephone number is input (process 301), it is checked whether or not the input telephone number is registered in the telephone number conversion table (decision 302). The result of decision 302 is YE
At S, the corresponding mail address is taken out (step 303), and the image data formed by reading the transmission original set on the scanner 5 is coded and compressed by the coder / decoder 8 to form the image data. The converted image information is converted into MIM
E information is formed (step 304).

Then, it is determined whether or not a relay transmission request is to be made at this time (decision 305). If the result of the determination 305 is NO when transmission is not a relay request, "Subj
The value of the “ect” field is set to “000” (process 306).

In the case of the relay request transmission, the judgment 305
If the result of step (3) is YES, it is checked whether or not the destination telephone number input at that time needs to be converted into a domestic telephone number at the relay station (step 307).
If the result is YES, the input destination telephone number is converted into a domestic telephone number (process 308). And
The value of the destination telephone number or the converted domestic telephone number is set in the "Subject" field (process 30).
9).

Next, the mail address (user address) of the terminal is extracted (step 310), the value of the transmission identification information (TSI) set in the terminal is extracted (step 311), and the transmission identification information and the user address are extracted. The concatenated value is set in the “From” field (process 31).
2).

Then, a predetermined SMTP procedure is started (step 313), the header information is transmitted to the local area network (step 314), and the body information (MIM) is sent.
E information) is transmitted to the local area network (process 315), the SMTP procedure ends (process 316), and the image information transmission operation by e-mail ends.

If the telephone number entered at that time is not registered in the telephone number conversion table,
If the result of step S02 is NO, a call is made to the international telephone line network PSTN using the telephone number input at that time (step 317), a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission process is executed, and the process is set on the scanner 5. The image information of the transmitted original is transmitted (step 318).

When the transmission of the image information is completed, the line is restored (step 319), and a series of image information transmission operations is completed.

FIG. 9 shows a processing example when the Internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail in this case.
Shown in

When the e-mail is received (the result of determination 401 is YES), the contents of the “From” field are saved (processing 402), the contents of the “Subject” field are extracted (processing 403), and the MIME information of the body information is obtained. The image information data is formed by inverse conversion using the base64 encoding method (process 404).

Then, it is checked whether or not the content of the “Subject” field is “000” (decision 40).
5) When the result of determination 405 is YES, the image information data is decoded into the original image data by the encoding / decoding unit 8 (process 406), and the image data obtained thereby is transferred to the plotter 6. Then, the received document image is recorded and output (process 407).

If the content of the “Subject” field is not “000”, the result of decision 405 is NO
, The telephone number set in the “Subject” field is used for the international telephone network PSTN.
(Step 408), a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission procedure is executed, and the received image information is transmitted (Step 409).

When the transmission of image information is completed, the line is restored (step 410), and a series of image information transmission operations is terminated.

When the Internet facsimile apparatus on the receiving end has completed the relay transmission operation, it transmits an electronic mail for notifying the communication result as shown in FIG. 10 to the Internet facsimile apparatus of the relay requester. In this e-mail, the text is in Japanese, so
Apply MIME format email. In this case, since the transfer of the body of the e-mail is not requested,
In the “bject” field, “000” is set.

FIG. 11 shows a processing example in this case.

First, the report body representing the transmission result is edited and created (process 501), and the “Saved Fr”
The header information is created by extracting the contents of the "om" field (process 502), "000" is set in the "Subject" field of the header information (process 503), and information of the e-mail to be transmitted is created.

Next, a predetermined SMTP procedure is started (step 504), header information is transmitted to the local area network (step 505), and text information (MIM) is sent.
E information) is transmitted to the local area network (processing 506), and the SMTP procedure is terminated (processing 507), and the transmission operation of the communication result report by e-mail is terminated.

When the e-mail is received, the Internet facsimile apparatus may form image data representing the contents of the text, and record and output the contents from the plotter 6.

As described above, in the present embodiment, a remote location,
Especially when transmitting image information to overseas facsimile machines,
Since image information transmission is performed via an Internet facsimile machine near the installation location of the facsimile machine, communication costs can be significantly reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, when image information is transmitted using electronic mail, the non-multipart M
The transmission destination telephone number is notified using the "Subject" field which can be used as the header information because the transmission is performed in the IME format. Content can be transmitted.

FIG. 12 shows an example of an electronic mail in the case of requesting relay transmission of image information using the multi-part MIME electronic mail. The basic format of this e-mail is the same as the MIM shown in FIG.
Since the electronic mail is in the E format, the description of the same parts as those in FIG.

However, in this case, the header information “Fro
The "m" field sets only the user address of the transmitting Internet facsimile machine. As described later, the display of the transmission terminal identification information (TSI) uses one part of the multipart MIME information. Also,
In the "Subject" field, the content ("message transfer") for instructing the transfer is set.

The text information in this case is “MIME-V” indicating that the text information is in MIME format.
field, a “Content-Type” field indicating that the content of the text is multipart, a “boundary” term for specifying a main part of a character string of boundary information that divides each part, and a “boundary” term for each part. Consists of data.

The first part of the MIME information includes:
"Transf" in which the transmission identification information of the transmission terminal is set
An "er from" item and a "transfer to" item in which the telephone number (domestic telephone number) of the relay destination is set.

Then, in the next part of the MIME information,
MIME information after encoding the image information according to the base64 encoding rule is set. Also, "Conten
“nam” added to the “t-Type” field
The item “e” indicates the file name of the transmission image information.

FIG. 13 shows a processing example on the transmitting side of the Internet facsimile machines FI1 and FI2 in this case.

When a transmission operation is performed by the user and a destination telephone number is input (step 601), it is checked whether the input telephone number is registered in the telephone number conversion table (determination 602). The result of decision 602 is YE
When the answer is S, the corresponding mail address is taken out (process 603), and then the image data formed by reading the transmission original set on the scanner 5 is encoded and compressed by the encoding / decoding section 8 to form the image data. The converted image information is converted into MIM
E information is formed (step 604).

Then, it is checked whether or not a relay transmission request is to be made at this time (decision 605). If the result of decision 605 is NO when the transmission is not a relay request, "Subj
The value of the “ect” field is set to “000” (process 606).

In the case of relay request transmission, the judgment 605
If the result is YES, MIME information other than the image information of the body information of the e-mail is formed, and multipart MIME information is formed as a whole (process 607).

Next, it is checked whether or not the destination telephone number input at that time needs to be converted into a domestic telephone number at the relay station (judgment 608), and the result of the judgment 608 is Y
When it becomes ES, the inputted destination telephone number is converted into a domestic telephone number (process 609). And "Subj
The value of the destination telephone number or the converted domestic telephone number is set in the “ect” field (process 610).

Next, the mail address (user address) of the terminal is taken out (step 611), and the value of the user address is set in the “From” field (step 61).
2).

Then, a predetermined SMTP procedure is started (step 613), header information is transmitted to the local area network (step 614), and text information (non-multipart MIME information or multipart MIME information) is transmitted to the local area network. To (process 6
15), end the SMTP procedure (process 616), and end the image information transmission operation by e-mail.

If the telephone number entered at that time is not registered in the telephone number conversion table,
If the result of step S02 is NO, a call is made to the international telephone network PSTN using the telephone number entered at that time (step 617), a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission process is executed, and the process is set on the scanner 5. The image information of the transmitted original is transmitted (process 618).

When the transmission of the image information is completed, the line is restored (step 619), and a series of image information transmitting operations is terminated.

In this case, an example of processing when the Internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail is shown in FIG.
It is shown in FIG.

When the e-mail is received (the result of determination 701 is YES), the contents of the “From” field are saved (Step 702), the contents of the “Subject” field are extracted (Step 703), and the image information The MIME information of the part is inversely transformed by the base64 encoding method,
Image information data is formed (process 704).

Then, it is checked whether or not the content of the "Subject" field is "000" (determination 70).
5) If the result of determination 705 is YES, the image information data is decoded into the original image data by the encoding / decoding unit 8 (processing 706), and the image data obtained thereby is transferred to the plotter 6. Then, the received document image is recorded and output (process 707).

If the content of the “Subject” field is not “000”, the result of decision 705 is NO
, The transmission identification information of the transmitting terminal and the telephone number (domestic telephone number) of the relay destination are stored in the “transfer from” section of the multi-part MIME information and “trans
from the "fer to" section (processing 70
8) A call is made to the international telephone network PSTN using the telephone number of the relay destination extracted at that time (process 709), and a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission procedure is executed to transmit the received image information (step 709). Process 710). At this time, it is preferable to apply the transmission identification information of the transmission terminal extracted from the “transfer from” item at that time as the content of the transmission terminal identification information added to the head of the image information.

When the transmission of the image information is completed, the line is restored (process 711), and a series of image information transmitting operations is terminated.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the e-mail for forming a relay request using the multipart MIME information is formed, so that the information necessary for the relay request can be transmitted appropriately. Very convenient.

In the above-described embodiment, the image information is transmitted using the electronic mail via the Internet INET.
In some cases, it is not possible to predict on what route the NET will transfer the message, and there is a possibility that a problem such as interception and decryption along the route may occur.

Thus, by allowing the Internet facsimile apparatus to specify whether or not to use the Internet INET, the user can perform facsimile communication with peace of mind.

In this case, for example, as shown in FIG.
A guidance message asking the user whether to perform Internet transmission is displayed (Step 81).
0), when the user inputs that Internet transmission is to be performed (the result of determination 802 is YES), the Internet transmission flag is turned on (process 803), and when the user inputs that Internet transmission is not to be performed (The result of determination 802 is NO), the Internet transmission flag is turned off (process 804).

Then, the Internet transmission flag is stored (step 805).

FIGS. 16 and 17 show an example of the transmission process in this case.

When there is a transmission operation by the user and the destination telephone number is inputted (process 901), it is checked whether or not the value of the Internet transmission flag is set to an ON value (decision 902), and the result of decision 902 is YES. Is displayed, a guidance message for inquiring whether or not to perform Internet transmission is displayed to the user (step 903), and when the user has input that Internet transmission is to be performed (the result of determination 904 is YES) ), And thereafter, a transmission operation using the Internet INET is performed.

That is, it is checked whether or not the telephone number input at that time is registered in the telephone number conversion table (decision 905). When the result of the judgment 905 is YES, the corresponding mail address is taken out (process 906), and the image data formed by reading the transmission original set on the scanner 5 is coded and compressed by the coder / decoder 8. Then, the image information thus formed is converted by the above-described base64 encoding method to form MIME information (process 907).

Then, it is checked whether or not a relay transmission request is to be made at this time (decision 908). If the result of decision 908 is NO when the request is not a relay request transmission, “Subj
The value of the “ect” field is set to “000” (process 909).

In the case of relay request transmission, the judgment 908 is made.
If the result is YES, it is checked whether or not conversion of the input destination telephone number to a domestic telephone number at the relay station is necessary (decision 910), and decision 910 is made.
If the result is YES, the input destination telephone number is converted to a domestic telephone number (process 911). And
The value of the destination telephone number or the converted domestic telephone number is set in the "Subject" field (step 91).
2).

Next, the mail address (user address) of the terminal is extracted (step 913), the value of the transmission identification information (TSI) set in the terminal is extracted (step 914), and the transmission identification information and the user address are extracted. The linked value is set in the “From” field (step 91)
5).

Then, a predetermined SMTP procedure is started (step 916), header information is transmitted to the local area network (step 917), and text information (MIM) is sent.
E information) is transmitted to the local area network (process 918), the SMTP procedure ends (process 919), and the image information transmission operation by e-mail ends.

When the value of the Internet transmission flag is set to the off value, the result of decision 902 is NO.
, Or when the user inputs that Internet transmission is not to be performed in response to the Internet transmission guidance message, and the result of determination 904 is NO, or the telephone number entered at that time is a telephone number conversion. If not registered in the table, judgment 905
If the result is NO, a call is made to the international telephone network PSTN using the telephone number entered at that time (process 920), a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission process is executed, and the device is set in the scanner 5. The image information of the transmitted original is transmitted (process 921).

When the transmission of the image information is completed, the line is restored (process 922), and a series of image information transmitting operations is terminated.

As described above, in this embodiment, the user sets whether or not to perform Internet transmission for each Internet facsimile apparatus, and specifies whether or not to perform Internet transmission for each image information transmission. Therefore, the user can arbitrarily designate whether or not to transmit image information using the Internet INET as necessary.

[0129] In this case, the Internet transmission guidance message is displayed to the user at the time of the transmission operation, and an operation of whether or not to perform the Internet transmission is performed. , "*
* ”, The direct key input determination process determines that Internet transmission has been specified.
It is also possible to determine whether or not Internet transmission is possible.

By the way, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the telephone network is used as the public network has been described, but the ISDN can be used as the public network. In this case, it is preferable that the device function of the Internet facsimile apparatus has a group 4 facsimile transmission function as a basic function.

In the above-described embodiment, the image information is
Although the electronic mail transmission operation is performed after the conversion to the ME information, the processing for converting the image information to the MIME information and the electronic mail transmission processing may be performed in parallel.

[0132]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When transmitting image information to an Internet facsimile machine installed in a remote place, since the Internet is used without additional communication charges, the effect of greatly reducing communication costs is obtained. .

Further, since image information can be transmitted to a facsimile machine installed in a remote place by relaying the Internet facsimile machine near the place, the effect of greatly reducing communication costs can be obtained. obtain.

Further, since whether or not to perform a relay operation can be designated by the data content set in the Subject field, no special processing for decrypting an e-mail is required, and the relay operation can be performed by adding a simple function. Or the received image information can be recorded and output.

Also, since information such as designation of a relay operation can be transmitted using multi-part MIME information as text information, there is also obtained an effect that a transmission operation with a very high degree of freedom can be performed.

Also, since the communication result when image information is transmitted by e-mail is notified to the transmission terminal, the transmission side can appropriately know the set image information transmission result,
There is also obtained an advantage that communication management becomes very convenient.

Further, the user can set whether or not to transmit to the Internet for each Internet facsimile apparatus and specify whether or not to transmit to the Internet for each transmission of image information. Also, it is possible to arbitrarily designate whether or not to transmit image information using the Internet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a telephone number conversion table;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of an electronic mail.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process at the time of transmission of the Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process when the Internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing another example of an electronic mail.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing at the time of transmission by the Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing when the Internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an electronic mail of a communication result report.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for transmitting an e-mail of a communication result report.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an electronic mail in the case of requesting relay transmission of image information using a multi-part MIME electronic mail.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing still another example of the processing at the time of transmission by the Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing still another example of the processing when the Internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process at the time of setting whether to perform Internet transmission.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a part of still another example of the processing at the time of transmission of the Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing another part of still another example of the processing at the time of transmission by the Internet facsimile apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 FI1, FI2 Internet facsimile machine LAN1, LAN2 Local area network SV1, SV2 Mail server terminal CL1, CL2 Client terminal FX1, FX2 Facsimile machine INET Internet PSTN International telephone network

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 1/32

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A function of exchanging e-mail data on a local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network An Internet facsimile machine with the function of exchanging facsimile data by using the e-mail address information for exchanging data via the Internet with a destination terminal having the same function, Destination management information storage means for storing destination management information that is stored in association with a destination telephone number when data is exchanged via the remote controller, and the specified destination telephone number is for a remote location and the destination telephone Number is registered in the destination management information storage means. In this case, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, the mail address information stored in the destination management information storage means is set to the destination mail address for the destination telephone number, and the e-mail text Form e-mail data with the data set as body data and send the e-mail data to the destination terminal via the local area network and the Internet, otherwise the destination specified using the public network An Internet facsimile apparatus for calling a telephone number and transmitting transmission image information to a destination terminal by a predetermined facsimile transmission procedure. 2. A function of exchanging e-mail data on a local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network An Internet facsimile machine with the function of exchanging facsimile data by using the e-mail address information for exchanging data via the Internet with a destination terminal having the same function, Destination management information stored in association with a destination telephone number when exchanging data via the terminal and a terminal to which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when exchanging data via the public network. A destination management information storage means for storing If the destination telephone number entered is registered as one of the final destination numbers in the destination management information storage means, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the final destination number is The e-mail address information stored in the destination management information storage means is set in the To field of the header information of the e-mail data, and the specified final destination number is set in the Subject field of the header information of the e-mail data. Forming e-mail data in which the body data is set to the body data, and transmitting the e-mail data to the destination terminal via the local area network and the Internet, while receiving the subject information of the header information of the received e-mail data
If any final destination number is set in the t field, the transmitted image information is inversely converted from the received e-mail data, a call is made to the final destination number using the public network, and An internet facsimile apparatus for transmitting formed transmission image information. 3. An electronic mail data header information S
The final destination number set in the object field is
3. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the final destination number is converted into an area code based on a destination telephone number stored in the destination management information storage unit. 4. A function of exchanging e-mail data on a local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network An Internet facsimile machine with the function of exchanging facsimile data by using the e-mail address information for exchanging data via the Internet with a destination terminal having the same function, Destination management information stored in association with a destination telephone number when exchanging data via the terminal and a terminal to which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when exchanging data via the public network. A destination management information storage means for storing If the received destination telephone number is registered as a destination telephone number in the destination management information storage means, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the destination management information is stored for the destination telephone number. The mail address information stored in the means is set in the To field of the header information of the e-mail data, and a predetermined unique value is set in the Subject field of the header information of the e-mail data to form e-mail data. Is transmitted to the destination terminal via the local area network and the Internet, while the Subject of the header information of the received e-mail data is
When the predetermined eigenvalue is set in the t field, the transmission image information is inversely converted from the received e-mail data, the transmission image information is decoded into the original image data, and the image obtained as a result of the decoding is obtained. And an Internet facsimile apparatus for recording and outputting the information. 5. A function of exchanging e-mail data on a local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network An Internet facsimile machine with the function of exchanging facsimile data by using the e-mail address information for exchanging data via the Internet with a destination terminal having the same function, Destination management information stored in association with a destination telephone number when exchanging data via the terminal and a terminal to which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when exchanging data via the public network. A destination management information storage means for storing If the destination telephone number entered is registered as one of the final destination numbers in the destination management information storage means, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the final destination number is The e-mail address information stored in the destination management information storage means is set in the To field of the header information of the e-mail data, and the designated final destination number is set in a predetermined item of the main body of the e-mail data. Form e-mail data with the data set in the body data, send the e-mail data to the destination terminal via the local area network and the Internet, and add any final When the destination number is set, send from the received e-mail data Inverse transforming the information, originates a call using a public network to its final destination number, Internet facsimile apparatus characterized by transmitting a transmission image information formed by the inverse transform. 6. A final destination number to be set in a predetermined item of the body of the e-mail data is converted into an area number based on a destination telephone number stored in the destination management information storage means. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: 7. A function of exchanging e-mail data on a local area network and the Internet connected to a local area network connected to an Internet provider via a dedicated line, and a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network An Internet facsimile machine with the function of exchanging facsimile data by using the e-mail address information for exchanging data via the Internet with a destination terminal having the same function, Destination management information stored in association with a destination telephone number when exchanging data via the terminal and a terminal to which the destination terminal can be applied as a relay terminal and a final destination number when exchanging data via the public network. A destination management information storage means for storing If the received destination telephone number is registered as a destination telephone number in the destination management information storage means, the transmission image information is converted into e-mail text data in a predetermined format, and the destination management information is stored for the destination telephone number. The email address information stored in the means is set in the To field of the header information of the email data, a predetermined unique value is set in a predetermined item of the body of the email data, and the email data is formed. While transmitting to the destination terminal via the local area network and the Internet, if the above-mentioned predetermined unique value is set in a predetermined item of the body of the received e-mail data, the transmission image information is reversed from the received e-mail data. After conversion, the transmission image information is decoded into the original image data, and the decoding result is obtained. Internet facsimile apparatus characterized by recording output image. 8. The F of header information of the electronic mail data
The rom field is set with an e-mail address registered in the terminal itself.
An Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 6 or claim 7. 9. After the processing of the e-mail data, an e-mail body notifying the communication result is created, and the e-mail body is set to Fr of the header information of the received e-mail data.
9. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the notification is made to the mail address set in the om field. 10. A mail address registered in the terminal itself is set in a From field of header information of the e-mail data, and after processing of the e-mail data, an e-mail text for notifying a communication result is created. Then, the body of the e-mail is notified to the mail address set in the From field of the header information of the received e-mail data, and the Subject of the header information of the e-mail data is notified.
The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined unique value is set in a t field. 11. A mail address registered in the terminal itself is set in a From field of header information of the e-mail data, and after processing of the e-mail data, an e-mail text for notifying a communication result is created. The e-mail text is notified to the e-mail address set in the From field of the header information of the received e-mail data, and the predetermined unique value is set in a predetermined item of the e-mail data text. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: 12. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising setting means for setting whether or not to perform a transmission operation of the transmission image information by the electronic mail.