JP2005323105A - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile machine capable of keeping a confidential received document secret. <P>SOLUTION: The facsimile machine equipped with a 1st storage means 8 which can not be accessed from a function other than facsimile, a 2nd storage means 9 whose contents can be accessed from a function of facsimile, a function other than facsimile, and a network, and a system control means 4 having a function of copying only received document data from the 1st storage means 8 and storing the data to the 2nd storage means 9, includes a 3rd storage means 10 which can not be accessed from the function other than facsimile. The system control means 4 has a function of copying a received document to the 3rd storage means 10 when the received document is confidential, and checking the contents of the 1st storage means 8, 2nd storage means 9, and 3rd storage means 10 when the power source is turned on to copy data from a storage means where the data are left to a storage means where the data are erased if some file in the 1st storage means 8, 2nd storage means 9, or 3rd storage means is erased. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus (including a multi-function machine having a facsimile function) having a function of taking a state in which a received document is held in a storage unit until an instruction is given without printing.

In recent years, facsimile machines that can check the contents of received documents without printing by transferring the data to a PC connected via a network have been manufactured, and the data is retained in the memory until an instruction to collect or print is received from the PC. There are things to keep. However, if the data is stored only in the memory, the data may be lost due to a long-time power failure.
In recent years, facsimile machines equipped with hard disks and their multifunction devices have appeared for the purpose of storing and reusing a large amount of data, and image data stored in memory can be backed up using this hard disk. It is considered to improve reliability by doing so.
For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 propose that backup is performed by a plurality of storage devices to prevent data loss due to failure of the storage devices.
Further, in some multifunction machines equipped with a copy function, a facsimile function, and a printer function, a plurality of functions can be shared by the hard disk so that each function can be stored, printed, and processed. However, if it is difficult to erase or change the contents before confirming the contents by printing, such as a received file of a facsimile, it is not preferable that it can be accessed from functions other than the facsimile or a PC.
Therefore, a facsimile apparatus has been proposed in which only received document data stored in a memory accessible only by a facsimile function is stored in a hard disk accessible from functions other than a PC connected to a network or a facsimile (Patent Document). 1, see Patent Document 2).
Patent Document 3 proposes maintaining confidentiality of confidential documents by printing after inputting a password from a terminal connected to a network.
JP-A-1-229543 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-0486648 JP-A-10-243134

Some facsimile received documents can be printed by entering a passcode such as a confidential ID that you want to convey only to a specific recipient, such as a confidential received document. In a facsimile machine with a function that can be referred to, the received document can be browsed by an unspecified number of users, so how to handle a document that is not viewed by others such as a confidential received document becomes a problem. Come.
An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that can maintain confidentiality of a confidential received document by copying the confidential document from a network to a storage means that cannot be referred to.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a first storage means that cannot be accessed from a function other than a facsimile, and a second storage that can access contents through a function or network other than a facsimile and a facsimile. And a function of taking a state in which the received document is held in the storage unit until a predetermined instruction is issued without printing, and the received document data is copied from the first storage unit and stored in the second storage unit And a third storage means that cannot be accessed from a function other than the facsimile, and the system control means is configured so that the received document is a confidential received document. Copy to the third storage means, check the contents of the first storage means, the second storage means and the third storage means when the power is turned on, the first storage If a stage, one of the files in the second storage means or the third storage means was gone, and controls so as to copy the data to the storage unit has disappeared from the remaining storage unit.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, when the system control means reaches a predetermined time for checking the consistency of the storage means, the first storage means, the second storage means, and the second storage means 3 When the contents of the storage means are checked and any of the files in the first storage means, the second storage means, or the third storage means has disappeared, the data from the remaining storage means to the stored storage means It has the function to copy.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the facsimile apparatus according to the first or second aspect is characterized in that the facsimile apparatus refers to the document information stored in the storage means that can be referred to from the network.

According to the present invention, since the confidential document is not referred to from the network by copying the confidential document from the network to the storage means that cannot be referred to, the user can go ahead of the machine to print the confidential received document. It can only be operated, and confidentiality can be maintained while avoiding the risk of the confidential received document being erased.
In addition, since the user can check the document in the storage unit at any time, it is possible to prevent the situation that the document has disappeared from the storage unit that can be referred to when the user wants to use it, and the convenience can be improved. To do.
Further, when referring to the information of the received document from the Web browser, the confidential received document is not referred to.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus includes a scanner 1, a plotter 2, an encoding / decoding unit 3, a system control unit 4, a network control unit 5, a network control unit 6, a modem 7, and storage means A (referred from the network). Impossible) 8, storage means B (can be referred from the network) 9, storage means C (cannot be referred from the network) 10, and operation display unit 11, and these units are connected via a system bus 12.
Hereinafter, the storage unit A8, the storage unit B9, and the storage unit C10 are simply referred to as storage unit A, storage unit B, and storage unit C. The storage means A and the storage means C cannot be accessed except for the facsimile function. The storage means B is accessible from a PC or the like through the network control unit 5.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a first operation example in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The operation of receiving a document and accumulating the document in the storage means is shown.
When the document is received through the telephone line in step 101, the received document is stored in the storage means A in step 102. In step 103, it is determined whether or not the received document is a confidential document. If it is not a confidential document, the received document is copied and stored in the storage means B in step 104, and the process is terminated. If it is a confidential document in step 103, it is copied and stored in the storage means C in step 105, and the process is terminated.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a second operation example in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The supplementary operation when the received document is in the storage means A but not in the storage means B or C is shown.
In step 201, the document in the storage means A is checked. If the received document checked in step 202 is not a confidential document, the storage unit B is checked in step 203 to check whether there is a document identical to the storage unit A. If it is determined in step 204 that it is not in the storage means B, the document is copied from the storage means A to the storage means B in step 205 and the process proceeds to step 209. If it is determined in step 204 that the storage means B is also present, the process proceeds to step 209.
If it is determined in step 202 that the document is a confidential document, the storage unit C is checked in step 206 to check whether there is a document identical to the storage unit A. If it is determined in step 207 that the storage means C is not present, the document is copied from the storage means A to the storage means C in step 208 and the process proceeds to step 209. If it is determined in step 207 that the storage means G is also present, the process proceeds to step 209. If it is determined in step 209 that there is no document stored in storage means A, the process is terminated, and if it remains, the process returns to step 201 and the same process is repeated.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a third operation example in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The complementary operation when the received document is in the storage means B but not in the storage means A is shown.
In step 301, the storage means B is checked, and in step 302, it is checked whether or not the same document exists in the storage means A. If it is determined in step 303 that the storage means A is not present, the copy is made from the storage means B to the storage means A in step 304 and the process proceeds to step 305. If it is determined in step 303 that the storage unit A is also present, the process proceeds to step 305. If it is determined in step 305 that there is no document in the storage means B, the process is terminated, and if it remains, the process returns to step 301 and the same process is repeated.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a fourth operation example in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The supplementary operation when the received document is in the storage means C but not in the storage means A is shown.
In step 401, the storage means C is checked, and in step 402, it is checked whether or not the same document exists in the storage means A. If it is determined in step 403 that the storage means A is not present, in step 404, the storage means C is copied to the storage means A and the process proceeds to step 405. If it is determined in step 403 that the storage means A is also present, the process proceeds to step 405. If it is determined in step 405 that there is no document in the storage means B, the process is terminated, and if it remains, the process returns to step 401 and the same process is repeated.
3, 4, and 5, even if a document disappears for some reason in each storage unit, it can be supplemented by copying from another storage unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a fifth operation example in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The operation of checking the consistency of the storage means at a predetermined time designated by the user is shown.
In step 501, it is checked whether or not the time specified by the user has been reached. If it is determined that the predetermined time is reached, a check operation is performed in step 502, and if not, the process returns to step 501.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a first example in which the storage means and the PC are network-connected, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a second example in which the storage means and the PC are network-connected. The PC shown in FIG. 8 has a Web server function. In either case, the document in the storage means A is copied to the storage means B and the storage means C. Since the storage means B can be referred to from the network and the storage means C cannot be referred to, the confidential document copied to the storage means C cannot be referred to from the network.

1 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st operation example in the facsimile apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd operation example in the facsimile apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 3rd operation example in the facsimile apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 4th operation example in the facsimile apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 5th operation example in the facsimile apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the 1st example by which a memory | storage means and PC are network-connected. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example by which a memory | storage means and PC are network-connected.

Explanation of symbols

4 System control unit (system control means)
8 Storage means A (first storage means)
9 Storage means B (second storage means)
10 Storage means C (third storage means)

Claims (3)

  First storage means that cannot be accessed from functions other than facsimile, second storage means that can access contents through functions other than facsimile and facsimile, and a network, and stored until a predetermined instruction is issued without printing the received document In a facsimile apparatus having a function of taking a state held in a means and having a system control means having a function of copying received document data from the first storage means and storing it in the second storage means. Third storage means that cannot be accessed from the above function, and when the received document is a confidential received document, the system control means copies to the third storage means, and when the power is turned on, the first storage means, The contents of the second storage means and the third storage means are checked, and the first storage means and either the second storage means or the third storage means If Airu was gone, facsimile apparatus and controls to copy the data to the storage unit has disappeared from the remaining storage unit.   2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the system control means checks the contents of the first storage means, the second storage means and the third storage means when a predetermined time for checking the consistency of the storage means is reached. , If any of the files in the first storage means, the second storage means, or the third storage means has disappeared, it has a function of copying data from the remaining storage means to the storage means that has disappeared Feature facsimile machine.   3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein document information stored in storage means that can be referred to from a network is referred to using a Web browser.

Images