JP3355391B2 - Facsimile apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus such as a G3 machine having a serial port for connection to a personal computer and a telephone terminal for externally attaching a telephone, and a control method therefor .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An RS23 for connecting to a personal computer as a G3 machine connected to an analog line.
There is a facsimile apparatus provided with a serial port such as 2C and a telephone terminal that allows external attachment of the telephone.

[0003] In recent years, computer communication networks that connect local computer communication networks via communication lines and distribute e-mail via the networked Internet or the like have become widespread. The computer communication network has an excellent error correction function, and can communicate with computers not only in Japan but also abroad simply by paying the communication cost to the nearest provider (a connection company to the computer communication network). Since the communication procedure and communication system of the conventional G3 facsimile apparatus are different from those of the computer communication network, it cannot be directly connected to the computer communication network. However, even image data such as a transmission original can be transmitted to a computer communication network by converting the image data into an electronic mail format.

[0004]

However, a G which only has a built-in facsimile modem capable of only facsimile communication.
In the case of a 3 facsimile machine, in order to perform data communication,
It is necessary to replace the fax modem with a modem chip capable of facsimile communication and data communication. Therefore, G
The user of the 3 facsimile apparatus must remodel the facsimile apparatus by outsourcing it to a professional company, and data communication cannot be easily performed with existing equipment.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a data modem for data communication is connected between a serial port and an external telephone terminal to transmit an electronic mail. Fakusumo with a built-in time
By switching from the connection to the modem to connect to the data modem, not a built-only fax modem, email
E-mail transmission by a facsimile machine, such as a G3 machine, which does not have a function to send an e-mail, can be performed by changing software and adding an external device without changing hardware, thereby improving the functions and performance of existing devices. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus to be improved and a control method thereof.

[0006]

A facsimile apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a facsimile modem connectable to a communication line, a serial port, and a telephone terminal, and performs data communication between the serial port and the telephone terminal. Data model for
In a facsimile machine to which a system can be connected ,
The means to specify the destination to send, and the specified destination
In the case of an e-mail address, means for switching the connection with the communication line from the connection to the facsimile modem to the connection with the telephone terminal to which the data modem is connected, and the analog or digital conversion by the data modem through the serial port. And means for controlling the pressure.

A facsimile apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention converts image data in a state where the connection with the communication line is switched to the connection to the telephone terminal to which the data modem is connected, and the means for converting the image data into electronic mail . e-mail
The via said data modem is characterized in that a means for transmitting to the computer communication network.

In the facsimile apparatus of the third invention,Control method
Is a facsimile modem that can be connected to a communication line,
Serial port and phone terminalEquipped, serial port
A data modem for data communication between the
Can be connectedFacsimile machineControl methodIn
AndAccepts the designation of the destination to send, and
If your hand is an email address,Communication line
From a connection to a facsimile modem to a data modem
Switch to the telephone terminal to which the
Analog or digital conversion by dem
It is characterized in that it is controlled via a port.

A facsimile apparatus of the present invention and its control method
Law, has the existing G3 facsimile machine, and a serial port for connection to a personal computer, between the external telephone terminal, by simply connecting existing data modem, e.g., the destination is an e-mail address If
That is, when the image data converted into the electronic mail is transmitted to the computer communication network, the connection to the built-in facsimile modem is switched to the connection to the serial port and the telephone terminal . Also, the connection to the facsimile modem
Switch to connection to serial port and telephone terminal
If so, data conversion is enabled by controlling analog conversion of digital data output from the serial port or digital conversion of analog data output from the telephone terminal. Therefore, the existing G3 which only has a built-in facsimile modem and has no data communication function
E-mail transmission using a facsimile machine such as a machine can be easily performed without changing hardware, and the function and performance of the machine are improved.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment of the present invention, image data is transmitted as electronic mail, and the Internet is used as a computer communication network. The hardware configuration of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The facsimile machine uses the conventional G
In addition to the three facsimile communication functions, data communication via the Internet is realized by slightly changing software and adding external devices. The CPU 1 has a bus 12
Not only controls the hardware of the facsimile apparatus through the encoding / decoding and image (TIF)
F) Execute software such as communication procedures including conversion, binary / text conversion, mail editing, modem switching, control of RS232C by AT commands, and the like.

The reading unit 2 reads a document by a CCD or the like,
Outputs black and white binary image data. The recording unit 3 includes an electrophotographic printer or the like, and records image data received from another G3 facsimile machine or the Internet. The display unit 4 includes a liquid crystal display device and the like, and displays an operation state of the facsimile apparatus and image data.

The operation unit 5 has ten keys, speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, various function keys, and the like necessary for operating the facsimile machine. The ROM 6 stores software necessary for the operation of the facsimile machine. The RAM 7 is composed of an SRAM, a flash memory, or the like, and stores temporary data generated when executing software, and also stores various tables (described later). The image memory 8 is a DRAM
And the like, and stores image data.

The fax modem 10a is a modem for performing facsimile communication of image data read by the reading unit 2, and does not have a data communication function. The data modem 10b is a modem for data communication for communicating image data converted into e-mail via the Internet, for example, and is connected to an external telephone terminal 11b provided in the NCU 11 by a telephone cable. It is connected to a serial port 13 for connection to a personal computer or the like by RS232C. NCU1
1 closes and opens the analog line L2. NCU11
Is switched between the connection to the fax modem 10a and the connection to the data modem 10b. The NCU 11 has an external telephone terminal 1
1b is provided.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the flow of data in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. Parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The encoding / decoding unit 21, image conversion unit 22, binary / text conversion unit 23, mail editing unit 24, and auto dialer 25, which will be described later,
Does not have a corresponding code, but is processed by the CPU 1 based on software stored in the ROM 6.

The encoding / decoding unit 21 encodes or decodes the image data according to an encoding system such as MH, MR, MMR or the like. Hereinafter, the image data encoded by these encoding methods is referred to as “G3 format image data”. The image memory 8 stores G3 format image data.

At the time of transmission, the image conversion unit 22 converts the G3 format image data into a TIFF (Tagged Image File) which is a general image format used in a computer.
Format), and at the time of reception, the data is converted from TIFF to G3 format image data. TIFF is Adobe Syste
Published by ms, various classes that handle not only black and white binary but also black and white multi-valued, full color, etc. are defined. One of them, CLASS F, defines G3 format image data. Therefore, the data can be converted to TIFF by adding TIFF header information of CLASS F to the head of the G3 format image data. Hereinafter, the G3 format image data to which the TIFF header information of the CLASS F is added is referred to as “TIFF image data”.

The binary / text converter 23 converts binary data into text data when transmitting, and converts text data into binary data when receiving.
There are computers on the Internet that cannot handle binary data e-mail. When transmitting binary data such as TIFF image data so that the e-mail reaches the destination without fail, the data is temporarily converted to text data. Text data handled on the Internet is IETF (Internet Engineering TaskForce)
RFC (Request For Com
ments) 822 is defined as a 7-bit code.

Therefore, MIME (Multipurpose Internet)
Conversion is performed using base64 of Mail Extensions). According to this, 6-bit binary data is 64 characters (uppercase, lowercase alphabet,
It is replaced with one of the numbers, +, /), and can be converted to text data. MIME is specified in RFC.

The mail editing section 24 adds mail header information to the TIFF image data converted into text data at the time of transmission to edit the data into an electronic mail format, and removes the mail header information from the data of the electronic mail format at the time of reception. , And extracts only the TIFF image data converted to text data. Since it is specified that predetermined header information is added to Internet e-mails, at the time of transmission, the header of TIFF image data has
“From: (user's Internet e-mail address)”, “To: (user's Internet e-mail address)
Address) "," Subject: (title) "," cc: (Indicates that a copy of the letter will also be sent to the address specified in this line) "," Date: (sent date and time) " I do.

The auto dialer 25 has a destination table T.
1. In order to call the telephone number read from the provider table T3, the fax modem 10a or the NCU 11
Send the other party's telephone number data to

Next, each table will be described. FIG.
As shown in (A), the destination table T1 stores the destination name, Internet e-mail address, and facsimile number for each abbreviated number or one-touch dial. As shown in Fig. 3 (B), the user (sender)
In the table T2, a user name of the facsimile machine, an Internet e-mail address, a provider type, a user ID for logging in to the Internet, and a password are registered. When a plurality of users share one facsimile machine at an office or the like, it is possible to register for each user and select it at the time of transmission.

As shown in FIG. 3C, the provider table T3 stores the telephone number, line type, provider name, and provider type of the provider used when connecting to the Internet. The provider type corresponds to the provider type in the user table T2, and identifies a different login procedure for each provider. For example, when one provider has a plurality of telephone lines or when a plurality of providers are used, it is possible to register for each telephone number and select it at the time of transmission.

A procedure for transmitting an electronic mail to the Internet will be described. The protocol uses the following at each layer of the OSI reference modem:

[0024]

[Table 1]

First, the login procedure will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, when a line with a computer of a provider (hereinafter, referred to as a server) is set up, the facsimile apparatus receives, for example, a PAP (Password Authentication Protocol).
According to col), keep sending the user ID and password until an Ack or Nack is received from the provider. Na
When ck is received, the line is released and redial is performed. Upon receiving the Ack, login to the server is completed.

After the login to the server is completed, an e-mail is transmitted by SMTP as shown in FIG. First, the facsimile machine makes an SMTP connection request to the server. If the server can connect, the server returns a response code 220 to the facsimile machine. Further, the facsimile apparatus transmits its own domain name by the "HELO" command, and if the server can recognize the domain name of the facsimile apparatus, it returns a response code 250 and the domain name of the server.
Thereafter, the facsimile apparatus transmits the mail, and upon completion, transmits a "QUIT" command. In response, when the server returns the response code 221, the SMTP ends. After the e-mail transmission is completed, log in from the server and open the line.

The operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the user sets a document to be transmitted on a transmitting table (not shown) (S1).
According to an instruction from the operation unit 5, a provider or a line to be used is selected from the provider table T3 (S2).
.

Further, the user himself / herself inputs a passcode for selecting a registered user name from the user table T2 (S3). The reason for specifying the user name by the passcode is to prevent unauthorized use by others. This passcode can also be used as a password for connecting to the Internet. Next, a destination to be transmitted is selected from the destination table T1, and a start key (not shown) or a one-touch key is pressed after the abbreviated number (S4).

The facsimile apparatus reads the manuscript on the manuscript table one sheet at a time, and once encodes all pages by the encoding / decoding unit 3.
The image data is coded by the R method and becomes G3 image data.
It is stored in the image memory 4 (S5). The destination designated by the abbreviated number or one-touch dial is read from the destination table T1. If the Internet e-mai1 address of the destination table T1 is not registered
(NO in S6) , facsimile transmission is performed according to the G3 procedure (S7). If the Internet e-mai1 address has been registered (YES in S6) , a process for transmitting an e-mail is performed.

On the Internet, G3 format image data cannot be transmitted directly, so it is converted to an e-mail format as follows. The image conversion unit 22
TIFF CLASS F header information is added to the head of the G3 format image data to create TIFF image data (S8). Since the TIFF image data is binary data, the binary / text converter 23 converts it into text data (S9).

Further, the mail editor 24 adds an e-mail header to the TIFF image data converted to the text data (S10). This header includes at least the items “From:”, “To:”, and “Subject:”. "From:" contains the Internet e-mai1 address of the user selected from the user table T2, "T
o: ”is the Internet e-mail address of the destination selected from the destination table T1, and“ Subject: ”
Is set to "TIFF (G3)" indicating that the electronic mail includes image data in TIFF format.

When the data in the electronic mail format is completed, N
By switching the switch 11a of the CU 11, the connection to the built-in fax modem 10a is switched to the connection to the external data modem 10b (S11), and digital data of electronic mail is output from the serial port 13 (S12). . Make a call to the telephone number of the selected provider to make a dial-up connection to the Internet (S1
3) Wait for a response (S14).

When the telephone line with the provider is set,
Log in according to the PAP described above, and
The e-mail converted to analog by b is transmitted by SMTP (S15). After the transmission is completed, the user logs out and releases the telephone line (S16).

In this embodiment, a case has been described in which black-and-white binary image data is converted to electronic mail and transmitted. For example, even black-and-white multi-valued and color image data may be transmitted as TIFF image data. Is possible.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the Internet is used as the computer communication network has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the Internet, and the effects of the present invention can be obtained if the computer communication network is used.

[0036]

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus and the control method thereof of the present invention, a data modem for data communication is connected between a serial port and an external telephone terminal, and a transmission destination is an e-mail address. , That is, the electron
When sending mail, it switches from connecting to the built-in fax modem to connecting to the data modem, so e-mail from a facsimile machine such as a G3 machine that has only a built-in fax modem and does not have a data communication function. of
There is an excellent effect that transmission can be performed by changing software and adding external devices without changing hardware, thereby improving the functions and performance of existing devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a data flow in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a table stored in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure for logging in to a server.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure for transmitting an electronic mail to a server.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating the operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 6 ROM 7 RAM 10b Data modem 11b External telephone terminal 13 Serial port

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-364654 (JP, A) JP-A-8-106455 (JP, A) JP-A-7-212395 (JP, A) JP-A-7-264338 (JP, A) , A) JP-A-61-265941 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/32 H04M 11/00 302 H04N 1/00 104

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile modems can be connected to the communication line, comprising: a serial port, a telephone terminal, data for data communication between the serial port and the telephone terminal
Means for specifying a transmission destination in a facsimile apparatus to which a modem can be connected, and when the specified destination is an e-mail address
It is provided with means for switching the connection between the communications lines connected to the facsimile modem to connect to the telephone terminal to which the data modem is connected, and means for controlling the analog conversion or digital conversion by the data modem via a serial port Facsimile machine. 2. A method image data and means for converting the electronic mail, in a state where the data modem connection is switched to connect to the connected phone terminal with a communication line, image data
2. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for transmitting the converted electronic mail to a computer communication network via said data modem. It includes a facsimile modem which can be connected to the 3. A communication line, and a serial port, a telephone terminal, shea
Data for data communication between the real port and the phone terminal
Control of the facsimile apparatus capable of connecting the Tamodemu
In the control method , we accept the designation of the destination to send , and if the specified destination is an e-mail address
Switching from connection to a communication line to connection to a telephone terminal to which a data modem is connected, and controlling analog or digital conversion by the data modem via a serial port. How to control the device .