JP7622464B2 - Facsimile device, control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a facsimile device, a control method, and a program.

Facsimile devices that transmit image information have been known for some time. For example, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, destination information (e.g., a facsimile number) is specified in response to a user's specification operation, and image information is transmitted to a destination identified by the destination information.

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, an incorrect specification operation (operational error) may occur. In other words, the user may make an operational error and not specify the appropriate destination information. In addition, the user may not realize that he or she made an operational error. In consideration of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to make it possible to notify the user that an incorrect specification operation has been made.

To solve the above problem, the facsimile machine of the present invention includes a designation unit that designates destination information in response to a user's designation operation, an extraction unit that extracts destination information from an image indicated by image information, a determination unit that determines whether the destination information designated by the designation unit matches the destination information extracted by the extraction unit, and a display control unit that displays a notification screen that displays the result of the determination.

The present invention makes it possible to notify the user that an incorrect designation operation has been performed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an MFP, which is an example of a facsimile machine. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a facsimile machine. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating an example of an address book and a transmission history. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a configuration for extracting destination information. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of a notification screen. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining a specific example of the operation of a facsimile machine. 13 is a flowchart of an extraction process in a facsimile machine. 13 is a flowchart of a determination process in a facsimile machine.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings. Specifically, an example in which the present invention is applied to an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) equipped with a facsimile function will be described. However, the present invention may also be applied to devices other than MFPs. The above MFP 1 has a scan function in addition to a facsimile function.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of an MFP 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 1 includes a controller 10 and an engine unit 23. The controller 10 and engine unit 23 are connected via a PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) bus.

The controller 10 controls the entire MFP1 and controls drawing, communication, and input from the operation unit. The engine unit 23 includes a printer engine that can be connected to a PCI bus, and is, for example, a black and white plotter, a one-drum color plotter, a four-drum color plotter, a scanner, or a fax unit.

The controller 10 includes a CPU 11, a north bridge (NB) 13, a system memory (MEM-P) 12, a south bridge (SB) 14, a local memory (MEM-C) 17, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 16, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 25. The north bridge (NB) 13 and the ASIC 16 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 15. The MEM-P 12 further includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12b.

The CPU 11 controls the overall operation of the MFP 1 and is configured to include a chipset including the NB 13, MEM-P 12, and SB 14, and is connected to other devices via the chipset. The NB 13 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 11 to the MEM-P 12, SB 14, and AGP bus 15, and is configured to include a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 12, a PCI master, and an AGP target. The MEM-P 12 is a system memory used as a memory for storing programs and data, a memory for expanding programs and data, a printer drawing memory, etc., and includes a ROM 12a and a RAM 12b.

The ROM 12a is a read-only memory used to store programs and data, and the RAM 12b is a writable and readable memory used as a memory for expanding programs and data and as a printer drawing memory. The SB 14 is a bridge for connecting the NB 13 to PCI devices and peripheral devices. The SB 14 is connected to the NB 13 via a PCI bus, and a network interface (I/F) unit may be connected to the PCI bus.

The ASIC 16 is an IC (Integrated Circuit) for image processing applications that has hardware elements for image processing, and realizes the function of a bridge that connects the AGP bus 15, the PCI bus, the HDD 25, and the MEM-C 17. The ASIC 16 includes a PCI target and AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of the ASIC 16, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 17, multiple DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controllers) that rotate image data using hardware logic, and a PCI unit that transfers data between the engine unit 23 and the ASIC 16 via the PCI bus.

The ASIC 16 is connected to an FCU (Facsimile Control Unit) 18, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 19, and an IEEE 1394 (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394) interface 21 via a PCI bus. An operation display unit 24 is directly connected to the ASIC 16. The MEM-C 17 is a local memory used as an image buffer for copying and a code buffer.

The AGP bus 15 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed to speed up graphics processing, and it speeds up the graphics accelerator card by directly accessing the MEM-P 12 at high throughput.

The FCU 18 is hardware that controls the facsimile function. Specifically, the FCU 18 is connected to a communication line N (e.g., a telephone line) and communicates with an external device using the facsimile function. For example, the FCU 18 receives image information from an external facsimile device via the communication line N. The image information is image data that represents an image (e.g., an image of a document). The FCU 18 also transmits the image information to the external device via the communication line N.

As shown in FIG. 1, the FCU 18 is provided with a G3 terminal 18a and a G4 terminal 18b. The FCU 18 can transmit and receive image information Da through the G3 terminal 18a by G3 protocol communication. The FCU 18 can also transmit and receive image information Da through the G4 terminal 18b by G4 protocol communication. However, the interface used to transmit and receive image information Da is not limited to the above example. For example, a configuration in which only one of the G3 terminal 18a and the G4 terminal 18b is provided may be used.

The HDD 25 of the controller 10 is a storage device for storing image data, programs, font data, and forms, and stores program files of application software executed on the MFP 1.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of a facsimile machine (MFP1) 100 according to this embodiment. For example, the above-mentioned CPU 11 executes a program, causing the MFP1 to function as the facsimile machine 100. As shown in Figure 2, the facsimile machine 100 includes an acquisition unit 101, a conversion unit 102, a control unit 103, a display control unit 108, a fax application 109, a transmission unit 111, and a storage unit 112.

The display control unit 108, for example, causes the operation display unit 24 to display various screens. For example, the display control unit 108 causes screens such as an input screen for inputting destination information for fax transmission and a notification screen (see Figures 5(a) to 5(c) described below). On the input screen, the user can specify destination information for fax transmission from an address book or transmission history, or can directly input destination information. The address book is information in which multiple destination names (such as company names) are registered in association with destination information such as fax numbers, and is stored in the memory unit 112.

Figure 3 (a) is an example of an address book in which destinations are registered. As shown in Figure 3 (a), the address book is composed of a registration ID, a registration name, a fax number, and an email address. The registration ID is identification information for identifying the destination. The registration name is the name of the destination, and is displayed on the operation display unit 24. The fax number in the address book is used when sending image information to the destination via a telephone line. The email address in the address book is used when sending image information to the destination via the Internet.

Each piece of information in the address book is registered in response to a user's operation via, for example, a registration screen displayed on the operation display unit 24. For example, in the specific example of FIG. 3(a), it is assumed that "Company A" is registered as the registered name of the destination with a registration ID of "1", "11111118" is registered as the fax number, and "A＠aaa.com" is registered as the email address.

The transmission history is information that registers the history of image information transmitted by the above-mentioned facsimile function, and is stored in the storage unit 112. Specifically, the transmission history registers destination information of the destination to which image information was previously transmitted, and the date or time when the image information was transmitted.

Figure 3(b) is an example of a transmission history. As shown in Figure 3(b), the transmission history includes the transmission date and time and the fax number. The fax number in the transmission history is the fax number of the destination to which the image information was sent. The transmission date and time in the transmission history is the date and time when the image information was sent. For example, the specific example in Figure 3(b) assumes that image information was sent to the destination fax number "12345678" at 9:00 on July 15, 2019. The transmission history is automatically registered when image information is sent.

The acquisition unit 101 acquires image information. Specifically, the image information generated by the above-mentioned scan function is acquired by the acquisition unit 101. As described below, the image information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 is transmitted by the transmission unit 111 to an external device (e.g., another facsimile device).

The conversion unit 102 performs an OCR (Optical Character Reader) conversion process on the image information acquired by the acquisition unit 101. The conversion unit 102 performs the OCR conversion process to convert the image information into document information. Specifically, the image indicated by the image information (for example, the image shown in FIG. 4(b) described below) may contain characters. In the OCR conversion process, characters contained in the image indicated by the image information are recognized, and character codes indicating the characters are generated. The document information is information that includes character codes generated from characters contained in the image indicated by the image information.

The control unit 103 is configured to realize the above-mentioned facsimile function, and includes a designation unit 104, an extraction unit 105, a judgment unit 106, and a decision unit 107. The designation unit 104 designates destination information (e.g., a facsimile number) in response to a designation operation by the user. Destination Information Destination information is information for identifying the destination of image information, and is designated by a designation operation of multiple procedures. For example, the designation unit 104 designates destination information input via a fax transmission screen displayed by the display control unit 108. Note that destination information may be an email address that is the destination of an Internet fax, an IP address or host name that is the destination of an IP-fax, or the URL or path of a folder when sending a fax to a specific folder.

The designation operation includes an operation of selecting one of the destinations registered in the address book described above. For example, a configuration is conceivable in which button images corresponding to each destination are displayed on the address book screen displayed by the display control unit 108, and the destination corresponding to the button image can be selected by touching one of the button images.

The storage unit 112 of the facsimile device 100 is provided with a destination storage unit 113. The destination storage unit 113 stores an address book. When one of the destinations registered in the address book is selected, the destination information of that destination is specified by the specification unit 104.

The designation operation also includes an operation of selecting one of the destinations (destination information) registered in the transmission history described above. Specifically, the storage unit 112 is provided with a history storage unit 114. The history storage unit 114 stores the transmission history. When one of the destination information registered in the transmission history is selected, the destination information is designated by the designation unit 104.

The designation operation also includes an operation of inputting destination information (hereinafter referred to as "direct input") using an operation unit for inputting numerical values (numeric keypad). Note that the operation display unit 24 described above may be used as the operation unit for directly inputting destination information. However, an operation unit for inputting numerical values may also be provided separately from the operation display unit 24.

The extraction unit 105 extracts destination information from the image indicated by the image information. Specifically, the image indicated by the image information to be sent to the destination (for example, the image shown in FIG. 4(b) described below) may contain destination information of the destination. However, the image usually contains character strings other than the destination information of the destination. The extraction unit 105 extracts a character string (for example, numbers) indicating the destination information of the destination from the character string included in the image indicated by the image information. Specifically, the extraction unit 105 extracts a character string indicating the destination information of the destination from the document information generated by the above-mentioned OCR conversion process. Details of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 4(a) and FIG. 4(b) described below.

The determination unit 106 determines whether the destination information specified by the designation unit 104 matches the destination information extracted by the extraction unit 105. That is, the determination unit 106 determines whether the destination information specified by the user's designation operation matches the destination information extracted from the image information. In the above configuration, if the user designates incorrect destination information by a designation operation, the determination unit 106 determines that the destination information does not match.

The determination by the determination unit 106 is performed by a determination process (see Sa13 in FIG. 6) described below. Furthermore, the display control unit 108 displays a notification screen (see FIGS. 5(a) to 5(c) described below) based on the determination result by the determination unit 106. The notification screen notifies the user that incorrect destination information has been specified.

The determination unit 107 can determine either the destination information specified by the designation unit 104 or the destination information extracted by the extraction unit 105. Specifically, on the above-mentioned notification screen, the user can select either the destination information specified by the designation unit 104 or the destination information extracted by the extraction unit 105. The determination unit 107 determines the destination information selected by the user. The transmission unit 111 transmits the image information acquired by the above-mentioned acquisition unit 101 to a destination identified from the destination information determined by the determination unit 107.

The fax application 109 is configured to accept various operations from the user and to display various images on the operation display unit 24. As shown in FIG. 2, the fax application 109 is configured to include a change unit 110. The change unit 110 changes the appearance of the notification screen depending on whether a designation operation is performed using the address book described above, whether a designation operation is performed using a history image, or whether destination information is directly input. Note that the fax application 109 may be configured to include the control unit 103 described above.

Let us assume a comparison in which the appearance of the notification screen is uniform regardless of the procedure of the designation operation. In the comparison, the inconvenience of not displaying the optimal notification screen may occur. According to the modification unit 110 of this embodiment, the result image can be changed according to the procedure of the designation operation, which has the advantage of suppressing the above-mentioned inconvenience.

The storage unit 112 stores various types of information. For example, the storage unit 112 stores image information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 and document information generated by the conversion unit 102. The storage unit 112 also includes the above-mentioned destination storage unit 113 and history storage unit 114.

Figures 4(a) and 4(b) are diagrams for explaining a configuration for extracting destination address information from document information. When extracting destination address information, the facsimile device 100 (extraction unit 105) first identifies a predetermined character string (hereinafter referred to as a "keyword") from the character string of the document information.

Figure 4(a) is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the above keywords. As shown in Figure 4(a), the above keywords include a first keyword meaning a destination (recipient) and a second keyword meaning a fax number (recipient information). The above keywords are character strings that are likely to be located immediately before the recipient information. However, keywords not shown in Figure 4(a) may also be used. The facsimile device 100 extracts the numeric string located immediately after the keyword (second keyword) as the recipient's recipient information.

Figure 4(b) is a specific example of an image indicated by image information. In the specific example of Figure 4(b), an image is assumed in which character strings are displayed in regions R1 to R3. Each character string in regions R1 to R3 is converted into a character code by the OCR conversion process described above. Furthermore, each character string in regions R1 to R3 is recognized as a separate character string (a set of characters).

In the specific example of FIG. 4(b), the character string in region R2 of each region R (1-3) contains the first keyword "Destination". In the above specific example, after identifying region R2, facsimile device 100 extracts the character string "0312345677" located immediately after the second keyword "FAX" from the character string in region R2. Specifically, only numbers are extracted from the characters constituting the character string located immediately after the second keyword. In other words, symbols such as hyphens, parentheses, and colons are not extracted from the characters constituting the character string located immediately after the second keyword.

FIG. 5(a) to FIG. 5(c) are schematic diagrams of specific examples of each notification screen (GA to GC). When the determination unit 106 determines that the designated address information designated by the designation unit 104 does not match the extracted address information extracted by the extraction unit 105, the change unit 111 automatically displays each of the above notification screens in response to a designation operation based on the designated address information, the extracted address information, and the address book and transmission history stored in the storage unit 112. Details will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, which will be described later.

Figure 5(a) is a mock-up of the notification screen GA. In the specific example of Figure 5(a), it is assumed that "Company A" is selected from among the recipients registered in the address book, and the recipient information extracted from the image information matches the recipient information for "Company B" registered in the address book.

In other words, the specific example in FIG. 5(a) assumes a case where the user mistakenly selects "Company A" when he or she should have selected "Company B" from the destinations registered in the address book. In the above case, the extraction unit 105 extracts the destination information "11111119" from the image information, and the determination unit 106 determines that the designated destination information "11111118" specified by the user's designation operation does not match the extracted destination information "11111119" extracted from the image information. The change unit 111 then searches the address book, determines that both the designated destination information and the extracted destination information are registered in the address book, and displays the notification screen GA.

As shown in FIG. 5(a), the notification screen GA displays a message indicating that the designated destination information specified by the user's designation operation does not match the extracted destination information extracted from the image information. Specifically, the notification screen GA displays a message indicating that the user selected "Company A" as the destination, but the image information the user is about to send will contain destination information for "Company B." Note that the destination information for both "Company A" and "Company B" may also be displayed on the notification screen GA.

As shown in FIG. 5(a), the notification screen GA displays button images Ba1, Ba2, and Bx. When button image Ba1 is touched, the determination unit 107 determines the designated destination information specified by the user's designation operation, and the transmission unit 111 transmits the image information to the destination corresponding to the designated destination information. When button image Ba2 is touched, the determination unit 107 determines the extracted destination information extracted from the image indicated by the image information, the change unit 110 changes the destination of the image information to the extracted destination information, and the transmission unit 111 transmits the image information to the destination corresponding to the extracted destination information. When button image Bx is touched, the designation operation is cancelled and the transmission of the image information is halted.

Figure 5 (b) is a schematic diagram of the notification screen GB. In the specific example of Figure 5 (b), it is assumed that, among the destination information registered in the transmission history information, the destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 15th" is selected, and the destination information extracted from the image information matches the destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 25th" among the destination information stored in the history storage unit 114.

In other words, the specific example in FIG. 5(b) assumes a case where the user mistakenly selects the destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 15th" when, among the destination information registered in the transmission history, the destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 25th" should be selected. In the above case, the extraction unit 105 extracts the destination information "12345679" from the image information, and the determination unit 106 determines that the designated destination information "12345678" specified by the user's designation operation does not match the extracted destination information "12345679" extracted from the image information. The change unit 111 then searches the transmission history, determines that both the designated destination information and the extracted destination information are registered in the transmission history, and displays the notification screen GB.

As shown in FIG. 5(b), the notification screen GB displays a message indicating that the specified destination information specified by the user through a specification operation does not match the extracted destination information extracted from the image information. Specifically, the user specified destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 15th" through a specification operation, but the notification screen GB displays a message indicating that the destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 25th" is included in the image information to be sent this time. The notification screen GB also displays the destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 15th" and the destination information of the destination to which image information was sent on "July 25th".

As shown in FIG. 5(b), the notification screen GB displays button image Bb1, button image Bb2, and the above-mentioned button image Bx. When button image Bb1 is touched, the determination unit 107 determines the designated destination information specified by the user's designation operation, and the transmission unit 111 transmits the image information to the destination corresponding to the designated destination information. When button image Bb2 is touched, the determination unit 107 determines the extracted destination information extracted from the image indicated by the image information, the change unit 110 changes the destination of the image information to the extracted destination information, and the transmission unit 111 transmits the image information to the destination corresponding to the extracted destination information. When button image Bx is touched, the designation operation is canceled and the transmission of the image information is stopped.

Figure 5 (c) is a schematic diagram of the notification screen GC. Destination information Destination information Destination information As shown in Figure 5 (c), a message is displayed to inform you that the designated destination information specified by the designation operation of directly inputting the user's fax number does not match the extracted destination information extracted from the image information. Also, the notification screen GC displays button image Bb1, button image Bb2, and button image Bx, similar to the notification screen GB described above.

Figure 6 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the operation of the facsimile device 100. As shown in Figure 6, the fax application 109 accepts an instruction to execute fax transmission from the user (Sa1). Specifically, after placing an original document in a predetermined position, the user selects (or directly inputs) the destination address information by the above-mentioned specification operation, and presses the start key or the like to instruct execution of fax transmission. The fax application 109 transmits an instruction to execute fax transmission to the control unit 103 (Sa2). Upon receiving the above instruction, the control unit 103 transmits an instruction to execute document reading to the acquisition unit 101.

When an instruction to read a document is given, the acquisition unit 101 executes a reading process (Sa4) and generates (acquires) image information from the document set by the user. The acquisition unit 101 stores the image information generated from the document in the storage unit 112 (Sa5). When the storage unit 112 stores the image information, it notifies the acquisition unit 101 of this fact (Sa6). The acquisition unit 101 also notifies the control unit 103 of the fact that the image information has been stored (Sa7).

When notified that the image information has been stored, the control unit 103 transmits an instruction to the conversion unit 102 to execute OCR conversion processing (Sa8). Upon receiving the above instruction, the conversion unit 102 requests the image information from the storage unit 112 (Sa9). In response to the above request, the storage unit 112 transmits the image information stored in the above-mentioned step Sa5 to the conversion unit 102 (Sa10).

When the conversion unit 102 receives the image information, it performs an OCR conversion process (Sa11) on the image information. After performing the OCR conversion process, the conversion unit 102 transmits the document information (OCR result) generated by the OCR conversion process to the control unit 103 (Sa12).

When the control unit 103 receives the document information, it executes an extraction process (Sa13). Specifically, it uses the above-mentioned keywords (see FIG. 4(a)) to extract a character string indicating destination address information from the character strings included in the document information. The control unit 103 also executes a determination process (Sa14). In the determination process, it is determined whether the address information selected in the above-mentioned step Sa1 (the address information specified by the user's specification operation) matches the address information extracted in the extraction process, and it is determined whether a notification screen is to be displayed, and if a notification screen is to be displayed, which of the notification screens GA to GC is to be displayed. Details will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 below.

The process to be executed thereafter changes depending on the result of the above determination process. Specifically, if the determination process determines that the destination information specified by the user's designation operation matches the destination information extracted in the extraction process, then image information is sent to the destination specified by the destination information specified by the designation operation (which matches the destination information extracted in the extraction process). On the other hand, if it is determined that the destination information does not match, the processes from step Sa16 onwards, which will be described later, are executed. In the specific example of FIG. 6, it is assumed that the determination process determines that the destination information does not match.

If it is determined that the destination information specified by the user's specification operation does not match the destination information extracted by the extraction process, the control unit 103 notifies the fax application 109 of this fact (Sa15). In response to the above notification, the fax application 109 displays the above-mentioned notification screens (GA to GC) to the user (Sa16).

Let us assume that button image Ba1, button image Ba2 (see FIG. 5(a) above) or button image Bb1, button image Bb2 (see FIG. 5(b) and FIG. 5(c) above) on the notification screen is touched (Sx1). In the above case, fax application 109 determines either the destination information specified by the user's designation operation or the destination information extracted in the extraction process according to touched button image B, and notifies control unit 103 of the determined destination information (Sx2). Control unit 103 notifies transmission unit 111 of the notified destination information and instructs transmission to be performed (Sx3).

When the transmitting unit 111 receives the instruction to execute transmission, it requests image information from the memory unit 112 (Sx4). In response to this request, the memory unit 112 transmits the image information stored in the above-mentioned step Sa5 to the transmitting unit 111 (Sx5). When the transmitting unit 111 receives the image information, it executes a transmission process (Sx6). In the above transmission process, the image information is transmitted to the destination specified by the destination information notified in step Sx3. Thereafter, the transmitting unit 111 notifies the control unit 103 that the transmission process has ended (Sx7).

On the other hand, when the above-mentioned button image Bx among the button images B on the notification screen displayed in step Sa16 is touched (Sy1), the fax application 109 notifies the control unit 103 of a stop instruction (Sy2). When the control unit 103 receives the stop instruction, it executes a stop process (Sy3). By the above stop process, the above-mentioned steps are canceled without sending image information (the generated information is discarded).

Figure 7 is a flowchart of the extraction process (Sa13 in Figure 6 above). When the extraction process starts, the facsimile device 100 sets the area number N to an initial value of "1" (S10). Specifically, as described above with reference to Figure 4(b), the image indicated by the image information may have multiple areas R containing character strings. The facsimile device 100 assigns an area number N to each of the areas R.

After setting the area number N to an initial value of "1", the facsimile device 100 searches the area R of the area number N (S11) and determines whether or not a first keyword (e.g., the character string "to") indicating the destination is included in the area R (S12). If it is determined that the first keyword indicating the destination is included in the area R (S12: Yes), the facsimile device 100 determines whether or not a second keyword indicating destination information (fax number) is included in the area R (S13).

When it is determined that the second keyword is included in region R (S13: Yes), the facsimile device 100 extracts the numeric string located immediately after the second keyword as destination address information (S14). After extracting the destination address information, the facsimile device 100 ends the extraction process.

The facsimile device 100 increments the area number N (S16) and repeatedly executes steps S11 to S13 until the above-mentioned steps S12 and S13 return "Yes." However, when the search for all areas R is completed (S15: No), the facsimile device 100 may end the extraction process without extracting destination information.

Figure 8 is a flowchart of the determination process (Sa14 in Figure 8). When the determination process starts, the determination unit 106 acquires the extracted destination information extracted from the image information and the designated destination information designated by the user (S21). Thereafter, the determination unit 106 judges whether the extracted destination information acquired in step S21 matches the designated destination information (S22). If the extracted destination information matches the designated destination information (S22: Yes), the determination unit 106 judges not to display the notification screen (S23). Note that if the determination in step S22 is "Yes," the destination corresponding to the designated destination information and the destination corresponding to the extracted destination information naturally match. The transmission unit 111 refers to either the designated destination information or the extracted destination information and transmits the image information.

If the extracted destination information does not match the specified destination information (S22: No), the change unit 111 determines whether the specified destination information is specified from a destination registered in the address book (S24). Specifically, if the specified destination information is registered in the address book, the change unit 111 determines that the specified destination information is specified from a destination registered in the address book.

The configuration for determining whether or not the designated destination information has been specified from a destination registered in the address book can be modified as appropriate. For example, in a modified example, when the user specifies destination information from the address book, the display control unit 108 stores designation method information indicating this. The display control unit 108 stores the designation method information in RAM 12b, for example.

In the above modified example, when the designation method information indicates that the destination information was designated from the address book, the change unit 111 determines that the designated destination information acquired in step S21 was designated from a destination registered in the address book. On the other hand, when the designation method information does not indicate that the destination information was designated from the address book, the change unit 111 determines that the designated destination information acquired in step S21 was not designated from a destination registered in the address book.

When the change unit 111 determines that the specified destination information acquired in step S21 was specified from a destination registered in the address book (S24: Yes), it determines whether the extracted destination information is registered in the address book (S25). When the change unit 111 determines that the extracted destination information is registered in the address book (S25: Yes), it determines that the notification screen GA should be displayed (S26) and ends the determination process. On the other hand, when the change unit 111 determines that the extracted destination information is not registered in the address book (S25: No), it determines that the notification screen GC should be displayed (S27) and ends the determination process.

When the change unit 111 determines that the specified destination information is not specified from a destination registered in the address book (S24: No), it determines whether the specified destination information is specified from the transmission history (S28). Specifically, when the specified destination information is registered in the transmission history, it determines that the specified destination information is specified from a destination registered in the transmission history.

The configuration for determining whether the specified destination information has been specified from the transmission history can be modified as appropriate. For example, a modified example is possible in which, when the user specifies destination information from the transmission history, the display control unit 108 stores specification method information indicating that fact. The display control unit 108 stores the specification method information in RAM 12b, for example.

In the above modified example, when the designation method information indicates that the destination information was designated from the transmission history, the modification unit 111 determines that the designated destination information acquired in step S21 was designated from a destination registered in the transmission history. On the other hand, when the designation method information does not indicate that the destination information was designated from the transmission history, the modification unit 111 determines that the designated destination information acquired in step S21 was not designated from a destination registered in the transmission history.

When the change unit 111 determines that the specified destination information was not specified from the transmission history (S28: No), it determines that the notification screen GC should be displayed (S27). On the other hand, when the change unit 111 determines that the specified destination information was specified from the transmission history (S28: Yes), it determines whether the extracted destination information acquired in step S21 is registered in the transmission history (S29). When the change unit 111 determines that the extracted destination information is not registered in the transmission history (S29: No), it determines that the notification screen GC should be displayed (S27). On the other hand, when the change unit 111 determines that the extracted destination information is registered in the transmission history (S29: Yes), it determines that the notification screen GB should be displayed (S30).

In this way, when the extracted destination information and the specified destination information do not match, the change unit 111 determines that the notification screen GA should be displayed if the specified destination information is designated from a destination registered in the address book and the extracted destination information is registered in the address book. On the other hand, if the specified destination information is designated from a destination registered in the transmission history and the extracted destination information is registered in the transmission history, it determines that the notification screen GB should be displayed, and otherwise displays the notification screen GC.

The change unit 111 may determine to display the notification screen GA if the specified destination information satisfies either of the two conditions that the specified destination information is specified from a destination registered in the address book (step S22) or the extracted destination information is registered in the address book (step S24). In this case, in the notification screen GA, of the specified destination information and the extracted destination information, for destination information registered in the address book, the registered name corresponding to the destination information is displayed, and for destination information not registered in the address book, the destination information is displayed.

The change unit 111 may also determine to display the notification screen GB if the specified destination information satisfies either of the two conditions that the specified destination information is specified from a destination registered in the transmission history (step S28) or the extracted destination information is registered in the transmission history (step S29). In this case, the notification screen GB may display the sending date and time corresponding to the destination information registered in the transmission history among the specified destination information and the extracted destination information, and display the destination information for the destination information not registered in the address book.

The device that executes each of the above processes can be modified as appropriate. Each of the above functions (determination unit, etc.) can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the term "processing circuit" in this specification includes a processor that is programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, and devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), DSP (digital signal processor), FPGA (field programmable gate array), and conventional circuit modules that are designed to execute each of the functions described above.

<Modification>
The above embodiment can be modified in various ways, and specific modifications will be described below.

In the above embodiment, the method of extracting the character string of the destination address information from the document information is not limited to the above example. For example, in the extraction process of the above embodiment, there are cases where the destination address information is not extracted. In the above cases, a configuration may be used in which any of the numeric strings included in the document information is extracted as the destination address information.

In addition, in the above modified example, a configuration may be adopted in which, from among the numeric strings contained in the document information, a numeric string similar to the destination information specified by the designation operation is preferentially extracted. For example, assume that the document information includes multiple numeric strings (hereinafter "target destination information"). In the above case, a configuration is preferable in which, from among the multiple target destination information, the target destination information most similar to the destination information specified by the designation operation (hereinafter "designated destination information") is extracted.

Specifically, assume that the designated destination information has M digits. In the above cases, it is determined whether or not each digit of the designated destination information matches each digit of the target destination information. A similarity of "1" (the highest similarity) is assigned to target destination information in which each of M-1 digits matches the designated destination information. Similarly, a similarity of "2" is assigned to target destination information in which each of M-2 digits matches the designated destination information, a similarity of "3" is assigned to target destination information in which each of M-3 digits matches the designated destination information, and a similarity of "M" (the lowest similarity) is assigned to target destination information in which none of the digits match the designated destination information. In the above configuration, the target destination information with the highest similarity is extracted from among the target destination information.

<Summary of the functions and effects of the embodiment>
<First aspect>
The facsimile machine of this aspect includes a designation unit (104) that designates destination information in response to a designation operation by a user, an extraction unit (105) that extracts destination information from an image indicated by image information, a determination unit (106) that determines whether the destination information designated by the designation unit matches the destination information extracted by the extraction unit, and a display control unit (108) that displays a notification screen that displays the result of the determination. According to the above-described aspect, the result of the determination is notified to the user.

<Second aspect>
The facsimile machine of this aspect includes a change unit (110) that changes the mode of the notification screen (GA to GC) depending on whether the designation operation is performed in a first procedure (procedure using an address book) or a second procedure (procedure using a history image) that is different from the first procedure. According to the above-described aspect, an appropriate notification screen can be displayed.

<Third aspect>
The facsimile machine of this embodiment is equipped with a destination storage unit (113) that stores the name of the destination in association with the destination information of the destination, and when a designation operation is performed in the first step, the notification screen displays the name of the destination corresponding to the destination information designated by the designation unit in response to the designation operation, and the name of the sender corresponding to the destination information extracted by the extraction unit (see FIG. 5(a)). According to the above-described embodiment, the effect of being able to display an appropriate notification screen is particularly remarkable.

<Fourth aspect>
The facsimile machine of this embodiment includes a history storage unit (114) that stores history information specifying the past date on which image information was transmitted in association with the destination information of the destination to which the image information was transmitted, and when a designation operation is performed in the second step, the notification screen displays the past date on which image information was transmitted to the sender corresponding to the destination information designated in the designation operation, and the past date on which image information was transmitted to the sender corresponding to the destination information extracted by the extraction unit (see FIG. 5(b)). According to the above-described embodiment, the effect of being able to display an appropriate notification screen is particularly remarkable.

<Fifth aspect>
The control method of this aspect is a control method realized by a computer, which includes a step of designating destination information in response to a designation operation by a user (Sa2 in FIG. 6), a step of extracting destination information from an image indicated by image information (Sa13 in FIG. 6), a step of determining whether the designated destination information matches the extracted destination information (Sa14 in FIG. 6), and a step of displaying a notification screen showing the result of the determination (Sy2 in FIG. 6). According to the above-described aspect, the same effect as that of the first aspect can be achieved.

<Sixth aspect>
The program of this aspect is characterized by causing a computer to execute each step of the control method of the fifth aspect described above. In this aspect described above, the same effects as those of the first aspect described above can be achieved.

100... facsimile device, 101... acquisition unit, 102... conversion unit, 103... control unit, 104... designation unit, 105... extraction unit, 106... judgment unit, 107... decision unit, 108... display control unit, 109... fax application, 110... change unit, 111... transmission unit, 112... storage unit, 113... destination storage unit, 114... history storage unit.

JP2016-005257A

Claims (6)

a designation unit for designating destination information in response to a designation operation by a user;
a conversion unit that converts each character string in an image represented by the image information into document information;
an extraction unit that identifies a predetermined keyword from the document information and extracts a character string corresponding to the keyword from the document information as the destination information ;
a determination unit that determines whether the destination information designated by the designation unit matches the destination information extracted by the extraction unit;
and a display control unit that displays a notification screen that displays a result of the determination. 2. The facsimile machine according to claim 1, further comprising a change unit which changes a mode of the notification screen depending on whether the designation operation is performed in a first procedure or a second procedure different from the first procedure. a destination storage unit that stores a name of a destination and the destination information of the destination in association with each other;
The facsimile device according to claim 2, wherein when a designation operation is performed in the first step, the notification screen displays the name of the destination corresponding to the destination information designated by the designation unit in response to the designation operation, and the name of the sender corresponding to the destination information extracted by the extraction unit . a history storage unit that stores history information specifying a past date on which the image information was transmitted in association with the destination information of the destination to which the image information was transmitted;
4. The facsimile device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when a designation operation is performed in the second step, the notification screen displays the past date on which the image information was sent to the sender corresponding to the destination information designated in the designation operation, and the past date on which the image information was sent to the sender corresponding to the destination information extracted by the extraction unit. A step of designating destination information in response to a designation operation by a user;
converting each character string in an image represented by the image information into document information;
A step of identifying a predetermined keyword from the document information and extracting a character string corresponding to the keyword from the document information as the destination information ;
determining whether the specified destination information matches the extracted destination information;
and displaying a notification screen that displays a result of the determination. A program that causes a computer to execute each step of the control method described in claim 5.

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