JP3237117B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus capable of storing read image data and transmitting the image data based on the stored image data. .

2. Description of the Related Art As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-52507, a recent facsimile apparatus can store image data read for broadcast transmission and for improving usability. Things are also increasing.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-136171 discloses a facsimile apparatus in which reading is automatically interrupted and resumed according to the storage capacity of a storage unit.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-285574 discloses a facsimile apparatus that predicts the amount of image data to be read next based on image data that has already been read, and reduces the occurrence of a phenomenon in which empty space in a storage device runs out during storage. It has been disclosed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The conventional facsimile apparatus as described above cannot be said to be sufficiently convenient.

In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-136171, when the current storage capacity reaches the maximum storage capacity, reading is interrupted, transmission processing is performed, and then reading is resumed to store the data in the storage area.
Therefore, to send the data read later,
The line must be reconnected, which is disadvantageous in cost.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-285574 discloses the prediction of an over-storage capacity, but the processing as a device when the over-storage is predicted is only to issue an alarm. Is not enough.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. By performing transmission processing and image reading processing in parallel, transmission processing can be performed quickly without reconnecting a line. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of performing the above.

Means for Solving the Problems A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 reads an original to be transmitted and obtains image data,
Compression means for compressing image data obtained by the image reading means, storage means for storing the compressed image data,
Expanding means for reading out and expanding the stored image data, recompressing means for compressing the expanded image data again, transmitting means for transmitting the recompressed image data,
Detecting means for detecting that the remaining capacity of the storage capacity of the storage means has reached a predetermined value, and stopping operation of the image reading means when the detecting means detects that the remaining capacity of the storage capacity has reached the predetermined value. And a first control means for starting the transmission operation of the transmission means, and before the operation of the transmission means started by the first control means is completed to store the image data in the storage means having a storage location created by the transmission. And a second control means for restarting the operation of the image reading means.

[Operation] In the invention according to claim 1, when the remaining storage capacity of the storage means reaches a predetermined value, the operation of the image reading means is stopped and the operation of transmitting the image data stored in the storage means. Is started. When free space is generated in the storage unit by the transmission operation, the reading operation is restarted before the transmission operation is completed in order to store new image data in the storage unit.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a facsimile apparatus used in an embodiment of the present invention.

The facsimile apparatus is roughly divided into a recording unit 1 and a reading unit 30. The recording unit 1 is specifically a laser beam printer, and its operation will be briefly described below.

First, the photoconductor drum 5 is charged by the charger 8, and then an electrostatic latent image is formed by the optical system 4. The toner of the developing device 9 adheres to the latent image. On the other hand, the paper feed cassette 2 is a section for setting cut sheets, and cut sheets are fed one by one by rollers.

The toner adhering to the photoreceptor is transferred to a sheet by a transfer charger 10 and is fixed by a fixing device 6, and then is transferred to a tray 7.
Is discharged. The toner that has not adhered is collected by the cleaner 11, and one printing operation is completed.

 Next, the operation of the reading unit 30 will be described.

The document set on the document tray 20 is detected by the sensor 28, and the leading end thereof is lifted to a predetermined position by the push-up plate 23. Next, the document is sequentially fed from the top document by the pickup roller 21 and then fed. The fed document is conveyed by rollers 22, 25 and 26, read as a digital image by a contact image sensor 24, and finally discharged to a discharge tray 29.

Note that a handset 27 for interfacing with a telephone line is provided in the reading unit, and an operation panel 10 for setting various operations for transmission and reception is provided below the document tray 20.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the appearance of the operation panel of FIG.

Operation panel is numeric keypad group 40, liquid crystal panel 41, operation keys
It consists of 42, 43, 45 and 47 and LEDs 44, 46 and 48.

Numeric keys 40 are used to input the dial number of the other party. The display on the liquid crystal panel 41 is used for the operating state of the facsimile machine or for instructing the operator. The key 42 is used to start a facsimile transmission operation. The key 43 is a key for switching between memory transmission and non-memory transmission, and the LED 44 is used for displaying the key.

Key 45 is a key for performing manual broadcasting.
The LED 46 is an LED that indicates a state during manual broadcasting or a state where manual broadcasting can be performed. The manual broadcasting will be described later.

A key 47 is a key for selecting a reading process in the halftone mode, and an LED 48 is used for indicating the selection status.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of a facsimile apparatus of one embodiment according to the present invention.

The control unit mainly includes a communication control CPU 50, an operation panel 10, and a printer control unit 55.
They are connected by a communication path for transmitting mode information and a timing signal path. These operations will be described below according to the operation of the facsimile machine.

First, the transmission operation will be described. The transmission operation includes a memory transmission and a non-memory transmission, and each transmission operation will be described.

Memory Transmission First, when a document is placed on the document tray 20, it is detected by the sensor 28 of the reading unit 57, and the information is sent to the CPU 50. The CPU 50 displays a request for inputting a fax number on the display 41 of the operation panel 10, and when the fax number is input, the reading unit 5
Document feed and image sensor 24 by drive motor in 7
The image signal for each line is obtained while synchronizing the reading with the image data, and the data of one line is sent to the buffer memory 59.

At the same time, the image data in the buffer memory 59 is compressed by the compression / decompression unit 60 and stored in the compressed image memory 51.

When the reading and storing operation is completed, the CPU 50
3. Call the receiving FAX via the telephone line through the NCU 54. When the line is connected, the compressed data stored in the compressed image memory 51 is sent to the compression / decompression unit 60 to be decompressed and stored in the page memory 61 as actual image data. Next, the data is subjected to processing for automatic reduction according to the recording paper size of the receiving FAX, recompressed by the compression / decompression unit 60 according to the encoding method of the receiving FAX, and then again compressed image memory.
In another storage area 51, compressed image data is stored.

The expansion and compression operations are performed alternately in units of one block consisting of several lines.

The compressed data obtained in this way is output by the HDLC analyzer 52.
After being processed in accordance with the HDLC standard, it is transmitted to the telephone line by the modem 53 and the NCU 54. When all the image data has been transmitted, the line is disconnected in accordance with the disconnection procedure, and the transmission operation ends.

Non-memory transmission From the time when the original is placed on the original tray to the time when the fax number is input, it is the same as the above-mentioned memory transmission, but after that the dial input is performed to the other party, and the image sensor and The image data is read using a motor and stored in the buffer memory 59. At the same time, the data is converted into compressed data according to the recording size and compression method of the other party, and sent out to the telephone line via the compressed image memory 51 using the HDLC analyzer 52, the modem 53 and the NCU.

The operation at the time of reception is not directly related to the present invention, and thus will be described only briefly.

There is a call through the telephone line, and after the line connection is established, the transmitted compressed image data is decompressed by the compression / decompression unit 60,
It is stored in the page memory 61 as actual image data. At the same time, the image signal is conveyed to the printer control unit 55, and the recording is performed in synchronization with the mechanical controller of the printer. The recording operation is completed by repeating this operation for a predetermined number of pages.

 Here, manual broadcasting is described.

2. Description of the Related Art At present, generally, a broadcast function or program transmission in a facsimile apparatus sets a plurality of destinations (dial numbers) first, and sequentially transmits a document image to the plurality of destinations. Was something.

On the other hand, the manual broadcasting according to the present invention is such that the original can be transmitted to the dial number without re-reading the original simply by resetting the dial number for the already transmitted original. .

As a result, the following advantages are provided for a general broadcast transmitting apparatus.

 It is easy to add and change destinations.

Since there is no need to set a transmission destination to be broadcasted first, a response to a transmission error or the like is effective each time.

In the case of a one-time broadcast, the operation is easy because there is no need for initial setting.

For normal transmission, if the same original is sent to two destinations, for example, there is a merit that the labor of the operator is reduced because reading of the second original is omitted.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram which is included in the reading unit 57 and shows a flow from the time when the image analog signal output of the image sensor 24 is binarized and converted into a signal.

First, the analog data output from the contact image sensor 24 is converted into digital data of several bits by the A / D converter 71. Next, shading correction, γ
After various corrections such as correction and filtering are performed by the digital signal processing unit 72, the output values are sent to the binarization processing units 73 and 74.

The simple binarization processing section 73 performs simple binarization processing suitable for a non-halftone image based on the threshold value, and the halftone binarization processing 74 performs binarization processing by dither processing. Hereinafter, the former is called a binary mode, and the latter is called a halftone mode. As the processing in the halftone binarization processing section 74, binarization processing by an error diffusion method or the like can be considered in addition to dither processing.

A switch 75 is another switch for selecting one of the outputs of the binarization processing units 73 and 74. The output of the halftone binarization processing unit 74 is selected when the halftone mode is selected, and the simple binarization is performed when the halftone mode is not selected. The output of the processing unit 73 is selected.

In general, a digital image obtained by halftone binarization processing by the area gradation method tends to have lower pixel continuity than that obtained by simple binarization. In particular, a gray image is converted into a dot pattern to obtain an image similar to gray. Therefore, when the digital image is compressed, the capacity of the compressed data is significantly increased in the halftone mode as compared with the binary mode. This is a normal compression method (MH, MR, MMR
Etc.) are intended for non-halftone images such as character document images.

Further, in this embodiment, the halftone image is configured to be transmitted after being subjected to the binarization processing by the halftone binarization processing unit 74. However, the multi-value data output from the digital signal processing unit 72 is directly used. Alternatively, it is conceivable to perform processing by the multi-value dither method and transmit the data. Even in such a case, the data amount is inevitably larger than when the simple binarization process is performed.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are schematic control flows of the communication control CPU 50 of FIG.

First, in step S1, initialization of registers, various input / output ports, various flags, and the like is performed. Next, in step S3, the seventh
Set a timer interrupt to periodically call the interrupt service routine shown in the figure.

Steps S5 to S7 are various check routines for moving each sequence in the interrupt service routine as desired, for example, so that transmission is performed when transmission is desired. When the processing up to step S7 is completed, the flow returns to step S5 again, and the same check is repeated.

The transmission check routine S5 will be described later in detail, but the reception check routine S7 is not described here in detail because it has little relation to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a service routine of the timer interrupt set in the flow of FIG.

This service routine is composed of three sequences of transmission, reception and manual broadcast control, and details of step S21 (transmission) and step S25 (manual broadcast control) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 9A and thereafter.

However, the reception in step S23 is not particularly described because it is not so related to the present invention.

8A and 8B are flowcharts showing the specific contents of the transmission check routine of FIG.

First, it is determined in step S50 whether or not the broadcast is a manual broadcast. In the case of a manual broadcast, the process from step S57 is performed.

If it is not a manual broadcast, a document set state is detected in step S51. When setting the original, step S53
On the condition that “transmission F (flag) = 0” and “not receiving” at S55 (YES at steps S53 and S55), the process proceeds to step S56 and thereafter. Here, "transmission F = 1" indicates transmission in a broad sense, and includes sending, reading, and discharging of a document. If no original is set, it is determined in step S83 whether or not transmission is in progress. If transmission is not being performed, the transmission flag is set to 0 in step S85, and the process proceeds to step S87 and subsequent steps.

Next, in step S56, the operator is prompted to input a dial number by the display a shown in FIG. 5, and if a dial number is input (YES in S61), the process proceeds to step S63.
Then, if there is an input of the transmission key in step S63, a process for accepting the transmission mode is performed in step S65 and thereafter. Specifically, the transmission flag is set to 1 in step S65.
, And it is determined in step S67 whether or not memory transmission is to be performed.

If the transmission is the memory transmission, the remaining memory is checked in step S69. If “memory remaining amount <M” (M is a certain amount), that is, if the remaining amount of the compressed image memory is insufficient, the memory transmission is canceled in step S71, and step S73 is performed.
Informs the operator accordingly. This means that it is predicted in advance whether or not the compressed image memory 51 will be full during reading, and if the possibility is high (that is, if “memory remaining <M”), only a small amount of compressed image memory 51 is used. This is because transmission is performed by non-memory transmission that is not used.

In this embodiment, the above-described processing is performed not only before the reading is started but also during the reading at the cuts of the pages of the document. The contents of this processing will be described later.

In steps S75 to S81, memory management for manual broadcasting is performed.

First, in a step S75, it is determined whether or not the previous transmission mode is the manual broadcast. The current time in step S76 when the manual is not a broadcast to load in t _3. Next, on condition that "manual broadcast possible F = 1" in step S77, the previously transmitted compressed data is deleted in step S79.

Here, the reason why the compressed image data is not deleted immediately after the transmission is to prepare for transmitting the previously transmitted compressed image data again by designating the manual broadcast. In step S67, after the operator starts transmission of another document, the previously transmitted compressed image data is deleted for the first time.

In step S77, the manual broadcast is possible.
Is a flag indicating whether or not manual broadcasting is accepted. This is because, in order to perform manual broadcasting, it is necessary to hold the previously transmitted image data,
This can reduce available memory at all times. When the available memory decreases, it becomes disadvantageous in using the memory at the time of reception. Therefore, by deleting the memory after a lapse of a predetermined time by the input of the operator, the possibility can be reduced.

In addition, since the manual broadcast is normally performed immediately after the transmission, the possibility that the manual broadcast cannot be used even if the memory is erased after a certain period of time can be said to be substantially low.

The above-described operation will be described later.
If "manual broadcast possible F = 0" in S77, since the memory has already been erased, there is no need to erase the memory again, so step S79 is skipped.

In step S81, since a new image has been input, the manual broadcast enable F is set to 1, and the manual broadcast processing can be accepted.

Steps S87 to S124 are a sequence for key processing of the operation panel 10 relating to the transmission operation.

First, on condition that the memory transmission key 43 is pressed in step S87, steps S89, S91, S93, S95 and S97
Then, the turning on or off of the LED 44 is inverted depending on whether or not the memory is transmitted, and the transmission state is displayed on the LED 44.

Next, when the manual broadcast key 45 is pressed in step S99, the transmission is not being performed in step S100, and the process proceeds to step S101.
, And manual broadcast is accepted in step S103.

Next, on condition that the halftone key 47 is pressed at 105,
In steps S109, S111, S113, S115 and S117, the turning on or off of the LED 48 is reversed depending on whether or not the reading is in the halftone mode, and the state is displayed on the LED 48.

Then, in step S119, the contents of the halftone F are examined. In steps S121 and S123, the switch 75 shown in FIG. 4 is switched. Further, in steps S122 and S124, the value M for checking the remaining memory in step S69 is set to the value M in step S69. M
To load the ₁ and M _2.

M ₁ and M ₂ here is the data amount of the compressed image corresponding to one sheet of the document in each case the halftone mode and binary mode. As described above, since the amount of compressed image data in the halftone mode is larger than the amount of data in the binary mode, there is a relationship of M ₁ > M ₂ .

In this embodiment, when the setting of the halftone mode is performed from the operation panel, the non-memory transmission is automatically set. However, when the memory transmission is reset thereafter, the transmission of the halftone mode image data by the memory transmission is performed. Be executed. Therefore, a process of increasing the value M for checking the remaining memory capacity in the halftone mode is added.

9A to 9D are flowcharts showing the specific contents of the transmission process in step S21 in FIG. 9A and 9B show the processing at the time of non-memory transmission, and FIGS. 9C and 9D show the processing at the time of memory transmission.

First, transmission is being performed in step S201 and step S2
If it is a manual broadcast process in 03, go to step S341 and later,
If it is a memory transmission in step S205, go to step S289 and below,
If it is a non-memory transmission, the process proceeds to step S207 and thereafter.

Step S207 and subsequent steps are processing at the time of non-memory transmission. First, this processing will be described.

First, the state of the interruption F is checked in step S207. The interruption F is a flag that is set when there is a problem on the line caused by deterioration of the line state, a failure on the receiving side, or the like. If the line connection is interrupted, the process proceeds to step S240 and the subsequent steps, and the display b in FIG. 5 indicates the fact, the document being read is discharged to the discharge tray 29 in step S241, and transmitted when the discharge is completed in step S243. F is set to 0 (S245), and the transmission operation is stopped.

In steps S209 to S219, it is checked which transmission operation is currently being performed, and the process branches to steps corresponding to each operation.

First, the document is sent in step S249 until the preceding document to be read arrives at the image sensor 24 in step S209.

Next, line connection processing is performed in step S251 until line connection is completed in step S211. If there is an abnormality in the line connection in step S253, the interruption F is set to 1 in step S255, and the process proceeds to the above interruption processing.

In step S213 and subsequent steps, the document reading process starts, and in step S213, the transmission of one page of the document is completed in step S213.
At 57, the processing is performed as follows. Step S257 and subsequent steps will be described later.

If the transmission of the previous page has not been completed in step S215, the next document is sent in step S237. When the transmission is completed, the process proceeds to step S217 to enter a line disconnection process.

Until it is determined in step S217 that the disconnection of the line has been completed, the line disconnection process is performed in step S231. Step S2
If it is determined in step 33 that there is an abnormality in the disconnection process, an interruption F is set in step S235, and the interruption process is started.

Finally, the document is discharged to the discharge tray 29 in step S229 until the document discharge is determined to be completed in step S219.

Then, the transmission F is reset in step S221, and the number of originals transmitted in step S223 is stored. Step S2
Load the current time t ₁ at 25, to return after performing the display h of FIG. 5.

Current time loading into t ₁ is in the step S225, the setting of the start time for the aforementioned manual image data stored for broadcast intended for erasing the predetermined time has elapsed, the elapsed time counting Is what it means.

Steps S257 to S287 in FIG. 9B are a flow for reading and transmitting one page of the document.

In this embodiment, these operations are performed by one line consisting of several lines.
The reading and transmission of one block are started at the same time, but the reading is completed earlier due to the line speed, so that the reading system is made to wait at a block break.

First, it is determined in step S257 whether reading of one block is completed, and the reading operation is performed in steps S259 to S265 until reading of one block is completed. That is, the document is fed in step S259, the document is read in step S261, the read data is compressed in step S263, and the compressed data is stored in the transmission area of compressed data in step S265 (which corresponds to a part of the compressed image memory 51 in this embodiment). Is performed.

Next, in step S267, it is determined whether or not transmission of one block has been completed, and image data is transmitted to the line in steps S269 to S285 until transmission to the line for one block is completed. That is, compressed data is transmitted in step S269, and if it is determined in step S271 that manual broadcasting is possible, compressed data is sequentially stored in the compressed image memory 51 in step S273 to prepare for manual broadcasting. .

Steps S275, S283, and S285 are measures against memory overflow during non-memory transmission and memory storage for manual broadcast.

If such an overflow occurs,
There is no need to stop the transmission operation, because it only disables manual broadcasting. Therefore, if it is determined in step S275 that the memory is over, the process proceeds to step S283 and the subsequent steps to erase the compressed data and reset the manually broadcastable F. Further, the operator is notified that manual broadcasting is no longer possible. This is performed by manual broadcasting control in step S25, and this control will be described later.

In step S277, the occurrence of the interruption of the transmission operation is detected. When the interruption occurs, the interruption F is set to 1 in step S279, and the operator is notified of the line error by the display c in FIG.

Steps S289 to S369 are processing at the time of memory transmission. Before describing the processing, a countermeasure against a memory full occurring at the time of reading for memory transmission will be described.

All image data read at the time of transmission to the memory is compressed and stored in the compressed image memory 51.However, the amount of compressed data greatly varies depending on the number of documents, the fineness of the document image, and whether or not to read in half tone. However, the compressed image memory 51 may not be able to store all the data. Therefore, the following processes are performed.

As described above, the memory remaining amount is checked before the start of reading, and if the remaining amount is smaller than a certain amount M, the transmission is switched to non-memory transmission.

Perform the same checks as each time one page is read,
If the remaining memory capacity is smaller than "M", the read portion is transmitted first, and then the remaining document is read and transmitted.

If a memory overflow occurs during reading, the original is ejected and the operator is prompted to return the original to the original tray 20, while the already read original is transmitted first, and the remaining Performs reading and transmitting operations. Here, the time required for the operator to return the original to the original tray 20 when the memory is over is sufficiently shorter than the time required for transmitting the read original. Therefore, even if the return operation at this time is inserted during transmission, the transmission operation is performed smoothly.

 Next, the flow will be described.

First, in steps S289 and S291, a memory full F and a transmission priority F are checked. The memory full F is a flag that is set when a memory full occurs (strictly including the case of “memory remaining amount <M”), and the transmission priority F is set when transmission is first performed due to the memory full.

If these flags are not set to 1, the process proceeds to step S293 and subsequent steps, and steps S293, S295, S3
At 01, S303, S341, S343, and S345, it is checked which transmission operation is currently being performed, and the process branches according to each transmission operation.

First, in step S293, the first document is
Until the reading position 24 is reached, the original is sent in step S331.

Next, until the reading of one page of the document is completed in step S295, the reading operation of the document is performed in step S311 and thereafter. That is, in step S313, the original is read by the contact type image sensor 4 to obtain original image data in synchronization with the conveyance of the original in step S311.
After compression in the compression / decompression unit 60 in S315, step S317
To store in the compressed image memory 51. If it is determined in step S319 that the compressed image memory 51 is full during the reading of one page and the reading of one page is not completed (YES in S320), the process proceeds to step S321 and subsequent steps. . Here, the step is performed on condition that reading of one page is not completed.
The processing after S321 is performed because if the reading of one page is completed even when the memory is full, the document of that page can be transmitted to the memory.

Then, in step S321, the memory full F is set to 1, and in step S323, the manually broadcastable F is set to 0. This is because all of the compressed image data of the original of one page cannot be stored in the memory at one time due to the memory full condition, so that the manual broadcast cannot be performed.

Next, in step S325, the compressed image data being read is erased, and in step S329, the operator is notified by the display d in FIG. 5 that a memory full condition has occurred.

If reading of the original of one page has been completed in step S295 and reading of all pages has not been completed in step S301,
In S297, it is determined whether or not the remaining memory is larger than a certain amount M. Thus, it is predicted whether or not the reading of the next document is performed without the memory being full. if,
If "remaining memory ≤ M", the transmission priority F is set to 1 in step S299, and the display f shown in Fig. 5 is performed in step S300, and the next original is sent (S309). If reading of all pages has been completed, the process proceeds to step S303, and the discharging operation is performed in step S307 until the discharging of the final document to the discharging tray 29 is completed. After the ejection completion stores the number of documents read, to load the current time t ₁ in step S305. This time is used as a reference for the elapsed time used for erasing the memory of the manual broadcast.

 Subsequently, the transmission operation to the line after step S341 is started.

The line connection process is performed in step S369 until the line connection is completed in step S341. When the connection is completed, step S367 is performed until the transmission of all image data is completed in step S343.
Performs data transmission processing.

When the transmission of the image data is completed, if the transmission priority F is 1 in step S345, the memory transmission F is set to 0 in step S359, and the transmission is switched to non-memory transmission. If the remaining originals are sent by memory transmission, there is a high possibility that the memory will become full again, and it is not preferable that the transmission of some originals is frequently interrupted due to the memory full.

Next, in step S361, the transmission priority F is reset to 0,
The display g in FIG. 5 informs the operator that reading and transmission of the remaining originals will be performed. Next, line disconnection processing is started, and the disconnection processing is performed in step S365 until the line disconnection is completed in step S347.

Here, a case where a memory full occurs at the time of storing the compressed data in step S317 will be described.

In this case, the process proceeds from step S289 to step S333, and the document being read is discharged to the discharge tray 29 in step S334 until the discharge is completed. When the ejection is completed, the memory full F is returned to 0 in step S335, while step S337 is performed.
In order to transmit the original image previously read in
The operator is informed of this by a display e in the figure. Further, in order to continuously read and transmit the remaining documents on the display, the operator is requested to return only one document (only the document which has caused the memory full) from the document on the discharge tray to the document tray. Then, in step S339, the transmission priority F is set to 1
Set to.

Next, after the transmission priority F is set to 1, the step
The process proceeds from step S291 to step S341 and the subsequent steps to start transmitting data to the line.

When the transmission of the data to the line is completed, the process proceeds from step S347 to step S365, where the line is disconnected.

Next, the processing when transmission is completed without causing memory full is shown in steps S345 to S357.

First, the transmission F is set to 0 in step S349, and only when the next transmission is manual broadcasting, step S351 is executed.
In step S353, the manual broadcast F is set to 0. Next, in step S357, the transmission end is notified to the operator by the display h in FIG. 5 and the transmission is ended.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the specific contents of manual broadcast control for erasing data in the image memory for manual broadcast within a predetermined time from the previous transmission.

The start of timing for this erasure is performed at the following timing.

When the previous transmission is non-memory transmission, when transmission is completed (line disconnection) When the previous transmission is memory transmission, when document reading is completed When previous transmission is manual broadcast, transmission is completed (line disconnection) This timing start time is already stored at t1 in the flow. First, load the current time t ₂ in step S501. Step S503 t ₂ has passed over T hours from t _1, the further step after such a manual broadcast can F to 0 in step S507 if not being transmitted in step S505, does not accept the manual broadcast In S508, the data of the previously transmitted memory is erased.

However, the value of T is set, for example, to a time at which it is assumed that the operator has gone out of the facsimile machine and performed a manual broadcast no longer, assuming that the operator has performed work for transmission. The setting may be made in consideration of the above.

However, if the erasure of the memory at the time set as described above or the acceptance of the manual broadcast is prohibited due to the above-mentioned memory full condition, it is preferable that the operator can determine that.

Therefore, the LEDs 46 are selectively used as follows to inform the operator of information regarding manual broadcasting of the apparatus.

 LED 46 flashes during manual broadcast.

When manual broadcasting is possible, the LED 46 is turned on.

When manual broadcasting is not possible, the LED 46 is turned off.

Step S509 and subsequent steps show a flow of performing the above processing.

If it is determined in step S509 that manual broadcasting cannot be performed, the LED 46 is turned off in step S517. Furthermore, manual broadcasting is possible, and if the apparatus is not currently performing manual broadcasting as determined in step S511, the LED 46 is turned on in step S515. Next, if manual broadcast is determined in step S511, a process of blinking the LED 46 is performed in step S513.

In the above-described embodiment, the method of switching from memory transmission to non-memory transmission has been described as a return operation when the remaining memory capacity is insufficient. However, two other methods can be considered as follows, and these methods will be described.

First Method Consider a facsimile apparatus constituted by the block diagram of FIG. 11 instead of the block diagram of FIG. The difference from FIG. 3 lies in that a compression unit 63 having another compression function is provided in addition to the compression / expansion unit 60. Compression section 63
Is used to compress the image data read by the reading unit 57 while using the compression / decompression unit 60 in the expansion / recompression operation at the time of memory transmission. That is, it is possible to perform the transmission operation at the time of memory transmission (strictly, the transmission to the line) and the image reading operation in parallel.

By doing so, it is possible to resume reading of a document that has not been read without waiting for completion of the transmission operation of the already read image performed due to insufficient memory or full memory. Further, the switching from the memory transmission to the non-memory transmission, which has been required, becomes unnecessary. That is, the transmission of the image data to the line progresses, and the reading of the document may be restarted when the free space of the compressed image memory 51 becomes sufficient. This embodiment replaces FIGS. 9C and 9D of the previous embodiment with FIGS.
This is achieved by the flowchart shown in FIG. 9C and 9D differ from steps S306, S330, and
As shown in S350, a line transmission permission F is provided to permit simultaneous reading and transmission to the line even during memory transmission. Of course, if the problem of insufficient memory capacity does not occur, the transmission and reading operations are not performed simultaneously by the determination in step S330. Yet another difference is that steps S368 and S370
Is performed, the remaining memory is checked when data is transmitted to the line, and if there is a sufficient remaining memory, the transmission priority mode is canceled in step S370. By this processing, the reading and the transmission to the line are thereafter performed simultaneously in parallel.

Second Method In the facsimile apparatus having the block configuration shown in FIG. 3, it is conceivable that the memory transmission mode is maintained even when the memory becomes full, as in the first method.

In this case, once the transmission of the read image data is completed, it is necessary to disconnect the line once. The remaining originals are separately transmitted to the memory. Since all the originals are transmitted by the memory transmission in this manner, there is an advantage that the transmission of the remaining originals is released earlier from the apparatus in that the operator can bring back the read originals.

In the first embodiment, the data in the memory is erased after a certain time in order to increase the memory efficiency at the time of manual broadcasting. However, a substantial advantage of erasing the memory lies in the receiving operation in the facsimile apparatus.
This is because in the normal transmission operation, the data in the memory for manual broadcasting is erased before reading a new document.

Therefore, the following two different solutions for improving the memory efficiency when the target for improving the memory efficiency is limited to the reception operation.

First Method The data in the memory for manual broadcasting is deleted only after receiving. That is, as shown in FIG.
At the time of reception in step S601, step S603 and
By executing the processing of S605, the data on the memory for manual broadcasting is deleted, and the memory is released for storing the received image data.

Second method When the remaining memory capacity is exhausted due to reception, the data is erased. That is, as shown in FIG. 15, the remaining amount of memory is monitored in step S611, and when the remaining amount of memory is low, the processes in steps S613 and S615 are executed, whereby the memory on the memory for manual broadcasting is stored. Erase data,
Releases memory for storing received image data.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, the transmission operation of the image data stored in the storage unit is started when the remaining amount of the storage capacity of the storage unit reaches a predetermined value. When a free space is generated in the storage means, the reading operation is restarted before the transmission operation is completed in order to store new image data.

Therefore, by performing the image data transmission operation and the image reading operation in parallel, the transmission processing can be performed quickly without reconnecting the line.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of an operation panel shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a control section of the facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a flow of a binarization process included in the reading unit of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 shows various display contents displayed on a display unit of the operation panel of FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a main routine of the communication control CPU 50 of FIG. 3, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a timer interrupt routine in the communication control CPU 50 of FIG. 3, and FIGS. 8A and 8B are flowcharts of FIG. 9A is a flowchart showing the specific contents of the transmission check routine in FIG. 6; FIG.
9 to 9D are flowcharts showing specific contents of the transmission routine of FIG. 7, FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing specific contents of the manual broadcast control routine of FIG. 7, and FIG.
11 is a block diagram of a control unit of a facsimile apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a flowchart in the embodiment of FIG. 11, corresponding to FIG. 9C of the previous embodiment, FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the embodiment of FIG. 11, which corresponds to FIG. 9D of the previous embodiment;
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the specific contents of a reception routine according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the specific contents of the reception routine according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a recording unit, 10 is an operation panel, 24 is a contact type image sensor, 30 is a reading unit, 50 is a communication control CPU, 51 is a compressed image memory, 57 is a reading unit, 60 is a compression / expansion unit, and 62 is The clock IC 63 is a compression unit. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-136171 (JP, A) JP-A-64-13865 (JP, A) JP-A-2-241268 (JP, A) JP-A 49-1986 31217 (JP, A) JP-A-61-281670 (JP, A) JP-A-62-287770 (JP, A) JP-A-1-296766 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/32-1/34 H04N 1/21 H04N 1/00-1/00 108 H04L 29/00-29/12

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An image reading unit that reads an original to be transmitted and obtains image data; a compression unit that compresses image data obtained by the image reading unit; and a storage unit that stores the compressed image data. Decompressing means for reading out and decompressing the stored image data; recompressing means for recompressing the decompressed image data; transmitting means for transmitting the recompressed image data; Detecting means for detecting that the remaining capacity of the storage capacity has reached a predetermined value; and stopping the operation of the image reading means when the detection means has detected that the remaining capacity of the storage capacity has reached a predetermined value. A first control unit for starting the transmission operation of the transmission unit; and a first control unit for storing the image data in the storage unit having a storage location created by the transmission. Before operation of the initiated transmission means is completed, and a second control means for resuming the operation of the image reading unit, a facsimile device.