JPH098988A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To transmit an image other than the image based on a communication standard of the facsimile equipment when a transmission destination supports a file transfer protocol by sending an image by a facsimile protocol when the transmission destination cannot receive the image by a file transfer protocol. CONSTITUTION: Image data denoting an image are received via an interface 111 of a host computer 150 so as to decide whether or not an image transmission destination receives an image by a file transfer protocol and when the transmission destination can receive the image by the file transfer protocol, image data are transferred by the file transfer protocol. When the transmission destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol, the image is sent according to the facsimile protocol. In this case, when a destination equipment does not have a file transfer capability, an image processing section 104 is used to magnify or reduce the image the image to be an image size able to be received by the transmission destination. Then the image data are sent by the facsimile protocol.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having an interface for connecting to a host computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the systemization of office automation equipment has advanced, and the number of facsimiles that can be connected to a personal computer or the like has increased. An image created by a personal computer or the like using such a facsimile apparatus has been transmitted to the facsimile of the other party.

[0003]

When sending an image to a facsimile, the main scanning length of the image data must be a standard size according to the protocol regulations. The following two methods are conceivable for transmitting an image other than the standard size.

(1) An image is transmitted using a file transfer protocol instead of a facsimile protocol.

(2) A host computer processes an image into a standard size and then transfers it to a facsimile.

However, (1) has a drawback in that the destination machine is limited because the destination facsimile machine must have a file transfer function. The method (2) has a problem that the host computer needs an image processing function.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus which can solve such a problem.

[0008]

In order to achieve such an object, the invention according to claim 1 is a facsimile apparatus having an interface with a host computer, and an image is displayed via the interface. Means for receiving image data, means for determining whether or not the destination of the image can receive the image by the file transfer protocol, and means for receiving the image data when the destination can receive the image by the file transfer protocol. Transfer means for transferring by a file transfer protocol, and when the destination cannot receive an image by the file transfer protocol,
Transmission means for transmitting the image by a facsimile protocol.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is further provided means for determining the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of the image data received via the interface, wherein the transmission means has the destination as an image by a file transfer protocol. If the image cannot be received, an enlarging / reducing means for enlarging or reducing the image to a standard image size that can be received by the destination based on the number of pixels in the main scanning direction, and enlarging or reducing by the enlarging / reducing means. And a means for transmitting the image to the destination.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is further provided means for determining the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of the image data received via the interface, wherein the transmitting means has the destination as a file transfer protocol. When the image cannot be received, based on the number of pixels in the main scanning direction, a deforming unit that adds a margin to the image and deforms it to a standard image size that can be received by the destination, and deforms by the deforming unit. And a means for transmitting the image to the destination.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image data representing the image is received via the interface with the host computer, and it is judged whether the destination of the image can receive the image by the file transfer protocol. The image data is transferred by the file transfer protocol when the destination can receive the image by the file transfer protocol, and the image is transmitted by the facsimile protocol when the destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of the image data received via the interface is determined, and when the destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol, the main scanning direction is determined. Based on the number of pixels, the image is enlarged or reduced to a standard image size that can be received by the transmission destination and transmitted.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of the image data received through the interface is determined, and when the destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol, the main scanning direction is determined. A blank space is added to the image based on the number of pixels, and the image is transformed into a standard image size that can be received by the transmission destination and transmitted.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 101 is a main control unit that controls the entire apparatus, 102 is a scanner that reads an image, 103 is a printer that outputs an image, 104 is an image processing unit that performs image encoding / decoding and scaling processing, and 106 is an operation and display. An operation unit for performing the operation, 105 a line control unit connected to a line, 107 a ROM storing programs and the like, 108 a RAM for storing work and each table, 109 an image memory for storing images, 110 a host It is a file memory that stores data transferred from the computer 150. 111 is the "interface" of the present invention
SCSI interface as an example, and is used for connection with the host computer 150. These are all connected by a bus 112. The host computer 150 and this facsimile apparatus are connected by a SCSI interface 111.

FIG. 2 shows the host computer 150 to the SCS.
It is an example of a data format transmitted via the I interface 111. 201 is the destination telephone number, 2
02 is the number of main scanning pixels, 203 is the number of sub-scanning pixels, 20
4, the resolution is stored in 205, the image data size is stored in 205, and the image data is stored in 206.

FIG. 3 shows N obtained by communication with the other party.
It is an example of a user data element of a SF or NSS frame. Here, NSF is a frame that conveys the communication capability unique to the user, NSS is a frame that conveys whether or not the communication system unique to the user is used, and the format of the user data element can be freely defined by the manufacturer. If it has file transfer capability, a bit indicating the file transfer capability in this data element of NSF (for example, BIT0)
(Hereinafter, referred to as file transmission capability bit)
Set it to (1), and if it does not have it, set it to OFF (0). When image transfer is performed by the file transfer protocol, BIT0 of this NSS data element is turned ON (1), and when the file transfer protocol is not used, it is turned OFF (0).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart from the transfer of data from the host computer 150 to the transfer of an image to the other party. The image data transfer sequence of the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to this flowchart.

The data transferred from the host computer 150 is stored in the file memory 110 via the bus 112 (S401). A call is made to the destination telephone number of the data stored in the file memory 110 (S402).
If connected to the other device, the other party's functional capability is received (S40
3). The file transfer capability is determined by the file transfer capability bit of the NSF sent from the partner device.

If the partner machine has the file transfer capability, the facsimile apparatus that has received the NSF turns ON bit 1 of the NSS user data element (1) (S405) and issues a reception command (S406). After that, the image data is transferred by the file transfer protocol (S407).

If the partner machine does not have the file transfer capability, 2
The scaling factor is calculated from the number of main scanning pixels stored in 02 (S
408), using the image processing unit 104, enlarge or reduce to an image size that can be received by the destination. The enlarged or reduced image is stored in the image memory 109 (40
9). Next, turn off the file transfer capability bit of NSS.
It is set to (0) (S410) and a reception command is issued (S41).
1). After that, the image data is transmitted by the facsimile protocol (S407).

(Other) In the above embodiment, when the image transmission destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol, the image is enlarged or reduced to the standard size. However, if the maximum size of the standard image that can be received by the destination is larger than the size of the image received from the host computer 150, the received image may be transmitted with a margin added. In this case, there is an effect that the size of the image is not changed and the data amount of the image does not increase.

In the above embodiment, only the image size is changed when the destination of the image cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol. However, image parameters other than the image size can be changed as well. For example, if the image destination cannot receive at the resolution of the image received from the host computer,
The resolution of the received image can be changed and transmitted. The resolution of the image received from the host computer is
It can be determined by the resolution 204 in FIG.

Further, in the above embodiment, the image data expanded into pixel data is transmitted, but the data represented by the code data created by the host computer is transmitted by the file transfer protocol and transmitted. When the destination cannot receive data by the file transfer protocol, it may be expanded into pixel data and transmitted by the facsimile protocol.

[0025]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the destination can receive the image by the file transfer protocol, the image data is transferred by the file transfer protocol and the destination receives the image by the file transfer protocol. When the image cannot be transmitted, the image is transmitted by the facsimile protocol, so that the host computer does not need to transform the image based on the facsimile standard. Further, when the destination supports the file transfer protocol, it is possible to transmit an image other than the image based on the facsimile communication standard.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of the image data received via the interface is determined, and when the destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol, the main scanning direction is determined. Based on the number of pixels, the image is enlarged or reduced to a standard image size that can be received by the transmission destination and transmitted. Therefore, even if the destination does not support the file transfer protocol, the image received from the host computer and having a size other than the standard size can be transmitted to the facsimile device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of the image data received via the interface is determined, and when the destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol, the main scanning direction is determined. A blank space is added to the image based on the number of pixels, and the image is transformed into a standard image size that can be received by the transmission destination and transmitted. Therefore, even when the destination does not support the file transfer protocol, it is possible to send a small image other than the standard size received from the host computer to the facsimile apparatus. In addition, it is possible to prevent the image size from being deformed and the amount of data to be transmitted from increasing due to enlargement.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a data format sent from a host computer via an interface.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing one frame of NSF and NSS obtained by communication with a partner.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation from data transfer from the host computer 150 to image transfer to a destination.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 main control unit 102 scanner 103 printer 104 image processing unit 105 line control unit 106 operation unit 107 ROM 108 RAM 109 image memory 110 file memory 111 SCSI control unit 112 bus

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having an interface with a host computer, wherein means for receiving image data representing an image through the interface and whether the destination of the image can receive the image by a file transfer protocol. Means for determining whether or not the transfer destination can receive the image by the file transfer protocol when the transmission destination can receive the image by the file transfer protocol; and the transmission destination cannot receive the image by the file transfer protocol And a transmitting unit for transmitting the image according to a facsimile protocol. 2. The apparatus further comprises means for determining the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of image data received via the interface, wherein the transmitting means, when the destination cannot receive an image by a file transfer protocol, Based on the number of pixels in the main scanning direction,
The image forming apparatus further comprises an enlarging / reducing unit that enlarges or reduces the image to a standard image size that can be received by the destination, and a unit that transmits the image enlarged or reduced by the enlarging / reducing unit to the destination. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A means for determining the number of pixels in the main scanning direction of the image data received via the interface, wherein the transmitting means, when the destination cannot receive an image by a file transfer protocol, Based on the number of pixels in the main scanning direction,
It is characterized by further comprising: deforming means for adding a margin to the image and transforming the image into a standard image size that can be received by the destination, and means for transmitting the image transformed by the deforming means to the destination. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1.