Internet facsimile apparatus and internet transmitting apparatus

13 Pages·2013·0.88 MB·English

US006963417B1
(12) United States Patent
(10) Patent N0.: US 6,963,417 B1
Saito (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 8, 2005
(54) INTERNET FACSIMILE APPARATUS AND 6,272,532 B1 * 8/2001 Feinleib .................... .. 709/206
INTERNET TRANSMITTING APPARATUS 6,470,379 B1 * 10/2002 Mori .... .. 709/206
6,535,303 B1 * 3/2003 Wolf ........................ .. 358/434
(73) AInsvseingtnoere:: PanasoSnaiictU C, oKmamwuansiackait ions Co., Ltd., JP 6-152917 5/1994
Fukuoka (JP) JP 7-250191 9/1995
JP 11-168614 6/1999
( * ) Notice: Subject‘ to any disclaimer, the term of this OTHER PUBLICATIONS
patent is extended or ad]usted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. English Language Abstract of JP 11—168614.
English Language Abstract of JP 6—152917.
(21) APPL NO; 09/565,470 English Language Abstract of JP 7—250191.
(22) Filed: May 5, 2000 * Cited by examiner
(30) Forei. gn Appli.c ati. on Pri.o ri. ty Data APsrsiimsatranyt E Exxaammiinneerr—_EcdhWaanr dS ‘ CPoalreks
Oct. 5, 1999 (JP) ......................................... .. 11-283877 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Greenblum & Bernstein,
(51) Int. Cl.7 ....................... .. G06F 15/00; G06F 15/16; P'L'C'
H04N 1/00 (57) ABSTRACT
(52) US. Cl. .................... .. 358/115; 358/402; A plurality of destination mail addresses for broadcast
, transmission input from a panel control section is tempo
(58) Field of Search ............................... .. 70_9 /206, 207; rar? y stored i- n an address data buffer. An address readi- ng
358/402’ 403’ 1'15’ 1'16’ 405’ 440é83ZZ/888é113é control section reads the destination mail addresses from the
' ’ ' address data buffer in order to divide the plurality of
(56) References Cited destination mail addresses to a plurality of groups in unit of
setting value M. A mail creating section creates e-mail
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS directing to a destination mail address belonging to each
5 _dh 1 group. This makes it possible to limit the number of desti
s’ggg’ggé 2 * £110 61: Z; a‘ 358/402 nation mail addresses, Which is input to a destination ?led
5’881’233 A 3/1999 Toyoda a """""""" " [T01] of one e-mail, to the setting value M. Also, this makes
60257931 A * 2/2000 Bloom?eld ______________ __ 358/402 it possible to prevent a header portion from being needlessly
6,094,277 A 7/2000 Toyoda increased at the time of broadcast transmission.
6,097,797 A * 8/2000 Oseto ........ .. 379/100.08
6,249,807 B1 * 6/2001 Shaw et al. ............... .. 709/206 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
@
PANEL CONTROL
SECTION 10
RAM 13
m 405 40s
I moms I GROUP I I oowuu NAME
om BUFIFER INFORIIIATIUN mromlumon m ADDRESS cusslFlcATlnn
1 mama.» A
,5 2 00000.00.“I B
sum ADDRESS a mono. co. 1? A
@000“ 4 A
5 51000.00.» 5
4m 40: i 40a 41a
comsssms mu TIFF mm mm
SCANNER 1s—- nscomsssmc —>convmmc—> 005mm: _> nunsmmm: —~ LAN l/F I7
SECTION sacrum SECTION SECTION
U.S. Patent Nov. 8,2005 Sheet 1 0f 7 US 6,963,417 B1
11
N
CPU
14
12 N
N FAX&VOICE
ROM PROCESSING
SECTION
PSTN
13 15
N N
RAN SCANNER
16
N
PRINTER
1a 17
N N
PANEL CONTROL
SECTlON LA" '/F
0
FIG.1
U.S. Patent Nov. 8,2005 Sheet 2 0f 7 US 6,963,417 B1
21
FIG.2
1a
no
N
U.S. Patent
Nov. 8, 2005 Sheet 3 0f 7 US 6,963,417 B1
CPU
100
N
FAX&VOICE FAX&VOICE
CONTROLLING ‘___> PROCESSING
SECTION SECTION 14
200
N
SCANNER
CONTROLLING < > SCANNER 15
SECTION
300
N
PRINTER
CONTROLLING ‘———> PRINTER l6
sEcTloN
400
N
'FAxsgggfg?s'Nc ‘_--> LAN l/F 11
FIG.3

U.S. Patent Nov. 8,2005 Sheet 5 0f 7 US 6,963,417 B1
@
ST50
INPUT ADDRESS N I
l
REGISTER ADDRESS STSUZ
IN MEMORY
ST503
YES IS THERE
NEXT ADDRESS?
‘N0
8T5
N=0 N 04
ST505
READ ADDRESS /"
l’ ST506
SET ADDRESS T0
T0 FIELD
T ST507
N=N+I N
ST510
ST51 1
IS THERE YES
EXT ADDRESS?
FIG.5
U.S. Patent
Nov. 8, 2005 Sheet 6 0f 7 US 6,963,417 B1
@
ST601
K=0 N
ST602
INPUT ADDRESS "q
J’ ST603
K=K+1 /\’
‘ ST604
REGISTER ADDRESS N
IN MEMORY
ST605
IS THERE
NEXT ADDRESS?
N0
SORT m UNIT (ET/606
OF GROUP
l
ST 7
N=1 ~60
INPUT N-TH “608
ADDRESS T0 [T0:]
ST609
£610 YES
‘ 13
N=N+1 TRANSMIT 315
YES AND N-H-TH
ADDRESSES BELONG SAME
LASSIFICATION?
TRANSMIT END
F l G. 6
U.S. Patent Nov. 8,2005 Sheet 7 0f 7 US 6,963,417 B1
Na ADDRESS CLASSIFICATION
mbOJN-d cn>>cn>
A0@BB. C0. JP
B0@DD. C0. JP
AI@DD. C0. JP
A2@DD. C0. JP
BI@DD. C0. JP
FIG.T
US 6,963,417 B1
1 2
INTERNET FACSIMILE APPARATUS AND This makes it possible to reduce the number of destination
INTERNET TRANSMITTING APPARATUS mail addresses included in the header of one e-mail. As a
result, When the header is printed by the IFAX of the
receiving side, occurrence of the case in Which the header
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION portion is printed more than the images and text portion can
be prevented, and the Waste of recording papers can be
1. Field of the Invention
eliminated.
The present invention relates to an Internet facsimile
Moreover, according to the present invention, When the
apparatus and its method for transmitting image data using
plurality of destination mail addresses is input, the destina
e-mail via a computer netWork such as Internet.
tion mail addresses are divided into the plurality of groups,
2. Description of the Related Art
and e-mail is created per plurality of groups, and thus
There is conventionally proposed an Internet facsimile created e-mail is transmitted. This makes it to limit the
apparatus (hereinafter referred to as IFAX) as disclosed in destination mail addresses included in the header of one
Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI8-242326 e-mail to the same group. As a result, the destination mail
and the corresponding US. Pat. No. 5,881,233. An IFAX 15 addresses of the other group are prevented from being
operator of a transmitting side places an original on a reported to the receiving side.
document plate and inputs a destination mail address from a
panel control section, and depresses a start button at a BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
transmitting time. Then, the IFAX scans each page of the
The above and other objects and features of the invention
original by use of a scanner, and obtains a plurality of image
Will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of
data. The IFAX converts these image data to e-mail, and
the folloWing description taken in connection With the
transmit this e-mail to an IFAX of a receiving side. The
accompanying draWing Wherein one example is illustrated
IFAX of the receiving side inverse converts e-mail to image
by Way of example, in Which;
data, and prints these image data by a printer. Thus, the
IFAX implements the transmission of information of paper 25 FIG. 1 is a block diagram shoWing hardWare of an Internet
facsimile apparatus according to a ?rst embodiment of the
document to a communication partner on the Internet in a
present invention;
manner similar to the general facsimile apparatus. At this
time, a header of e-mail and a character string of a text FIG. 2 is a perspective vieW shoWing an outline of the
portion are converted to image data, and printed together Internet facsimile apparatus according to the ?rst embodi
With image data. ment;
The IFAX can perform the so-called broadcast transmis FIG. 3 is a block diagram shoWing a function of the
sion in Which e-mail is transmitted to a plurality of desti Internet facsimile apparatus according to the ?rst embodi
nation addresses simultaneously. At this time, the IFAX ment;
arranges all addresses of broadcast transmission onto a FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram shoWing an IFAX
destination ?eld [Toz] of the header of e-mail. The IFAX of 35 processing section of the Internet facsimile apparatus
the receiving side prints the header of e-mail as mentioned according to the ?rst embodiment;
above. Then, if the number of addresses are extremely large
FIG. 5 is a ?oWchart shoWing an e-mail transmitting
(for example, more than 100), the header portions are
operation of the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the
printed more than the images and text portions, causing
?rst embodiment;
Waste of recording papers. 40
FIG. 6 is a ?oWchart shoWing an e-mail transmitting
Moreover, if e-mail in Which all addresses of broadcast
operation of the Internet facsimile apparatus according to a
transmission are included in the destination ?eld [T01] is
second embodiment of the present invention; and
sent, mail addresses of the other broadcast destination is
FIG. 7 is a vieW shoWing one example of group infor
reported to a communication partner, and this induces leak
age of personal data. 45 mation in the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the
second embodiment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
It an object of the present invention is to provide an IFAX PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
capable of preventing a header portion from being need
The folloWing Will speci?cally explain ?rst and second
lessly increased at the time of broadcast transmission, and to
provide an Internet facsimile transmitting method. embodiments With reference to the acclassi?cationing draW
ings hereWith.
In order to archive the above-mentioned object, according
to the present invention, a plurality of destination mail
First Embodiment
addresses for the broadcast transmission is divided into a
55
plurality of groups, and e-mail is created per plurality of Firstly, the ?rst embodiment of the present invention Will
groups, and thus created e-mail is transmitted. be explained. FIG. 1 is a block diagram shoWing hardWare
This makes it possible to reduce the number of destination of an IFAX according to the ?rst embodiment of the present
mail addresses included in the header of one e-mail, so that invention. A CPU 11 executes a program, and performs
occurrence of a case in Which the header portion is need control of the entirety of the apparatus. AROM 12 stores the
lessly increased can be prevented in advance When the program, Which is executed by the CPU 11.
header is printed by the IFAX of the receiving side. The RAM 13 has a Work area Where the program is
According to the present invention, When the plurality of executed and a buffer area Where data of various kinds such
destination mail addresses is input, the plurality of destina as e-mail data and an image ?le, and the like is temporarily
tion mail addresses is divided into the plurality of groups, 65 stored.
and an e-mail message is created for each group, and thus A FAX & voice processing section 14 modulates fac
created e-mail is transmitted. simile data and a voice and outputs modulated data to a
US 6,963,417 B1
3 4
PSTN 6, and demodulates modulated data received from the to as broadcast addresses) are sent to an address data buffer
PSTN 6 to facsimile data and voice data. 403 of the RAM 13 from the panel control section 18. A sort
Ascanner 15 scans an original, and obtains image data. A controlling section 404 sorts the plurality of destination mail
printer 16 prints various kinds of data including image data addresses stored in the address data buffer 403. The sort
received. control section 404 performs this sorting in accordance With
group information 405 and a domain name information 406,
A LAN interface 17 executes a protocol necessary for
Which are stored in the RAM 13.
transmitting and receiving data on the LAN 2 and/or the
Internet 3. An address reading control section 407 reads a speci?c
number of destination mail addresses from the address data
Apanel control section 18 comprises dial keys and a touch
buffer 403, and sends them to a mail creating section 408. A
panel, and receives operations such as a speci?cation of a
count controlling section 409 counts the number of desti
communication partner, an instruction of a transmission
nation mail addresses (hereinafter referred to as read address
start, etc., Which are executed by an operator.
number) read from the address data buffer 403. The address
FIG. 2 is a perspective vieW shoWing an outline of the
reading control section 407 reads the destination mail
IFAX according to the ?rst embodiment. The folloWing Will
15 addresses from the address data buffer 403 until the read
explain a case in Which an IFAX 1 is seen from a direction address number counted by the count controlling section 409
shoWn by an arroW A of FIG. 2.
reaches a predetermined number, and sends the destination
In the IFAX 1, the scanner 15 and the printer 16 are mail addresses to the mail creating section 408. In other
incorporated into a housing 20 together With other structural Words, in a case Where the destination mail address are large
elements, that is, CPU 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, FAX & voice in number (more than the predetermined number), the
processing section 14, LAN interface 17, and panel control address reading control section 407 divides these destination
processing section 18. The panel control section 18 is mail addresses into some groups in unit of a predetermined
provided at the left surface side, Which is an upper surface number (for example, 5, 10, etc.), and sends the plurality of
portion of the IFAX 1. A document plate 21 for supplying an destination mail addresses to the mail creating section 408
original to scanner 15 is provided at the right side of the 25 per group.
panel control section 18. Paper discharge trays 22 and 23 for
The mail creating section 408 creates e-mail directing
receiving printed materials discharged from the printer 16
toWard the destination mail addresses received from the
are vertically provided at the left side surface portion of the
address reading control section 407. More speci?cally, the
IFAX 1. Apaper feeder section 24 for feeding printing paper
mail creating section 408 inputs these destination mail
to the printer 16 is provided at a bottom surface portion of
addresses to the destination ?eld [T01] of the header portion
the IFAX 1.
of e-mail. Also, the mail creating section 408 appends the
As mentioned above, the ROM 12 stores the program, and TIFF ?le sent from the TIFF converting section 402 to an
the CPU 11 executes the program. The functions, Which are append data section of e-mail in accordance With, for
resultantly implemented, are explained as folloWs. FIG. 3 is example, MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension),
a block diagram shoWing the functions of the IFAX accord 35 and creates e-mail. Moreover, the IFAX processing section
ing to the ?rst embodiment. 400 can convert facsimile data received by the FAX & voice
The IFAX 1 comprises a FAX & voice controlling section processing section 14 to e-mail. In other Words, compressed
100, a scanner controlling section 200, and a printer con ?les received as facsimile data is converted to the TIFF ?le,
trolling section 300 to control each processing section of the and this TIFF ?le is appended to e-mail, and e-mail is
FAX & voice processing section 14, the scanner 15, and the created.
printer 16. Therefore, the mail creating section 408 creates one
The IFAX 1 also comprises an IFAX processing section e-mail every time When receiving the plurality of destination
400, Which implements the function as IFAX. This IFAX mail addresses from the address reading control section 407,
processing section 400 transmits and receives e-mail via the Whereby the mail creating section 408 creates e-mail every
45
LAN 2 and/or the Internet 3 by use of the LAN interface 17. one group of destination mail address.
In other Words, the IFAX processing section 400 receives While, in the IFAX processing section 400, When a mail
e-mail from a sender, and prints received data by use of the receiving section receives e-mail via the LAN interface 17,
printer 16. At this time, if an image ?le is appended to a binary converting section converts the appended ?le
e-mail, the content of the image ?le is printed by the printer included in e-mail to binary data from a text code so as to
16. While, the IFAX processing section 400 converts image obtain a TIFF ?le. A TIFF opening section opens the
data obtained by the scanner 15 to e-mail, and transmits it. obtained TIFF ?le so as to obtain a compressed ?le. The
FIG. 4 is a perspective vieW shoWing an outline of the compressing and decompressing section 401 decompresses
IFAX according to the ?rst embodiment. this compressed ?le so as to obtain raW image data. This raW
The scanner controlling section 200 shoWn in FIG. 3 55 image data is printed by the printer 16.
sends raW image data (for example, bit map data) scanned by Next, an explanation Will be given of a case in Which
the scanner 16 to an IFAX processing section 400. In the e-mail is transmitted in the IFAX according to the ?rst
IFAX processing section 400, a compressing and decom embodiment. FIG. 5 is a ?oWchart shoWing an e-mail
pressing section 401 compresses raW image data in a com transmitting operation of the IFAX according to the ?rst
pression format such as HM, MR, MMR, etc., and obtains embodiment of the present invention.
compressed ?les. The compression is performed in unit of First of all, a predetermined number of destination mail
one page of the original. A TIFF converting section 402 addresses (hereinafter referred to as setting value) M to be
converts these compressed ?les to one ITFF (Tagged Image input to one e-mail is set in advance. This setting value M
File Format) ?le. may be set to a ?xed value in the IFAX, or a value Which an
While, the plurality of destination mail addresses input 65 operator can arbitrarily set. Also, the operator may arbi
from the panel control section 18 by the operator, that is, trarily select the setting value N from the number of values
plurality of destination mail addresses (hereinafter referred set in advance in the IFAX.