JP3763305B2 - Communication terminal device and communication system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal apparatus such as an Internet facsimile apparatus that transmits and receives image data using e-mail, and a communication system including the communication terminal apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an Internet facsimile machine that transmits and receives image data via the Internet using electronic mail has been put into practical use. For example, in order to realize an Internet facsimile machine that does not need to read a manuscript again for resending undelivered mail, “the main control unit stores the sent mail in the image memory together with at least the subject of the mail. If a non-delivery mail is detected in the mailbox, the subject of the non-delivery mail is compared with the subject stored in the image memory. If they match, that is, the non-delivery mail is stored at the time of transmission. In this case, Patent Document 1 discloses that the stored mail is resent.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-69071.

  In the conventional Internet facsimile apparatus, there is no way to reliably know whether or not the other party's apparatus correctly received the transmitted e-mail when the e-mail is transmitted. The mail may be duplicated as a resent mail.

  Therefore, since such an Internet facsimile apparatus does not need to retransmit, it retransmits, so the same electronic mail may be received and printed out by the other apparatus, which is extremely wasteful. There was a problem.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and a communication terminal device such as an Internet facsimile machine capable of executing appropriate processing in a communication terminal device on the receiving side even when an e-mail is retransmitted. It is to provide a communication system used.

  The communication terminal device according to the first aspect of the present invention is a receiving means for receiving an e-mail, determines whether the received e-mail is a retransmitted e-mail, and receives the above when it is determined that the e-mail is retransmitted And a control means for executing predetermined processing on the electronic mail. Here, the receiving means preferably stores information on the received electronic mail in a storage device when the electronic mail is received, and the control means receives the received electronic mail based on the stored information. It is characterized by judging whether it is resending. Instead, when receiving the e-mail, the receiving means stores the page information printed on the received e-mail together with information about the received e-mail in the storage device, and the control means stores the stored e-mail. Based on the information about the e-mail, it is determined whether or not the received e-mail is retransmitted. When the e-mail is retransmitted, the already printed page is discarded based on the stored printed page information. Control is made so that pages that are not received and not printed are printed.

  Moreover, the communication terminal device according to the second aspect of the present invention includes a transmission unit that transmits an e-mail including information related to the e-mail to be transmitted. It resends the electronic mail containing the information regarding.

  Furthermore, a communication terminal device according to a third aspect of the invention is characterized by comprising the receiving means, the control means, and the transmitting means.

Still further, a communication system according to a fourth invention is
A receiving-side communication terminal device comprising the receiving means and the control means;
A communication terminal device on the transmission side provided with the transmission means;
A communication line connecting the communication terminal device on the reception side and the communication terminal device on the transmission side is provided.

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the communication terminal device on the transmission side includes a transmission unit that transmits an e-mail including information related to the e-mail to be transmitted, and the transmission unit retransmits the e-mail. Resend an email containing information about the email sent before resending. On the other hand, in the communication terminal device on the receiving side, the receiving means for receiving the e-mail and whether or not the received e-mail is a retransmitted e-mail are received. Control means for executing predetermined processing on the e-mail. Here, when receiving the e-mail, the receiving means stores information on the received e-mail in a storage device, and the control means retransmits the received e-mail based on the stored information. Determine whether or not. Therefore, even if an e-mail that does not need to be retransmitted is retransmitted, appropriate measures such as discarding the retransmitted e-mail can be taken.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an Internet facsimile machine 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the configuration of the Internet facsimile machine 20 will be described below assuming that it includes a transmission-side apparatus configuration and a reception-side apparatus configuration for the sake of simplicity. The plurality of Internet facsimile machines 20 are connected via a communication line such as the public telephone network 50 or the Internet 40 and communicate with each other.

  The main control unit 1 of the Internet facsimile machine 20 on the transmission side according to the present embodiment sends a first electronic mail including a message ID and image data, which is information (identifier) relating to the first electronic mail to be transmitted, to the Internet 40, for example. And the image data is stored in the image data memory area 8a in the compact flash (registered trademark) 8 for resending the first electronic mail after being transmitted to the other party's Internet facsimile machine 20. The message ID corresponding to the image data is stored in the communication management table area 8b in the compact flash (registered trademark) 8. Then, after the transmission of the first e-mail, for example, 24 hours later, in order to re-send the first e-mail, the message ID that is information relating to the first e-mail that has been transmitted first, and the first e-mail transmitted The second e-mail including the received image data and the new e-mail transmission message ID is transmitted. Here, the message ID includes information that is incremented for each e-mail transmission, and an example thereof is shown below.

[Table 1]
―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Message-Id: <200103141604.QAA15735@sample>
―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

  That is, the message ID is <year (4 digits) + month (2 digits) + day (2 digits) + transmission time (4 digits). (Sender's e-mail address)>, and in this example, the message ID includes the transmitted date and time information and the sender's e-mail address.

  On the other hand, the main control unit 1 of the Internet facsimile machine 20 on the receiving side receives an e-mail transmitted from the other party, and sends a message ID, which is information of the received e-mail, to the communication in the compact flash (registered trademark) 8. Store in the management table area 8b. The main control unit 1 determines whether or not the received electronic mail is a retransmission based on the message ID related to the previously received electronic mail. That is, based on whether or not the previously received message ID is included in the currently received e-mail, it is determined whether or not it is retransmitted. Further, it is characterized in that a predetermined process such as saving to the CompactFlash (registered trademark) 8, discarding or notifying the operator is performed without performing processes such as printing, transfer, and display.

  In FIG. 1, an Internet facsimile machine 20 has a conventional facsimile communication function such as a G3 system, and also has an Internet facsimile communication function for transmitting and receiving image data using electronic mail. The main control unit 1 is specifically composed of a CPU, and is connected to the following hardware units via the bus 13 to control them, and executes various software functions to be described later. The image reading unit 2 reads a document with a scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs dot image data converted into black and white binary. The image recording unit 3 is an electrophotographic printer or the like, and prints out image data received from another facsimile apparatus by facsimile communication as a hard copy and records it. The display unit 4 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display, and displays the operating state of the Internet facsimile machine 20 and displays image data of a document to be transmitted and received image data. Do.

  The operation unit 5 includes character keys necessary for operating the Internet facsimile machine 20, a numeric keypad for dialing, speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, various function keys, and the like. In addition, you may comprise so that a part or all of the various keys of this operation part 5 may be substituted by making the above-mentioned display part 4 into a touch panel system.

  The ROM 6 stores various software programs that are necessary for the operation of the Internet facsimile machine 20 and executed by the main control unit 1 in advance. These programs may be recorded on a recording medium such as a floppy disk, MO, DVD-RAM, etc., and loaded into the SRAM 7 via the drive device as necessary to execute the program. The SRAM 7 is used as a working area of the main control unit 1 and stores temporary data generated when the program is executed. The compact flash (registered trademark) 8 includes an image data memory area 8a for storing image data and a communication management table area 8b. Here, the communication management table area 8b is used to manage the transmitted e-mail and the received e-mail, such as the message ID of the e-mail and the storage address of the image data attached thereto in the image data memory area 8a. Store the data.

  The fax modem 10 is a modem that is connected to the public telephone network 50 via the public telephone line L and has a function of a fax modem for normal facsimile communication. An NCU (Network Control Unit) 11 is a hardware circuit that performs an operation of closing and opening a DC loop of an analog public telephone line L and having an automatic dial function. Is connected to the public telephone line L. Here, the NCU 11 detects the ID receiving terminal activation signal and the normal telephone call signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service, and transmits the primary response signal and the secondary response signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service as necessary. can do. The NCU 11 may be connected to a baseband transmission type digital line (for example, an ISDN line) via a predetermined terminal adapter and a DSU (Subscriber Line Termination Unit: Digital Service Unit).

  The interface circuit 12 is a LAN interface circuit that performs signal and data signal conversion and protocol conversion in order to connect the Internet facsimile machine 20 to a LAN 30 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). The device 31 and the router device 32 are connected. Further, the router device 32 is connected to a mail server device (not shown) of the other party via the Internet 40. When the MIME-converted image data from the Internet facsimile apparatus 20 is inserted into, for example, an e-mail body and sent to another Internet facsimile apparatus by mail, the interface circuit 12 temporarily sends it to the mail server apparatus 31 via the LAN 30. After the transmission, the mail server apparatus 31 transmits the Internet mail to the destination Internet facsimile apparatus via the LAN 30, the router apparatus 32, the Internet 40, and the destination mail server apparatus (not shown). On the other hand, when receiving an e-mail, the e-mail is received through the reverse route. The line connection to the Internet 40 is not limited to a dedicated line, but may be a dial-up connection using a public telephone line L.

  The Internet facsimile machine 20 of the present embodiment configured as described above has a normal G3 system and a facsimile communication function such as the Internet. In the facsimile communication function, the dot image data read by the image reading unit 2 is encoded by software in accordance with an encoding method such as MH, MR, or MMR defined by the standard for facsimile communication, and then the counterpart facsimile machine On the other hand, the encoded data received from the facsimile machine of the other party is also decoded into image data by software and output from the image recording unit 3 as a hard copy.

  Next, an example of the first electronic mail transmitted for the first time is shown below.

[Table 2]
The first e-mail sent first time ------------- -
Message-Id: <200103141604.QAA15735@sample>
From: sample1 @ sample
Data: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 16:04:22 +0900
To: sample2 @ sample
Subject: This is 1st Sample-Mail
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart / mixed; boudary = "_ 029036186240046146620290352633_ ="

-= _ 029036186240046146620290352633_ =
Content-Type: text / plain; charset = "us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

This is an internet facsimile message.
See attached file.

-= _ 029036186240046146620290352633_ =
Content-Type: image / tiff; name = "faximage.tif"
Content-Transfer- Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename = "faximage.tif"

SUkqAAgAAAAQAP4ABAABAAAAAgAAAAABBAABAAAAwAYAAAEBBAABAAAAYwQAAAIB
AwABAAAAAQAAAAMBAwABAAAACQAAAAYBAwABAAAAAAAAAAoBAwABAAAAAgAAABEB
BAABAAAA4AAAABIBAwABAAAAAQAAABUBAwABAAAAAQAAABYBBAABAAAAYwQAABcB
(Omitted)
/ wKQuNGMMC7Y0DBMMNQgUf8CXvwXioNiXjy07JzuASj / AvZ744qc3aIjZ / bgsLlg
dsEcwP8CpeY / 6Z6fNE20b6V1LJc0iVz0KR2siqlVn + U78q + cEhYFgwKaDA9bI5Zq

-= 029036186240046146620290352633 _ =-
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

  As is apparent from Table 2, in the first e-mail for the first time, the message ID is inserted by “Message-Id: <200103141604.QAA15735@sample>” in the first line of the e-mail in Table 2. The message “This is an internet facsimile message” on the line is declared to be an Internet facsimile message, and MIME-converted image data is inserted at the end of the e-mail. Next, an example of a second electronic mail in which the first electronic mail is retransmitted is shown below.

[Table 3]
Second e-mail with the first e-mail resent --―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――― ―――――
Message-Id: <200103141704.QAA15735@sample>
From: sample1 @ sample
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 17:04:22 +0900
To: sample2 @ sample
Subject: This is 2nd Sample-Mail
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart / mixed; boundary = "_ 029036186240046146620290352633_ ="

-= _ 029036186240046146620290352633_ =
Content-Type: text / plain; charset = "us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

This is the resent message.
The original message-id is following.
"Message-Id: <200103141604.QAA15735@sample>"

See attached file

-= _ 029036186240046146620290352633_ =
Content-Type: image / tiff; name = "faximage.tif"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename = "faximage.tif"

SUkqAAgAAAAQAP4ABAABAAAAAgAAAAABBAABAAAAwAYAAAEBBAABAAAAYwQAAAIB
AwABAAAAAQAAAAMBAwABAAAACQAAAAYBAwABAAAAAAAAAAoBAwABAAAAAgAAABEB
(Omitted)
/ wKQuNGMMC7Y0DBMMNQgUf8CXvwXioNiXjy07JzuASj / AvZ744qc3aIjZ / bgsLlg
dsEcwP8CpeY / 6Z6fNE20b6V1LJc0iVz0KR2siqlVn + U78q + cEhYFgwKaDA9bI5Zp
NmjJVTHVlbXVfP8C / wUAAARj / wI =
-= _ 029036186240046146620290352633 _ =-
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

  As apparent from Table 3, in the second second e-mail in which the first e-mail is resent, “Message-Id: <200103141704.QAA15735@sample>” in the first line of the e-mail in Table 3 is used. ”Is inserted, and“ This is the resent message. ”On the 13th line indicates that the message is an Internet facsimile retransmission message,“ The original message-id is following. ”On the 14th and 15th lines, and “Message-Id: <200103141604.QAA15735@sample>” ”indicates the message ID of the first electronic mail.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication procedure related to transmission of image data using electronic mail according to the present embodiment. The transmission-side Internet facsimile machine 20-1 and the reception-side Internet facsimile machine 20-2 are connected to each other. It is connected via the Internet 40.

  In FIG. 2, the Internet facsimile machine 20-1 on the transmission side sends a first electronic mail including a message ID and image data via the Internet 40 as shown at 101. -2 is sent to the image data memory area 8a in the compact flash (registered trademark) 8 for resending the first e-mail and a message ID corresponding to the image data. Is stored in the communication management table area 8b in the compact flash (registered trademark) 8. On the other hand, the Internet facsimile machine 20-2 on the receiving side receives the first electronic mail transmitted from the other party, and sets the message ID, which is information about the received first electronic mail, to the compact flash (registered trademark) 8. In the communication management table area 8b.

  The Internet facsimile machine 20-1 then sends the first e-mail to re-send the first e-mail, as indicated at 102, for example, 24 hours after the previous first e-mail transmission. An e-mail including the message ID that is information on the image and the previously transmitted image data and the message ID of the second e-mail transmission is transmitted. On the other hand, the Internet facsimile machine 20-2 on the receiving side receives the second electronic mail transmitted from the other party, and sets the message ID, which is information related to the received second electronic mail, to the compact flash (registered trademark) 8. In the communication management table area 8b. When the received second e-mail includes the message ID of the first e-mail indicating that it is a resent message, the main control unit 1 relates to the first e-mail received earlier Based on the message ID, it is determined whether or not the currently received second electronic mail is a retransmission of the first electronic mail. That is, it is determined whether or not the message ID is retransmitted based on whether or not the previously received message ID is included in the second e-mail received this time. Here, if it is included, it is determined that the second e-mail received this time is a retransmission of the first e-mail, and the received second e-mail is printed, transferred, displayed, etc. Without processing, automatically performs predetermined processing such as saving to the compact flash (registered trademark) 8, discarding or notifying the operator (for example, specific display on the display unit 4, buzzer sounding, etc.) To do. On the other hand, if it is not included, it is determined that the first electronic mail has not been received correctly, and processing such as printing, transfer, and display is executed for the second electronic mail.

  Note that the processing on the retransmitted e-mail in the receiving Internet facsimile machine 20-2 is temporarily stored in, for example, the CompactFlash (registered trademark) 8, and then displayed on the display unit 4, for example, It is retransmitted. Would you like to discard it? Do you want to print it? "After asking the operator to make a decision, follow the instructions to discard or print the e-mail data. May be. In the latter printing, information such as a mark indicating that it is a retransmitted e-mail and transmission date / time information may be added, or the re-transmitted e-mail may be confirmed for the first time. A notification mail indicating that it has been received may be returned to the e-mail address of the sender.

  In the Internet facsimile machine 20-2 on the receiving side, the processing for the retransmitted e-mail may be managed for each page as follows. The message ID of each received e-mail is stored in the communication management table area 8b together with page information (information such as which page has been printed) and received from the e-mail when the e-mail is received. The image data of the printed page is discarded. However, when image data of a page that has not been received so far and has not been printed is received, control may be performed so that only the image is printed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the Internet facsimile machine 20-1 on the transmission side, an electronic mail including a message ID and image data, which is information relating to the first electronic mail to be transmitted, is transmitted to the Internet 40, for example. To the other party's Internet facsimile machine 20-2. In order to resend the first e-mail, a message ID related to the first e-mail transmitted first after a predetermined time, the image data transmitted earlier, and a message ID of a new e-mail transmission are included. Send a second e-mail. On the other hand, the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 20-2 receives the second electronic mail transmitted from the other party, and compact flash (registers) the message ID, which is information related to the received second electronic mail. (Trademark) 8 in the communication management table area 8b. If the received second e-mail includes a message indicating that it is a retransmission, the received second e-mail is retransmitted from the first e-mail based on the stored message ID of the e-mail. Judge whether there is. That is, it is determined whether or not to resend based on whether or not the previously received message ID is included in the e-mail. Without performing processing such as transfer, display, and the like, predetermined processing such as storage in the CompactFlash (registered trademark) 8, discarding, or notification to the operator is executed. Therefore, even if an e-mail that does not need to be retransmitted is retransmitted, appropriate measures such as discarding the retransmitted e-mail can be taken.

  In the above embodiment, an example of the Internet facsimile machine 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a telephone set or a data communication apparatus connected to a public network such as a public telephone network or a public digital network. The present invention can be applied to communication terminal devices including the above.

  In FIG. 1, the configuration of the Internet facsimile machine 20 is described as being provided with a transmission-side apparatus configuration and a reception-side apparatus configuration for the sake of simplification, but the present invention is not limited to this. At least one of the device configuration on the transmission side and the device configuration on the reception side may be provided.

  In the above embodiment, the message ID is described in the first line of the e-mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be inserted in the Subject or the mail text. Further, the message ID may include data of a transmission serial number on the transmission side.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the internet facsimile apparatus 20 which is embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the communication procedure regarding transmission of the image data which used the electronic mail based on this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... main control part,
2. Image reading unit,
3 ... image recording unit,
4 ... display part,
5 ... operation part,
6 ... ROM,
7 ... SRAM,
8 ... Compact Flash (registered trademark),
8a: Image data memory area,
8b: Communication management table area,
10. Fax modem,
11 ... NCU,
12 ... Interface circuit,
13 ... Bus
20, 20-1, 20-2 ... Internet facsimile machine,
30 ... LAN,
31 ... Mail server device,
32 ... Router device,
40 ... Internet,
50 ... public telephone network,
L: Public telephone line.

Claims (4)

Receiving means for receiving an e-mail including a different message ID for each e-mail, and storing the message ID of the received e-mail in a storage device;
It is determined whether the received e-mail includes both its own message ID and the message ID of the original e-mail indicating that it is a re-sent message. And whether the received electronic mail is retransmitted based on the message ID previously received and stored in the storage device, and when the received electronic mail is determined to be retransmitted, the received electronic A communication terminal device comprising control means for executing predetermined processing on mail. A transmission unit that transmits an e-mail including a different message ID for each e-mail, and the transmission unit includes a message ID of the original e-mail transmitted before resending the e-mail and a new e-mail to be transmitted A communication terminal apparatus that resends an e-mail including the message ID . Receiving means and control means according to claim 1 ;
A communication terminal apparatus comprising: the transmission unit according to claim 2 . A receiving-side communication terminal device comprising the receiving means and the control means according to claim 1 ;
A transmission-side communication terminal device comprising the transmission means according to claim 2 ;
A communication system comprising a communication line connecting the communication terminal device on the receiving side and the communication terminal device on the transmitting side.

Images