JP3120349B2 - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, such as a facsimile apparatus, which receives and prints data, and prompts the user to take measures before the printing operation can not be continued. In this case, it relates to a process of notifying the user in real time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printing apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus prints on paper using a printing function at the same time as receiving image data. However, when printing paper becomes small and printing becomes impossible, reception is generally stopped. It is. However, as for the problem that communication is not completed due to lack of paper during reception, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-212966, when paper is exhausted, data to be received is temporarily stored in the memory, and paper is supplied. After that, a method of printing the contents of the memory and a method of providing a cassette tape device and recording the received data on the cassette tape when the paper runs out as in JP-A-03-145373 are adopted.

[0003]

However, in the method of temporarily storing data in the above-mentioned memory, there is a problem that it is not desirable in terms of cost to prepare a sufficient memory. On the other hand, the above-described recording method using a cassette tape requires a cassette tape drive device, and thus has problems in terms of cost and size of the device.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to urge a predetermined user to cope with a situation before a printing operation can not be continued, or to notify a user of the situation. It is to notify in real time.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems] printing apparatus of the present invention, indicia
A state detecting means for detecting a state in which the printing operation cannot be continued or a state having a possibility of being unable to continue, a network interface for performing data communication with a computer, an e-mail destination, and each state detected by the state detecting means. An email destination storage unit with an attribute flag for storing a correspondence relationship with the set flag, and an email transmission / reception control unit for sending / receiving an email via the network interface; When detecting an operation continuation incapable state or a state in which there is a possibility of being unable to continue, refer to the e-mail destination storage unit with the attribute flag, specify all e-mail destinations having the flag of the detected state, Notifying all the e-mail destinations by e-mail that the state has been detected . Further, the state detection means compares a remaining paper value detected by the remaining paper detection means with a predetermined determination value. Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention, in response to a request by a command included in the content of the received e-mail, stores the information in the printing apparatus such as the e-mail destination storage unit with the attribute flag in the destination of the requesting e-mail And a storage content notifying means for notifying information specified by the command by e-mail. Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention has storage content change processing means for changing contents in the apparatus such as the e-mail destination storage unit with the attribute flag in response to a request by a command included in the contents of the received e-mail. Features.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In addition to the reading unit 4, the printing unit 5, and the communication control unit 6, there are a computer network interface 1, an e-mail destination storage unit 2, and a paper remaining amount detection unit 7, and the control unit 3 controls the entire system.

FIG. 2 shows that the facsimile apparatus 8 of the present invention
It is a figure showing the form used connected to N. LAN
A personal computer 9 and a workstation 10 are connected above.

Here, an electronic mail, which is a form of data communication between computers connected by a LAN, will be described. Although there is no definition for electronic mail, the concept of electronic mail in the present invention is that users of computers connected to a LAN perform data communication according to a predetermined procedure. Standards for such data communications include, for example, CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) Recommendation X. Developed on the MHS (Message Handling System) described in the 400 series and the computer network ARPANET built by the US Department of Defense's DARPA (Defense Advanced Technology Planning Agency), and is now widely used, including in Japan. SMT
P (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). Products used for networks between personal computers have recently been put to practical use. What is common in any of the above examples is that a name for identification (e-mail destination) is defined for each user, and a message composed of a control unit and a data unit is exchanged according to a protocol. . The SMTP includes a header portion and a body, and the header portion includes data necessary for transfer, such as a destination, a sender's name, a date, and an ID for identifying a message. Regarding the network for exchanging these data, IEEE (Instit)
ute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Local Network Standards Committee (Project 802)
Plays a big role. Internationally, studies are underway at the ISO (International Organization for Standardization), and most computer products are now compatible with standard network interfaces.

Returning to the description of the present invention, taking into account the e-mail function described above. In the block diagram of FIG. 1, when a facsimile is transmitted, the data of the document read and encoded by the reading unit 4 is sent to the communication control unit 6 under the control of the control unit 3, and becomes data to the general public line. Sent. On the other hand, at the time of reception, the data received by the communication control unit 6 is printed by the printing unit 5. At this time, the remaining amount of paper is appropriately considered by the paper remaining amount detection unit 7. The e-mail is exchanged through the network interface 1, and the e-mail destination required for this is stored in the e-mail destination storage unit 2. FIG. 3 shows an example of this data. The destination data of each line is composed of two pieces of data separated by “:”, the first is a flag for distinguishing the type of information sent by e-mail, and the second is the destination of the e-mail. There are three types of flags, "A" is a flag indicating that the remaining amount of paper is notified by e-mail, and "B" is received after the remaining amount of paper is low. A flag indicating that facsimile data is to be transferred by electronic mail, and “C” is a flag indicating that received facsimile data is to be transferred by electronic mail regardless of the remaining amount of paper. These pieces of information by the flag are transferred to the destination by e-mail.

Accordingly it is described in FIG. 4 the flow of processing for sending to the printing section 5 the data received by the facsimile communication.
At 15 in FIG. 4, data having the flag "C" is searched for in the destination data in FIG. 3, and the received facsimile communication data is transmitted to the specified destination by e-mail. Since the transmission of the e-mail is performed before the determination of the remaining amount of paper, it is executed even in a normal state. Next, at 16 in FIG. 4, the remaining amount of paper is determined, and the subsequent processing is changed depending on whether the remaining amount is smaller than a predetermined value set in advance.
If it is larger than the predetermined value, normal printing is performed according to 19 in FIG. However, if the value is smaller than the predetermined value, printing is not performed. First, as shown at 17 in FIG. 4, the flag "A" in the destination data in FIG. Send an e-mail notifying that Then, as shown at 18 in FIG. 4, a flag "B" is searched for in the destination data in FIG. 3, and the data received by facsimile communication is sent to the destination by e-mail. Through this series of processing, you can know the presence or absence of paper and the contents of facsimile communication at a remote place, and you can change the destination to receive depending on the contents, for example, if you let a specific person resupply paper Will be contacted smoothly. Since the e-mail is received on a computer, it is not always necessary to read the e-mail at the moment when the e-mail is sent.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when a person who is at a remote place with respect to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention makes some requests by e-mail. The request means, for example, that a person who is at a remote place wants to know the destination data stored inside the facsimile at that time, or wants to modify the previously set destination of the e-mail. To achieve this, a predetermined command such as "GET" or "MOD" is written in the body of the electronic mail and transmitted to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. When such a mail is received, a command request is executed according to the processing of FIG. FIG.
In step 20, it is determined whether the request is a request for transmission of data in the e-mail destination storage unit 2. If so, the data is transmitted to the destination of the request as shown in 21. Usually, in an electronic mail, the address of the sender is also present as control data, so that the address of the sender can be known from the transmitted data. If it is not a request for transmission of destination data, it is determined at 22 whether or not it is a request for correction of destination data. If so, correction is made at 23; otherwise, the process is terminated. By these processes,
A person who is far away can instantly know the history of the facsimile machine, and it is not necessary to go to the place where the facsimile machine is located for setting.

[0012]

As described above, when the printing apparatus of the present invention detects a state in which there is a possibility that the printing operation can not be continued, the printing apparatus notifies the state by e-mail, so that the printing apparatus cannot be continued. A prompt action can be urged beforehand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection state on a LAN of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing data of an e-mail destination according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of received data in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of processing performed in accordance with a request by electronic mail in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network interface 2 E-mail destination storage part 3 Control part 4 Reading part 5 Printing part 6 Communication control part 7 Paper remaining amount detection part 8 Facsimile machine 9 Personal computer 10 Workstation

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI H04L 29/12 (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00-1/00 108

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] In a printing apparatus having a printing unit and a communication control unit, state detection means for detecting a state in which a printing operation cannot be continued or a state in which there is a possibility that a printing operation cannot be continued, and a network interface for performing data communication with a computer. An e-mail destination storage unit with an attribute flag that stores a correspondence between an e-mail destination and a flag set for each state detected by the state detection unit; and an e-mail transmission / reception via the network interface. E-mail transmission / reception control means for performing, when the state detection means detects a state where there is a possibility that the operation cannot be continued or a state where the operation cannot be continued, the e-mail destination storage unit with the attribute flag is referred to, Identify all the e-mail destinations having the flag of the detected state, and To the effect that the previously detected the state printing apparatus and notifies by e-mail. 2. A printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said state detecting means compares a remaining paper value detected by the remaining paper detecting means with a predetermined determination value. 3. In response to a request by a command included in the content of the received e-mail, the destination of the requesting e-mail is sent to the destination in the printing apparatus such as the e-mail destination storage unit with the attribute flag. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising storage content notification processing means for notifying information specified by the command by e-mail. 4. A storage contents change processing means for changing contents in the apparatus such as the e-mail destination storage unit with attribute flag in response to a request by a command included in the contents of the received e-mail. Item 3. The printing device according to item 1 or 2.