Abstract:
The present invention is related to an information management system and device that makes it possible to connect the conventional facsimiles, to a network system such as a local area network (LAN).

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is generally related to a facsimile device and system and more particularly related to a information management device and system that makes it possible to connect conventional facsimile machines which are not able to connect to network systems such as a local area network (LAN), to network systems. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional facsimile machines directly receive facsimile information and then print the facsimile information on paper. Another type of facsimile machine has a confidential function and temporally stores the received information in a memory. In a facsimile machine having a confidential function, if the user wants to print the received confidential information on paper, the user has to input their password or identification number to the facsimile machine. When the inputted password matches a stored one, the facsimile machine produces a printed output corresponding to the facsimile information. 
     In either case, the user or facsimile operator had to go to the place at which the facsimile machine is located when they wanted to receive or send facsimile information. These types of facsimile machines are inconvenient for a user. 
     One conventional solution to solving the above problem attempts to employ a Local Area Network (LAN) facsimile network or a facsimile server. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, Japanese Laid Open patent application 8-204,934 discloses a facsimile machine and system designed specifically for a LAN. The facsimile is connected with the LAN. Accordingly, devices connected with the LAN are capable of gaining access to the files in the LAN facsimile machine via the LAN. 
     FIG. 2 shows a system described in Japanese Laid Open patent application 3-289,756 which discloses a system employing a facsimile server. The facsimile server  110  connects a public switched telephone network (PSTN)  100  to a LAN  122 , receives the information from the sending side, and stores the information in memory  114 . Each device connected with the LAN  122  is capable of gaining access to the stored information in the memory  114  by way of the LAN  112 . As well known, a LAN is typically a digital network. 
     However, as recognized by the present inventor, the LAN facsimile machine and the above facsimile server have to be connected with the LAN. Generally, the LAN facsimile or the facsimile server have multiple functions but are very expensive. 
     Many users have a conventional facsimile machine which is incompatible with a digital network system. Generally, the conventional facsimile machines are inexpensive and only have user-friendly simple functions. 
     Therefore, the users, which get accustomed to the conventional facsimile machine, want to use the existing facsimile machine with a network system without change. However, the above users can not use the conventional incompatible facsimile machine in a network system. 
     In addition, connecting the LAN facsimile machine and the facsimile server to the LAN takes much time and labor. 
     If the user who has a conventional facsimile machine would like to employ it for a network system, the user has to replace and connect an adaptable expensive LAN facsimile machine or a facsimile server with an additional considerable expense in time and effort. 
     Furthermore, in such a case, the existing conventional incompatible facsimile machine becomes useless. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The device and system according to the present invention is capable of connecting a conventional incompatible facsimile machine to a network system, for example, a digital LAN. 
     To solve the above and other problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, a facsimile information management system is provided which is capable of connecting conventional facsimile machines, which are incompatible with network systems, to network systems. The facsimile information, management system includes a facsimile information management device connecting the facsimile machine and the network systems, and configured to manage information corresponding to facsimile transmissions and convert that information to information which is compatible with a network system. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, the facsimile information management device temporally captures a signal stream corresponding to a facsimile transmission between the facsimile machines via a network system, and stores the information corresponding to the captured signal stream. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, the facsimile information management device monitors a stream of facsimile transmissions between the facsimile machines via a network system, and transfers all or a part of the stream of the facsimile transmission to a server device via the network system. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other aspects and further features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description which is provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional LAN facsimile machine as described in Japanese Laid Open patent application 8-204,934; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional facsimile server as described in Japanese Laid Open patent application 3-289756; 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a facsimile system which has a facsimile information management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a detail block diagram of the facsimile information management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a facsimile system that has the facsimile information management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a table content of the management report contained in management information storage according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a facsimile information management device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a facsimile system which has a facsimile information management device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the facsimile information management device according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a revised facsimile system that has the facsimile information management device according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 11 is a block diagram of another revised facsimile system that has the facsimile information management device according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the facsimile information management device according to the third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 13 is a detail block diagram of an information converter in the facsimile information management device according to the third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a process flow of the character recognition which an information converter carries out according to the second embodiment of the invention; and 
     FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a facsimile system in which a personal digital assistant (PDA) is used according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIGS. 3 and 4 show a first embodiment of a facsimile system in which a facsimile information management device  1  in accordance with the invention is used. FIG. 3 shows that the facsimile system  100  includes a facsimile information management device  1 , a PSTN  2 , a conventional facsimile machine  3  incompatible for network system and the other side facsimile machine  4 . 
     Referring to FIG. 4, the facsimile information management device  1  captures either management information from the facsimile transmission between facsimile machines  3  and  4  or the information corresponding to the entire facsimile transmission. 
     As shown in FIG. 4 the facsimile information management device  1  is made up of a PSTN interface  11 , a facsimile communication interface  12 , an information storage device  13 , an information management storage device  14 , a display device  15 , a control console  16 , a facsimile modem  17 , a controller  18  and a LAN board  19 . 
     The PSTN interface  11  is an interface device between the PSTN  2  and the facsimile information management device  1 . The PSTN interface  11  communicates with facsimile machine  4  via the PSTN  2 . The facsimile communication interface  12  is also an interface device between the conventional incompatible facsimile machine  3  and the facsimile information management device  1  and carries out the function of sending and receiving information to and from facsimile machine  3 . The facsimile modem  17  demodulates the information received from the PSTN interface  11  and also modulates the information between the facsimile  3  and the facsimile communication interface  12 . 
     The information storage device  13  stores the demodulated information that the facsimile information management device  1  receives from the facsimile machine  3  or the PSTN  2 . The demodulated information is, for example, fax image data and so on. The information management storage  14  stores and makes a management report of the facsimile information stored in the information storage  13 . The management report keeps a log of each facsimile transmission including such information as telephone number, transmission date or time, and whether the communication succeeded or failed. In other words, the management report keeps supervisory data concerning facsimile transmissions. 
     The display device  15  displays the management information kept in the information management storage  14  and the facsimile information kept in the information storage  13 . The control console  16  is a console by which the user inputs commands to control the facsimile information management device  1 . 
     Still referring to FIG. 4, when the facsimile machine  3  is receiving, the PSTN interface  11  receives the facsimile information from the sending side via the PSTN  2  and then the received facsimile information is temporally captured into the information storage  13  and the management information for the received facsimile is temporally captured into the information management storage  14 . 
     Now referring to FIG. 5, the facsimile information management device  1  is connectable to network system such as LAN with the LAN board  19 . 
     A personal computer (PC) connected to the LAN can gain access to the information captured in the information storage  13  and the information management storage  14  via the LAN board  19 . Therefore, a PC is capable of taking advantage of the information from the conventional incompatible facsimile machines  3  by way of a network system. 
     Furthermore, the facsimile system  100  is also capable of reproducing the information captured in the information storage  13  and the information management storage  14 . 
     The above mentioned process is regulated by the controller  18  based upon a program stored in a memory device such as a ROM. 
     Now referring to FIG. 6, when the facsimile machine  3  is on the receiving side, the management information is stored in a management report with the management information storage  14 . The management report displays management information such as the telephone number of the sending or receiving sides or the date and time of receipt, and other supervisory information. The management report prepares a management record for every document. After the management record is stored in management information storage  14 , it may be referred to during a search. The data content of each record is preferably of a fixed length. 
     FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment wherein the facsimile information management device  10  monitors a signal stream of facsimile transmission information between conventional facsimile machines via a network system. 
     The facsimile information management device  10  is made up of a PSTN interface  211 , a facsimile communication interface  212 , a display device  215 , a control console  216 , a controller  218  and a LAN board  219 . 
     An explanation of the above device is omitted because of its similarity to the device described with respect to the first embodiment. 
     The facsimile information management device  10  is not equipped with an information storage device and an information management storage device as in the first embodiment. The facsimile information management device  10  only monitors the facsimile transmission between the PSTN  2  and the facsimile machine  3 . 
     Now referring to FIG. 8, the monitored facsimile transmission is sent to a server device via the LAN board  219  and a LAN. The facsimile transmission is demodulated by the server and stored in the server device. In other words, the server device has storage devices corresponding to the information storage and the information management storage of the first embodiment. These storage devices also have the same function as the information storage and the information management storage devices of the first embodiment. 
     As described in the first embodiment, the stored facsimile transmission may be reused to produce another facsimile transmission. The server device also stores the management report which is described above. 
     Now referring FIG. 9, when the facsimile information is stored, the display  15  displays a part of the facsimile information or the management information. Accordingly, the user is capable of verifying the receipt of the facsimile information by the display  15 . If the user needs to access the displayed facsimile information, the user inputs commands through control console  16  to either print out facsimile information from facsimile machine  3  on paper or to abandon it. 
     A facsimile information management device  1  is also capable of storing the facsimile information in the information storage  13  after printing the facsimile information on the paper. The facsimile system described may be constructed to selectively store all or any part of the information received with an incoming facsimile transmission, the facsimile system equipped with a switching device to determine which is selectively stored. 
     Still referring to FIG. 9, the facsimile information management device  1  may be equipped with a beeper  31  and an indicator light source  32 . The beeper  31  generates a sound signal or a beep when the facsimile information management device  1  is receiving facsimile information or stores the facsimile information in the information storage  13 . Similarly, the indicator  32  indicates that the facsimile information management device  1  receives the facsimile information by emitting light. 
     In other words, when the facsimile information management device  1  receives facsimile information, the beeper  31  generates a beep and the indicator  32  emits light to indicate that the facsimile information management device  1  has received the facsimile information and the received facsimile information is stored. The beeper  31  sounds a beep for a predetermined time interval at the instant the facsimile information management device  1  receives incoming facsimile information. 
     The beeper  31  stops generating the beep for a predetermined time interval. However, the indicator  32  continues to be lit until the facsimile information management device  1  has finished storing the facsimile information. The user need not keep watch on the facsimile management device  1 . The user can confirm whether or not the facsimile information management device  1  has received facsimile information by the light from the indicator  32  or the beep sound from the beeper  31 . 
     Now referring to FIG. 10, the facsimile information management device  1  is capable of connecting to a personal computer (PC)  40 . When the PC  40  is connected to the facsimile information management device  1 , this facsimile system is capable of carrying out an operation by a keyboard or a mouse which is connected to the PC  40 , instead of the attached control console  16  of the facsimile information management device  1 . Furthermore, the facsimile system is also capable of displaying the facsimile information on the display of the PC  40 , in addition to or instead of the attached display of the facsimile information management device  1 . 
     Of course, the facsimile information management device  1  does not need the beeper  31  and the indicator  32 . The user can keep watch and check the facsimile information or facsimile management information stored in the information storage  13  and in the information management storage  14  on the display of the PC  40 . 
     The above facsimile system has the advantage that the user can clearly discover the facsimile information or facsimile management information because of the large screen display of the PC  40  in comparison with the attached display  15  of the facsimile information management device  1 . 
     The PC  40  may be used to selectively choose any facsimile information based upon the displayed list of the received facsimile information on the display of the PC  40 . 
     Now referring to FIG. 11, the facsimile system is also capable of connecting to a printer  5 . 
     In the case that the printer  5  is connected to the facsimile system, the facsimile system may print the facsimile information either on the printer  5  or the facsimile machine  3 . 
     The facsimile information may be printed out when the facsimile information management device  1  receives the facsimile information, when the control console  16  is operated, or when the keyboard of the PC  40  is operated. 
     The facsimile system allows printing to occur at a user determined time or date and allows the user to print the facsimile information, the facsimile management information, or both. 
     Now referring FIG. 3 and 4 again, when the facsimile machine  3  is the sending side the facsimile communication device  12  of the facsimile information management device  1  receives the facsimile information from the facsimile machine  3 . The received facsimile information is stored in the information storage  13 . Subsequently the facsimile management information such as the telephone number of the receiving side and the sending date is stored within the management information storage  14 . The facsimile information management device  1  sends the received facsimile information to the receiving side by way of the PSTN interface  11  and the PSTN  2 . 
     The captured facsimile information and facsimile management information similarly are reproducible. Therefore, the facsimile system is capable of sending a facsimile in which the phone number of the receiving side has been captured in the management information storage  14  and is then attached with the facsimile information received from the facsimile machine  3 . The system may also send a facsimile which has the same contents as the captured facsimile information in the information storage  13  added to the facsimile information received from the facsimile  3 . 
     The facsimile system can also attach the captured facsimile information or the captured facsimile management information to the facsimile information received from the sending side. 
     Now referring to FIG. 12, the facsimile information management device  1  may also be contain a text converter  20 . The text converter  20  converts the facsimile information into text data. In the facsimile information management device  1 , the information storage  13  stores the converted text data. 
     Referring to FIG. 13, the text converter  20  is made up of an image memory  21 , a CPU  22 , a character extraction device  23 , a character recognition device  24 , and a program storage  25 . 
     The image memory  21  stores the image data corresponding to the received facsimile information. The CPU  22  carries out the program stored in the program storage  25  and controls the conversion process. The character extraction device  23  extracts a portion of the image of the received facsimile information from the memory space. The character recognition device  24  carries out the character recognition for the data extracted by the character extraction device  23  and outputs the code data corresponding to the extracted data. The program storage  25  stores the program for carrying out the conversion process. 
     FIG. 14 shows a flow chart that illustrates the respective steps employed as part of the text conversion process. 
     Step S 1  shows an area extraction of a character image string is carried out. The process proceeds to step S 2  where the extracted character image string is divided into words separated with a blank. The process proceeds to step S 3 , the character recognition is carried out for each word. In step S 4  the number of all words is assumed to “n”. In step S 5  the device determines whether classification of an idiom to each word is finished or not. If the classification of an idiom is not finished for each word, the process proceeds to step S 7  via step S 6  and the classification of an idiom is carried out in Step S 7 . In step S 8 , the classified idiom is stored. 
     If the classification of an idiom to each word is finished, the process proceeds to step S 9 . All classified idioms are stored as text data in step S 9 . 
     Thereafter, the document data that was transformed to text data is handled similarly to facsimile information. 
     Accordingly, the volume of data stored in the information storage  13  becomes small. The facsimile system is, therefore, also capable of reducing the transmission time of the facsimile information. 
     Japanese Laid Open patent application 6-291,897 discloses the details of above process. The entire contents of this published patent application are incorporated herein by reference. 
     Now referring to FIG. 15, the facsimile system is also capable of being connected to a personal digital assistant (PDA)  150 . The user connects the PDA  150  to the PSTN  2  and can gain access to the facsimile by way of the LAN or the facsimile information management device  1  of the present invention. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, this disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts, as well as implementation in software, hardware, or a combination of both within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 
     The present document incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese priority document, 09-241,085 filed in Japan on Sep. 5, 1997.