Image communication apparatus

Abstract: There is disclosed a facsimile apparatus with memory reception function, for storing the received image data in a memory for later output as an image, without a large-capacity memory. The apparatus is equipped with a magnetic tape which is used for storing the received image data as well as the received voice message, thus dispensing with the large-capacity memory.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus with a memory reception function. Related Background Art There is already known a facsimile apparatus capable, upon automatically receiving image data from another facsimile apparatus while the recording sheets are absent, of storing said image data in a memory and printing said data after the recording sheets are replenished. Such facsimile apparatus is equipped with a large-capacity memory for such substituted reception. Such substituted reception in memory is disclosed for example in the U.S. Patent Nos. 4,717,967, 4,785,355, 4,789,900, 4,907,094. However such facsimile apparatus is inevitably expensive because a large-capacity memory is required for the substituted reception in memory. Reference is made to Patent Abstracts of Japan Volume 2, No. 324, (E-653) [3171], 2.9.88 and Japanese Patent No. A-63088949 which discloses a tele-writing device for reproducing the recorded information after home-coming and to copy a necessary part only by providing and recording means to record a sound and drawing information received during the absence of the person called. A band-pass filter separates the recorded voice message and the image data. Reference is also made to US Patent No. 3,914,539 which discloses a system for automatically activating a facsimile receiver in response to a call signal. The receiver can be set into a desired reception mode so that video information may be automatically received. Should the receiver malfunction the incoming video information may be transferred to a magnetic tape recorder for later reproduction of the video image. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide an improvement on the image communication apparatus. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image communication apparatus capable of substituted reception in the absence of recording sheet without the use of expensive large-capacity memory, thus being constructed inexpensively. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image communication apparatus without limitation in the memory capacity, through the use of a magnetic tape as a memory for substituted reception. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive image communication apparatus capable of multiple functions through the use of a magnetic tape for automatic answering telephone mode as the memory for substituted reception. Still other objects of the present invention will become fully apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments which is to be taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. These objects are met by the invention as set out in the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus constituting an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of data recorded on a magnetic tape for automatic answering in the facsimile apparatus of said embodiment; Fig. 3 is a flow chart of substituted receiving operation in the facsimile apparatus of said embodiment; Fig. 4 is a flow chart of reproduction of signals recorded on said magnetic tape for automatic answering; Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a second embodiment; Fig. 6 is a flow chart of control sequence at signal reception in said second embodiment; and Fig. 7 is a flow chart of control sequence for voice message reproduction and image data recording in said second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now the present invention will be clarified in datail by embodiments thereof shown in the attached drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus constituting an embodiment of the present invention. A CPU 1 controls, according to a program stored in a ROM 2, the entire facsimile apparatus including a RAM 3, a non-volatile RAM 4, a character generator (CG) 5, a recording unit 6, a reading unit 7, a modem unit 8, a network control unit (NCU) 9, a telephone set 11, an operation unit 12, a display unit 13, a selection signal sender unit 14, and magnetic tape recorders 15, 16. The RAM 3 stores binary image data read by the reading unit 7, or binary image data recorded in the recording unit 6. The RAM 3 also serves to store binary image data modulated by the modem unit 8 and to be supplied to a telephone line 10 through the NCU 9, and binary data democulated by the NCU 9 and the modem unit 8 from analog signals received from the telephone line 10. The non-volatile RAM 4 stores data to be preserved when the power supply of the facsimile apparatus is cut off. The character generator (CG) 5 stores the characters for example in JIS codes or ASCII codes, and releases character data corresponding the entered codes under the control of the CPU 1. The recording unit 6 is composed of a DMA controller, a sub-CPU, an A5-sized thermal head, a TTLIC etc., and prints a hard copy under the control of the CPU 1, receiving the recording data stored in the RAM 3. The reading unit 7 is composed of a DMA controller, a sub-CPU, a CCD, a TTLIC, an A4/A5 senser etc., and binarizes the data read with the CCD and sends thus binarized data to the RAM 3 in succession, under the control of the CPU 1. The modem unit 8 is composed of G3, G2, G1 and FM modems, a clock generator circuit connected to said modems, a voice/DTMF detection circuit etc., and serves to modulate the transmission data stored in the RAM 3 and sends the modulated data to the telephone line 10 through the NCU 9 under the control of the CPU 1. In addition the modem unit 8 serves to receive the analog signals from the telephone line 10 through the NCU 9 and store the demodulated and binarized data in the RAM 3. The NCU 9 connects the telephone line 10 either to the modem unit 8 or the telephone unit 11 under the control of the CPU 1. The operation unit 12 is provided with keys for starting transmission or reception, mode selection keys for selecting operation modes such as fine mode, standard mode, auto reception etc., and numeral keys. The operation unit 12 of the present embodiment is provided, in addition, with a manual/telefax switch and a memory reception select/non-select switch. The display unit 13 is composed of a liquid crystal display unit for example 16 digits, for displaying messages under the control of the CPU 1. The selection signal sending unit 14 serves to send selection signals such as a pulse dialer or a tone dialer through the NCU 9, under the control of the CPU 1. The magnetic tape recorder 15 is for message recording, and serves to record or reproduce voice signals and facsimile signals received from the telephone line 10 through the NCU 9, under the control of the CPU 1. Fig. 2 illustrates the content of signals recorded by the magnetic tape recorder 15, on a magnetic tape for automatic answering telephone. In this example there are recorded a telephone identification header (first header) indicating the presence of message of automatic answering telephone, then the message of the automatic answering telephone, and an end signal. Then recorded are a facsimile identification header (second header) indicating the presence of a reception signal from a facsimile apparatus, then a facsimile reception signal (protocol signal and image signal), and an end signal. Then recorded again are a telephone identification header (first header), message of automatic answering telephone and an end signal. The facsimile identification header and the telephone identification header have mutually different frequencies for identification. Consequently the modem unit 8 can identify, by analyzing said identification header, if the magnetic tape records a facsimile reception signal or a message of automatic answering telephone. The magnetic tape recorder 16 is for recording a response message, and serves to reproduce a prerecorded message and send said message through the telephone line in the voice communication. Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a substituted reception operation in the above-explained facsimile apparatus. If a call is received from another apparatus in the automatic answering mode (steps S1, S2), the NCU secures the line and the modem unit 8 executes detection, for a predetermined period, of CNG (a call tone indicating that the calling unit is a non-voice terminal) of the facsimile protocol signal (step S3). The automatic answering mode is set by a mode selector switch in the operation unit, and the automatic answering mode is identified from the state of said switch. If the CNG is not detected, the call is identified as from a telephone set, and the response message for automatic answering is reproduced from the magnetic tape recorder 16 and sent to the calling unit (step S4). Then the magnetic tape recorder 15 records the telephone identification header (first header) on the magnetic tape (step S5), and starts recording of message (step S6). The message recording is identified completed when the polarity of the telephone line 10 is inverted or when the voice is not detected for a predetermined period (step S7), and an end signal is recorded on the magnetic tape (step S8). On the other hands if the step S3 detects the CNG, the call is identified as from a facsimile apparatus. If the recording sheets are present in the recording unit (step S9), there is conducted a normal facsimile receiving operation to record the received image data in the recording unit 6 (step S11). If the recording sheets are absent in the recording unit (step S9), the magnetic tape recorder 15 records a facsimile identification header (second header) on the magnetic tape (step S12), and starts the recording of the received facsimile signal (protrocol signal and image signal) (step S13). Then, in response to the completion of reception (step S14), an end signal is recorded on the magnetic tape (step S15). The CNG signal is used as the facsimile identification header to be recorded on the magnetic tape. The CPU 1 records the facsimile image on the magnetic tape and checks the presence of errors by demodulation and decoding with the modem 8, and invalidates the error image recorded on the magnetic tape. If the automatic answering mode is not selected (step S2), and if the automatic facsimile reception mode is selected (step S10), there is executed a normal facsimile reception operation (step S11). If the automatic facsimile reception mode is not selected (step S10), an ordinary telephone function is executed (step S16). Fig. 4 is a flow chart of reproduction of the signal recorded on the magnetic tape by the magnetic tape recorder 15. At first the reproduction of magnetic tape is started, and the modem unit 8 analyzes the reproduced signal for detecting the identification header (steps S21, S24, S28). If the first header is detected (steps S21), the message recorded in the automatic answering mode is reproduced (step S22). If the second header is detected (step S24) indicating the presence of a received facsimile signal, the reproduced signal is demodulated (step S25), and the image data therein are recorded on the recording sheet (step S26). Then, in response to the detection of the end signal (step S23, S27, S28), the magnetic tape recorder repeats the reproducing operation. The above-mentioned magnetic tape recorders 15, 16 may be replaced by digital audio tape recorders (DAT), and there may be employed only one digital audio tape recorder for reproduction of the audio response message, recording of the received voice message and the recording of image data. In the following there will be explained a second embodiment employing such digital audio tape recorder, of which block diagram is shown in Fig. 5. In Fig. 5, same components as those in Fig. 1 are represented by same numbers, and will not be explained further. A PCM codec 17 converts the analog voice message, received from the telephone line 10, by PCM encoding into a digital voice message and sends it to the DAT 18. It also converts the PCM encoded digital voice message from the DAT 18 into an analog voice message, and reproduces the voice message through the NCU 9 and a loudspeaker of the telephone set 11. In case of recording the received facsimile image signal on the magnetic tape by the DAT 18, the CNG signal is PCM encoded and recorded as the identification header (second header) on the magnetic tape, and the digital image information (encoded for example by MH or MR encoding) is demodulated and recorded on the magnetic tape. In this operation, the CPU 1 demodulates the image information and checks the presence of errors in the received image. If there is an error in the received image, the CPU 1 informs the sending apparatus of said image error by the facsimile communication protocol. Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing the control sequence of the CPU 1 at the call reception in the second embodiment, wherein the steps of same numbers as in Fig. 3 indicate same operations. The present second embodiment is different in the steps S4 - S8 and S12 - S15 from the sequence shown in Fig. 3. At first, if the step S3 does not detect the CNG signal, the sequence proceeds to a step S41 for effecting voice response and recording of the voice message by the DAT 18, as will be explained in the following. The step S41 reads the PCM encoded digital voice message for voice response, recorded on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18 and sends it to the telephone line 10 after conversion into an analog voice message by the PCM codec 17. Then a step S51 records the PCM encoded first header on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18 through the PCM codec 17. Then steps S61, S71 converts the analog voice message, received from the telephone line 10, into digital voice information by the PCM codec 17 and records it on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18. When the recording of voice message is completed in this manner, a step S81 records and end signal, indicating the end of the voice message, on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18, and the sequence proceeds to a step S100. Said step S100 discriminates whether the CNG signal is received within a predetermined period (for example 15 seconds), and, if received, the sequence proceeds to a step S9 for effecting the facsimile reception. Then, in case of effecting the substituted memory reception by the magnetic tape of the DAT 18, the sequence proceeds from the step S9 to a step S121 for recording the second header, PCM encoded by the PCM codec 17, on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18. Then steps S131, S141 record the digital encoded image information, demodulated by the modem 48, in succession on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18. During this operation, the CPU 1 checks the presence of errors in the image, by demodulating the digital image information. After the reception of all the image information, a step S151 records the end signal, PCM encoded by the PCM codec 17, on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18. As explained above, the voice message is recorded on the magnetic tape in the PCM encoded form, while the image is recorded in the form of digital image information encoded for example by MH or MR encoding. Fig. 7 is a flow chart of the control sequence of the CPU 1 in the reproduction of the voice message stored in the magnetic tape of the second embodiment, and in the printing of image information. At first steps S210, S240, S280 converts the PCM encoded information on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18 into an analog signal by the PCM codec 17, and detects the frequency thereof through the modem 8. If the first or second header is detected in this manner, the sequence proceeds from the step S210 to S220, or from S240 to S250. The step S220 converts the digital voice message recorded on the magnetic tape of the DAT 18 into an analog voice message by the PCM codec 17, and releases it from the loudspeaker of the telephone set 11. Then a step S230 detects the end signal through the modem 8, and, upon detection thereof, the reproduction of the voice message is completed. In case the sequence proceeds to steps S250, S260 and S270, the digital facsimile image information recorded on the magnetic tape is read and demodulated in succession, and the obtained image information is printed by the recording unit 6. Then the step S270 detects the end signal through the modem 8, and, if detected, the printing of image information is terminated. As explained in the foregoing, substituted reception of the facsimile signal in the absence of recording sheets can be achieved by the magnetic tape for automatic answering telephone. Thus, if a call is received from another facsimile apparatus in the absence of recording sheets, the magnetic tape for automatic answering telephone can be utilized for substituted reception. Consequently the expensive large-capacity memory for substituted reception can be dispensed with, and the facsimile apparatus can therefore be made less expensive. In addition the magnetic tape for automatic answering telelphone can be effectively utilized. Also the image information and the voice message can be processed by the CPU 1, as they are both recorded on the digital audio tape. The present invention is not limited to the foregoring embodiments, but is subject to various modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: An image communication apparatus, comprising: magnetic recording/reproducing means (15,16;17,18) for recording data on a magnetic tape and for reproducing data recorded on the magnetic tape; first receiving means (8) for receiving image data; second receiving means (15) for receiving a voice message; and recording means (6) for recording received image data on a recording paper, characterized by control means (1) which, in case of reception of a voice message, causes said recording/reproducing means to record on the magnetic tape first ID information indicating a voice message, the received voice message, and a message end signal indicating the end of reception of the voice message, sequentially, and which, in case of reception of image data, discriminates the presence/absence of a recording paper in said recording means, and in the absence of the recording paper, causes said magnetic recording/reproducing means to record on the magnetic tape second ID information indicating image data, the received image data, and an image data end signal indicating the end of reception of the image data, wherein in case of output of data recorded on the magnetic tape, said control means discriminates ID information reproduced by said magnetic recording/reproducing means, and executes an operation based on the discrimination result as follows: (1) if the first ID information is detected, said control means causes said magnetic recording/reproducing means to reproduce the voice message and then stop the reproducing operation upon detection of the message end signal, and (2) if the second ID information is detected, said control means supplies reproduced image data to said first receiving means to cause said recording means to record the reproduced image data, and then stops the recording operation upon detection of the image data end signal. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said magnetic recording/reproducing means (17,18) records on the magnetic tape the voice message and the image data as digital signals. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said control means (1) is adapted to record the received image data on the magnetic tape when said recording means in incapable of data reproduce-recording. An apparatus according to claim 1, charaterized in that said magnetic recording means is adapted to record an analog signal on the magnetic tape. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by means for reproducing a voice message recorded on said magnetic tape. An apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that said control means controls the reproduction of voice message recorded on said magnetic tape or the reproduce-recording of image data recorded on said magnetic tape, according to said identification information. An apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that said voice message and image data are recorded on said magnetic tape in mixed manner. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, including an automatic answering telephone function, characterized in that said magnetic recording/reproducing means records an identification signal, indicating a type of data, and an image signal on the magnetic tape of automatic answering telephone, in case of receiving a call from another apparatus in the automatic answering mode and while the recording sheets are absent.

Inventors: KOIZUMI SHIGERU, KOIZUMI, SHIGERU
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1989
Main classification: H04N1
IPC codes: H04M1, H04N1, H04M11