Facsimile apparatus having a helical scan VCR

Abstract: A facsimile apparatus having a helical scan VTR, wherein binary data of a received facsimile signal is recorded on a first area of a recording medium, and also the received facsimile signal is converted into a television signal and then recorded on a second area of the recording medium so that the recorded facsimile signal can be viewed as a video image on a screen and further the recorded facsimile signal can be searched on the screen through the high-speed search.

Description: The present invention generally relates to facsimile apparatuses and, more particularly, is directed to a facsimile apparatus having a helical scan video tape recorder (VTR). In general, facsimile communication utilizing a telephone line network is very convenient since it can transmit information such as characters and figures or the like and also communicate with a facsimile apparatus of another party even if no person is present there. A conventional facsimile receiver for facsimile communication utilizing a telephone line network prints on paper all information such as characters and figures transmitted through the network. However, thermal paper commonly used in facsimile receivers for home use etc. is expensive and it is difficult to maintain the print quality thereof since it is likely to fade. Further, recently, various information such as economical and immovable information, sales using catalogs and telephone shopping or the like have been provided through facsimile communication. When all of these information are printed on paper by a home use facsimile receiver, disadvantageously much thermal paper is required. Thus, in view of the increase of facsimile receivers for home use, it would be convenient to modify the facsimile receiver so as to be able to record or print only required information on the paper. US-A-4989238 discloses a facsimile machine which includes a magnetic storage device and also a display so that fax images can be stored and displayed as well as printed. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved facsimile apparatus. According to the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus including magnetic recording means comprising means for recording binary data of a received facsimile signal on a first area of a recording medium; characterised in that the magnetic recording means is a helical scan VTR and in that the apparatus further comprises means for converting the received facsimile signal into a television signal and for recording the converted television signal on a second area of the recording medium. According to the thus constituted facsimile apparatus of the present invention, since the received facsimile signal is converted into the television signal and then recorded on the second area of the recording medium, the recorded facsimile signal can be viewed as a video image on a screen by supplying the recorded facsimile signal to the TV monitor. Further, the recorded facsimile signal can be searched on the screen by searching the television signal recorded on the second area through the high-speed search. Furthermore, the binary data of the facsimile signal recorded on the first area of the recording medium corresponding to the required information of the recorded television signal which is selected through the high-speed search operation can be printed on paper, whereby only the required information can be printed on a paper with good printing quality to thereby decrease the amount of paper used. The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- FIG. 1 shows in block form an arrangement of a facsimile apparatus having a helical scan VTR according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a track pattern formed on a magnetic tape by a 8-mm VTR; FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a recording format of the facsimile signal on the magnetic tape according to the embodiment; and FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a list to be recorded on the magnetic tape. A facsimile apparatus having a helical scan VTR according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 shows in block form an arrangement of a facsimile apparatus having a helical scan VTR according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a modem 2 receives a facsimile signal transmitted over a telephone line network and also transmits a facsimile signal to the telephone line network. The modem 2 supplies the received facsimile signal to an engineer workstation (EWS) 3 having a central processing unit (CPU) for performing various signal processing and organization. When the received facsimile signal by the modem 2 is supplied to the workstation 3, the workstation 3 processes the received facsimile signal and supplies the processed signal to a 8-mm VTR 5 or VCR (video cassette recorder) through a data buffer circuit 4. Then, the 8-mm VTR 5 records the processed signal on a recording medium, e.g., magnetic tape 1 (see FIG. 2). The magnetic tape 1 used in the 8-mm VTR 5 has a first area, that is, a pulse code modulation (PCM) area 1a and a second area, that is, a video track area 1b as shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, binary data of the facsimile signal is recorded on the PCM area 1a in a form accorded with a PCM audio format of the 8-mm VTR, while the facsimile signal is converted into a television signal (e.g. NTSC or PAL etc) and then recorded on the video track area 1b. The binary data of the facsimile signal is recorded under the control of the workstation 3 on the PCM area 1a of the magnetic tape 1 on which a time code is recorded in advance. In this case, the binary data of the facsimile signal to be recorded may be a G3 or G4 facsimile signal of a band compressed MH (modified Huffman), MR (modified READ) or MMR (modified modified READ). In the case of recording the facsimile signal of plural pages n1, n2, ··· on the magnetic tape 1, the facsimile signal is arranged per one day, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, and then an index signal, that is, a list L-1, L-2, ··· is provided at a header portion of each facsimile signal of one day. Each of the lists L-1, L-2, ··· includes data such as a time code, a received time and a comment, for example, as shown in FIG. 4. In reproducing, a required facsimile signal is retrieved by retrieving the time codes referring to the lists L-1, L-2, ···. In this embodiment, when the facsimile signal includes characters and figures or the like of one page n1, n2, ···, in a mixed state, the content of one page is divided into plural sections, for example, five sections and then each section is converted into a television signal to thereby be recorded on the tape so that a viewer can easily view the facsimile signal on a television receiver for home use. In this case, the received facsimile signal is divided into windows in accordance with the content of one page, and a divided image of frame unit, in which each of the divided images which is multiplied by a magnification of m pixel (lateral) x n pixel (vertical) in accordance with each window, is recorded on the tapes. Each of the divided images per one frame is constituted by at least 8 frames and then recorded on the video track 1b after being multiplied by an integer times thereof. In reproducing, the thus recorded facsimile signal can be recognized easily on a NTSC television (TV) monitor 6 by searching the reproduced image on the screen through a high-speed search operation, that is, cue or review operation. The reproduced output signal from the 8-mm VTR 5 is supplied to the TV monitor 6 and then the television signal recorded on the video track area 1b of the magnetic tape 1 is reproduced thereon in accordance with an instruction from the workstation 3. Referring to FIG. 1, a printer 7 prints, in accordance with an instruction from the workstation 3, the binary data of the facsimile signal which is recorded on the PCM area 1a and reproduced by the 8-mm VTR 5. A scanner 8 reads characters and figures or the like and supplies the read data signal to the workstation 3 which in turn delivers the data representing the characters and figures etc. to the telephone line network through the modem 2 as a facsimile signal. In the thus constituted facsimile apparatus, when the facsimile signal is supplied to the workstation 3 through the modem 2, the facsimile signal is converted into the binary data accorded with the audio PCM and then supplied to the 8-mm VTR 5 through the buffer circuit 4 to thereby be recorded on the PCM area 1a of the magnetic tape 1. Further, the received facsimile signal is converted into a television signal by the workstation 3 and supplied to the 8-mm VTR 5 through the buffer circuit 4 to thereby be recorded on the video track area 1b of the magnetic tape 1. In this case, the data representing the time code and the received time or the like which is controlled by the workstation 3 is recorded on the video track 1b as well as the facsimile signal. Since the received facsimile signal is converted into the television signal and then recorded on the video track area 1b of the magnetic tape 1, the facsimile signal recorded on the magnetic tape 1 can be viewed as a video image on the screen by supplying the recorded facsimile signal to the TV monitor 6. Further, the recorded facsimile signal can be searched at high speed on the screen by using the television signal recorded on the video track area 1b, that is, cue or review operation as ordinary VTRs. Furthermore, the binary data of the facsimile signal recorded on the PCM area 1a corresponding to the required information of the recorded television signal which is selected through the high-speed search operation can be printed on a paper by utilizing the data of the time codes and the received time, whereby only the required information can be printed on a paper with good printing quality to thereby decrease an amount of papers to be used. While, in the above-described embodiment, the magnetic tape 1 is utilized as a recording medium, other types of recording medium may be used in place thereof. Having described the preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiment and that various changes and modifications thereof could be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims: A facsimile apparatus including magnetic recording means (5) comprising means for recording binary data of a received facsimile signal on a first area (1a) of a recording medium (1); characterised in that the magnetic recording means (5) is a helical scan VTR and in that the apparatus further comprises means (3,4,5) for converting the received facsimile signal into a television signal and for recording the converted television signal on a second area (1b) of the recording medium (1). A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means (3,4,7) for recording an index signal (L1) on the recording medium (1) in addition to the received facsimile signal. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising means (3,4,7) for recording data of time at which the facsimile signal is received on the recording medium (1) in addition to the received facsimile signal. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3 further comprising a TV monitor (6) connected to receive the converted television signal from the helical scan VTR (5). A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 further comprising a printer (7) connected to receive the binary data of the received facsimile signal which is reproduced from said first area (1a) of the recording medium (1) for printing.

Inventors: YOKOYAMA EIICHI, YOKOYAMA, EIICHI
Applicants: SONY CORP, SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: H04N1
IPC codes: H04N1, G11B27, G11B20, H04N5