A PUBLIC ACCESS FACSIMILE SYSTEM

Abstract: A public access facsimile system comprising a user identification receiver (120, 124) operative to receive and store a user identification code identifying an individual one of a multiplicity of users; a document transmission unit operative to transmit a document received from the identified individual user; and a user debiting (142) unit operative to compute a quantity to be debited to the user in consideration for transmission of the document destined therefor.

Description: A PUBLIC ACCESS FACSIMILE SYSTEM 1 2 3 FIELD OF THE INVENTION 4 • 5 The present, invention relates to facsimile 6 machines. 7 8 9 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 10 11 Facsimile machines enabling transmission and 12 reception of documents are becoming a major 13 communication product with millions of units installed 14 ' worldwide, and with their number growing significantly 5 every year. Facsimiles are typically installed inside 6 offices, and thus their use is limited to the office 7 staff. The current design and structure of facsimile 8 machines does not lend them to open usage by the public 9 since handling of a conventional facsimile machine 0 requires familiarity with the particular unit and care 1 must be taken in inserting documents for transmission. 2 A machine used by a person not familiar with its 3 operation can be inactivated because of improper use - mostly by jamming of paper, inadvertently running out 5 of paper or improper use of the controlling keys or 6 switches . 7 The process of sending facsimiles involves 8 paper and movement of the paper across a mechanical path. Documents sent are fed into a slot in the machine 0 and are taken up by rollers and moved across a scanner 1 head. 2 Certain kinds of paper on which documents are 3 typed are easily prone to deformations which can cause ^ them to be jammed inside the delicate mechanical path 5 of the document transfer. The mechanical path through 6 which transmitted documents are forced for scanning is 7 gauged for standard paper thickness, and thick paper 8 can be stuck in it. If the paper moved by the rollers 1 in the path is too thin, or too weak, it can be torn 2 inside the machine and Jam it. 3 An incidental user might not be aware of such 4 problems and inadvertently may use paper of improper 5 thickness, crumpled paper, or weak or torn paper, all 6 of which can inactivate the facsimile machine. In suqh 7 cases, the facsimile machine must be opened and the 8 paper taken out in order to clear the path. This kind 9 of problem and its remedy involves intimate knowledge 10 of the particular unit, making standard facsimile 11 machines unsuitable for use in public premises and for 12 handling by the public. 13 Another feature that limits public usage of 14 facsimile machines for receiving documents concerns the 15 paper used to print out received documents. The stock 16 of paper can run out after a short time depending on 17 the amount and length of received documents. 18 Replenishing the paper in roll form or in the form of '19 cut sheets loaded from a tray that is inserted into the 20 unit also requires intimate knowledge of the particular 21 machine. 22 Thus both handling of documents inserted into ■23 the facsimile and handling of the clean paper supply 2 make the unit vulnerable and unfit for public usage. 25 Facsimile machines are made by dozens of 26 manu acturers and have a very wide range of features. 27 They are operated via a series of keys and switches 28 assigned to control the various f nctions. There is no 29 standard control panel, and in each machine the 30 particular set of controls must be learned by a user. 31 This is another obstacle detracting from the 32 usefullness of conventional facsimiles as a public 33 utility. 34 It happens frequently, especially in 5 relatively low-price standard facsimile machines, that 6 attempts to send a facsimile message fail. This can be 7 due to numerous causes, mostly related to the telephone 8 line quality or to the receiving facsimile unit being busy or out of paper. In such cases, a prolonged presence for repeated trials at the machine site is required. In an office environment this is not a major problem, but for transitory members of the general public, such a situation can render the facsimile unit inconvenient. "Pay faxes", intended for unsupervised use by a plurality of users each of which is debited in consideration for his use of the pay fax, are known in the art. One known pay-fax, commercially available from TouchFax, includes a conventional and relatively expensive flat bed scanner in which the bottom surface of a -stationary horizontally disposed paper is scanned through a glass surface by a moving scanning mechanism. A disadvantage of this apparatus is that the glass surface, which is accessible by each user of the apparatus, quickly becomes dirty and therefore requires frequent servicing if an acceptable level of scanning is to be maintained. Paper to be printed upon is not stationary during conventional printing processes. For example, in some devices, the paper moves along the Y-axis as it is printed upon and the printing head arranged to print thereupon moves along the X- axis. CCD arrays whose field of view encompasses an entire page and which simultaneously image all portions of an entire page are commercially available from Loral " Corporation, USA. 1 2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 3 4 The present invention provides a solution to 5 the above mentioned problems of handling transmitted 6 documents, as well as a solution for handling paper 7 supply for receiving documents. The solutions were 8 designed to permit an embodiment of a new type of 9 facsimile machine which can be used openly by anyone, 0 thus constituting an open public access facsimile. The 1 public facsimile can be freely accessed, in the same 2 way that public phones (or pay phones) are operated, 3 and thus can be installed in public areas and serve 4 passersby to send " or to receive documents without the 5 need for a permanent operating staff» 6 According to a preferred embodiment of the 7 present invention, both the transmitted documents and 8 the paper on which incoming transmissions are printed 9 are stationary during transmission or printing and are 0 positioned on an open tray. Consequently, transmitted 1 documents . cannot Jam the machine irrespective of its 2 strength, form or thickness. In the case of documents 3 received and printed on the machine, the paper on which 4 they are printed is positioned in such a way as to minimize the chance of its jamming the printhead. If 6 such a jam does occur, it can be easily cleared by 7 lifting the paper off the tray. 8 The • invention also preferably includes 9 provisions which make its use particularly suitable for the general public such as special control and 1 operation apparatus that do not exist in standard facsimile machines. This apparatus enables easy and immediate operation even to the uninitiated. The present invention preferably does not require the person using the machine to be present during the actual transmission. Once a document is scanned, it can be sent automatically and the machine itself will try to resend in case of transmission failure. Preferably, a plurality of resend options are available to the user which may be entered from a remote location, via telephone contact. Preferably, a document received can preferably be stored confidentially in the machine and picked up by the recipient later. While in part similar solutions are available in existing facsimile machines by incorporating a storage menory, they are not suitable for public usage facsimile machines. A person on the move cannot return to the machine at a later time to verify that the document was finally sent. The present invention also preferably includes apparatus for remote check and control of transmission by means of a telephone call. ' There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a public access facsimile system comprising a user identification receiver operative to receive and store a user identification code identifying an individual one of a multiplicity of users; a,document transmission unit operative to transmit a document received from the identified individual user; and a user debiting unit operative to compute a quantity to be debited to the user in consideration for transmission of the document destined therefor. Also disclosed is a public access facsimile system comprising a user identification receiver operative to receive and store a user identification code identifying an individual one of a multiplicity of users; a facsimile message reception unit operative to receive a facsimile message whose destination is the identified individual user; and a user debiting unit operative to compute a quantity to be debited to the user in consideration for facsimile receipt of the message destined therefor. Preferably, the system also comprises a printer for printing the received facsimile message. ' Preferably, the user identification receiver 1 is operative to read a magnetic card bearing a magnetic 2 user identification code. 3 Preferably, the user debiting unit comprises 4 a user debiting memory operative to store, in 5 association with the user identification code, an 6 indication of the quantity to be debited to the user. 7 Alternatively or in addition, the user 8 debiting unit preferably comprises a token receiver for 9 receiving a plurality of tokens or coins corresponding 0 in number to the quantity to be debited to the user. 1 The document transmission unit preferably 2 comprises a scanner for scanning a stationary page 3 without touching the page. 4 The system of the present invention 5 preferably includes a paper tray; and an enclosure 6 enclosing the paper tray and the scanner, the enclosure 7 including a gate electromechanically actuated in 8 response to the user identification receiver. 9 Preferably, the printer comprises an X-Y 0 displacer such that the printer may print on stationary 1 paper. 2 Preferably, the system also comprises 3 apparatus for transmitting a user identification code 4 to a remote fax storage center for retrieval and 5 printing of a stored fax message. 6 The system also preferably includes a high 7 resolution CRT, LCD or other monitor operative to 8 display an electronically stored image, the monitor 9 preferably including apparatus for modifying contrast 0 of the electronically stored image in accordance with 1 input received from a viewer thereof. 2 There is also provided a public access facsimile system operative to transmit a document page and comprising a paper support surface for supporting the document 'page face upward, an overhead scanner, such as a CCD array camera, for scanning the document page and transforming it to electronic data form and a fax modem unit for transmitting the electronic data to a remote location, wherein the document page remains stationary during scanning. Preferably, the field of view of the overhead scanner includes the entire document page. The system preferably includes a physical barrier for preventing user access to the overhead scanner. The physical barrier preferably comprises an enclosure enclosing the overhead scanner and the paper support surface, the enclosure having a relatively small opening adjacent the paper support surface and distanced from the overhead scanner to allow a user to position document pages on the paper support surface while simultaneously preventing user access to the overhead scanner. The public access facsimile system of the present invention is preferably operative to receive and print a facsimile message and preferably includes a fax modem unit for receiving electronic data from a remote location and a printing unit for printing the electronic data onto a stationary .piece of paper. Preferably, the following units are also provided: a user identification receiver operative to receive and store a user identification code identifying an individual one of a multiplicity of users, and a user debiting unit operative to compute a quantity to be debited to the user. Preferably, first and second telephone line connections are provided for connecting the system to respective first and second telephone lines. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the printing unit includes two printing devices operatively associated with two respective depletable paper supplies and a printer control circuit operative to actuate one of the printing devices when the other of the printing devices runs out of paper. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a public access facsimile system operative to receive and print a 8 1 facsimile message and comprising a fax modem unit for 2 receiving electronic data from a remote location and a 3 printing unit for printing the electronic data onto 4 paper and comprising two printing devices operatively 5 associated with two respective depletable paper 6 supplies and a printer control circuit operative to 7 actuate one of the printing devices when the other of 8 the printing devices runs out of paper. 9 The system may also include apparatus for 10 associating the system with a guest telephone use 11 recording system in a hotel, comprising a voice/fax 12 switch and apparatus for associating the system with 13 the guest telephone use recording system. 14 15 16 17 18 • 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 2 3 The present invention will be understood and 4 appreciated from the following detailed description, 5 taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: 6 Fig. 1 is a simplified block diagram of 7 public access facsimile apparatus constructed and 8 operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of 9 the present invention; 10 Fig. 2 is an isometric illustration, not 11 necessarily toscale, of part of the facsimile apparatus 12 of Fig. 1; 13 • Fig.- 3 is a pictorial illustration, not 14 necessarily to scale, of a public access facsimile 15 system including the facsimile apparatus of Figs. 1 and 16 2; and 17 Fig. 4 is a pictorial illustration not 18 necessarily to scale, of a public access facsimile 19 system, constructed and operative in accordance with 20 an alternative embodiment of the present invention and 21 including a tandem printer. 22 23 24. 25 26 27 28 " 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference is now made to Fig. 1 which is a simplified block diagram of facsimile apparatus, referenced generally 10, which is constructed and operative in. accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and to Fig. 2 which is an isometric illustration of the apparatus of Fig. 1. The facsimile apparatus 10 of Fig. 1 includes a rigid tray 12 on which a document to be transmitted is laid flat, face up. The rigid tray 12 is also operative to support clean paper, laid flat, onto which a received document may be printed. Paper alignment photodetectors 14 are preferably provided " in operative association with some or all of the four locations 16 of the top surface of the tray 12 which are intended to support the four corners of the clean paper or document to be transmitted. A paper presence photodetector 18 is preferably provided in operative association with the top surface of the tray 12, in a suitable location such as a central portion 20 of tray 12, which is intended to support the center of the clean paper or document to be transmitted. A stationary digital scanner 3 is positioned above the tray 12. The digital scanner 3 may, for example, comprise a TV camera with CCD or a Chinon 207N1UCS2001A scanning mechanism, employed in Chinon's stationary sca'nner DS-3000. A printing head 40 is provided which moves along printing head guides 42 which are disposed along opposite sides of the tray 12, parallel to a Y axis 44. An X-axis motor 5© moves the printing head 40 along an X axis of paper placed on the tray 12. A Y-axis motor moves the printing head 40 along the Y axis 44 of paper placed on the tray 12. A particular feature of the above-described printing elements is that they may be employed to print upon entirely stationary paper. It is appreciated that printing apparatus as shown and 1 described above may be employed in any suitable 2 printing application and the applicability thereof is 3 not limited to facsimile machines. 4 A high resolution monitor 60 is preferably 5 provided for observation of a scanned image received 6 from scanner 30 or transmitted from a remote facsimile 7 machine. 8 Touch control of the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 9 2 is provided by a touch panel 62. Preferably, touch 10 panel 62 is transparent and is superimposed on high 11 resolution monitor 60. 12 A main CPU 70 s provided which controls the 13 system of Fig. 1. CPU 70 is typically operatively 14 associated with, and exerts control over, each of the 15 following elements: 16 a. Electronic memory control circuitry 74, 17 operative to control the operation of a memory for 18 storing scanned or transmitted compressed data files. 19 For example, the memory may comprise a hard magnetic 20 disk 76; 21 b. Electronic scanner control circuitry 82 22 operative to control scanner 30 and to transmit data 23 from scanner 30 into disk 76; 24 c. Electronic printer control circuitry 84 25 operative to send data to be printed from disk 7 to 26. printer head 40 and to control the operation of printer 27 head 4θ; 28 d . Electronic moni tor and touch panel control 29 circuitry 86 operative to control monitor 60 and touch 30 panel 62 ; 31 e. Electronic data compression/decompression 32 circuitry 90 for compressing data into facsimile 33 format, such as Hufman-Reed, and for decompressing data 34 into a format suitable for printing; 35 f. A facsimile modem 94 operative to send and 36 receive documents which may be connected to a first 37 telephone line; 38 g. Electronic speech synthesizer circuitry 100, the voice output of which is provided to a second telephone line. The second telephone line is connected to a conventional telephone set 104 which may be positioned adjacent the apparatus of Fig. 2, as shown in Fig. 3; h. A paper dispensing unit 110 comprising an electromechanical dispensing mechanism for dispensing clean paper for a user to place, one sheet at a time, on tray 12, in the course of printing a received document stored in disk 76. Typically, the paper dispensing mechanism is operative to determine the number and length of pages required to print the received document by accessing disk 7 via CPU 70- i. - Electronic magnetic-card code reading circuitry 120 which is operative to receive and decode data from magnetic cards, which data is read in by a magnetic card reader 124; j. Electromechanical control circuitry 130 for a shielding panel l4θ. Circuitry 130 is operative to open shielding panel l4θ, thereby enabling a user to access the user-interfacing elements of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, upon insertion of a magnetic card into magnetic card reader 124; and k. A user debiting memory 142 which is operative to store, for each transmit, receive or print operation carried out for an individual user of the public access facsimile apparatus of Fig. 1, the following data: i. the type of operation (transmit, receive or print) ; ϋ. the number of pages transmitted, received or printed, or some other indication of the amount to be debited to the individual user for the operation carried out; andiii. the code identif cation of the individual user,, as read by magnetic card reader 124. Preferably, shielding panel 140 is arranged relative to the remaining elements of Figs. 1-3. so that only the user-interfacing elements of the apparatus of Figs. 103. such as tray 12 and touch panel 62, are accessible to the user when shielding panel l4θ is open, whereas elements which need not be handled by the user, such as scanner 30. are inaccessible to the user even when shielding panel l4θ is open, to prevent tampering. A preferred mode of operation of the apparatus of Figs. 1 - 3 is as follows: a. A user inserts a magnetic facsimile credit card (not shown) into magnetic card reader 124. The card data is decoded by code reading circuitry 120. A suitable message is displayed by monitor 60, such as the following message: "PLEASE INDICATE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS: 'SEND' IF YOU WISH TO TRANSMIT A DOCUMENT TO ANOTHER PARTY 'RECEIVE' IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE A DOCUMENT FROM ANOTHER PARTY 'PRINT' IF YOU HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED A DOCUMENT FROM ANOTHER PARTY ON THIS MACHINE AND WISH TO PRINT THAT DOCUMENT." A user-selected one of the above three options is received by CPU 70 via touch panel 62. If the user selects the 'send' option, steps b - q are carried out. If the user selects the 'receive' option, steps r -. s are carried out. If the user selects the 'print' option, steps t onward are carried out. b. If the user selects the 'send' option in step a, shielding panel l4θ opens, thereby enabling access of the user to tray 12 and touch panel 62. c. Monitor 60 displays a suitable message, such as "POSITION THE FIRST PAGE OF THE DOCUMENT YOU WISH TO TRANSMIT, FACE UP, ON THE TRAY". d. The user positions a document, face up, on tray 12. Presence of the document is sensed by photodetector 18, which preferably activates the monitor 60 to provide an indication, such as a graphic presentation, of paper alignment relative to tray 12 as detected by photodetectors 14. Preferably, the graphic presentation generated by and displayed on monitor 60 includes an arrow indicating a direction in which a misaligned document should be moved in order to align the document. e. When photodetectors 14 have detected correct alignment of the document placed on tray 12, monitor 60 prompts the user to input the number of a facsimile machine to receive the document to be transmitted. Monitor 60 may display a suitable message such as "TOUCH-DIAL THE NUMBER OF THE RECEIVING FACSIMILE". Preferably, monitor 60 also displays an image of a keyboard including number locations corresponding to each of digits θ -- 9- The user then touches the appropriate number locations on the keyboard image. f. Scanner 30 scans the first page of the document to be transmitted, without moving the page. The scanned data is received by CPU 70- g. Data compression circuit 90 compresses the data to facsimile format. The facsimile-formatted data is stored on disk 76. h. Monitor 60 displays a suitable message, such as "POSITION THE NEXT PAGE OF THE DOCUMENT YOU WISH TO TRANSMIT, FACE UP, ON THE TRAY. IF THERE ARE NO MORE PAGES, PRESS 'FINISHED'". i. If the user replaces the current page on tray 12 with a different page, steps d and f - h are repeated. j . Once the user indicates that there are no more pages, as by pressing a "finished" button on touch panel 62, the monitor 60 preferably displays a suitable message such as "DOCUMENT SCANNED AND READY FOR TRANSMISSION" . k. The receiving number input in step e is dialled automatically. If telephone contact is obtained, the stored doucment is transmitted. 1« If the receiving number is busy or if transmission fails, a suitable message is provided to 1 the user via monitor 60, such as: "RECEIVING NUMBER IS 2 BUSY/TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED. ABORT OR RETRY LATER?" 3 The user elects to either abort or to retry later. 4 m. If the user elects to abort, operation is 5 terminated. 6 n. If the user elects to retry later, the 7 apparatus will automatically make at least one 8 additional attempt to send the document at a later 9 time. The number and timing of the additional attempts 10 may be preprogrammed. 11 o. Monitor 60 preferably displays a suitable 12 message to the user such as the following: •13 ' "TO CONFIRM YOUR DOCUMENT WAS SENT, DIAL (TELEPHONE 14 NUMBER) WHENEVER YOU WISH. YOUR DOCUMENT HAS BEEN 15 ASSIGNED THE FOLLOWING SERIAL NUMBER: (DOCUMENT SERIAL 16 NUMBER). PLEASE HAVE YOUR DOCUMENT'S SERIAL NUMBER 17 AVAILABLE TO YOU WHEN CALLING TO CONFIRM DOCUMENT 18 TRANSMISSION." The TELEPHONE NUMBER displayed is the 19 telephone number of the second telephone line in Fig. 20 1. 21 p. If a user dials the telephone number of the 22 second telephone line, intending to ascertain that a 23 document identified by the apparatus with a particular 24- serial number has been sent, a suitable voice message 25 such as the following is produced by speech synthesizer 26 100 and is transmitted over the second telephone line: 27 "PLEASE DIAL THE SERIAL NUMBER OF YOUR DOCUMENT". 28 " q. The serial number of the document is received 29 by the apparatus, the transmission status of the 30 document is accessed, and one of the following voice 31 messages is generated by speech synthesizer 100 and 32 transmitted over the second telephone line: 33 "TRANSMISSION COMPLETED AT THE FOLLOWING TIME: (TIME 34 DISPLAYED)"; or: "TRANSMISSION NOT YET COMPLETED DUE TO 35 TELEPHONE LINE FAILURE. IF YOU WISH TO ABORT, DIAL 36 (ABORTING CODE) . TO CONTINUE ATTEMPTS TO SEND YOUR 37 MESSAGE, JUST HANG UP."; or: "TRANSMISSION NOT YET 38 COMPLETED DUE TO TELEPHONE LINE BEING BUSY -- PLEASE CALL AGAIN LATER" . r. If the user selects the 'receive' option in step a, the user is prompted to use telephone set 104 to call the sender, alert the sender to his presence at the site of a public access facsimile, and to inform the sender of the telephone number of the first telephone line. Preferably, during reception, the shielding panel l4ø is not opened. Alternatively or in addition, during reception, a suitable message is displayed on panel 62 to deter attempts at transmission, such as the following message: "MACHINE BUSY. RECEPTION IN PROGRESS." s. The user is prompted to pick up the receiver of telephone set 104. Speech synthesizer 100 generates a suitable message such as the following: "DIAL THE SENDING FACSIMILE NUMBER". The sending facsimile number input by the user is stored In association with the user's magnetic card number and a dial tone is released. From this point on, a document may be received from the sending facsimile number. It is appreciated that, preferably, the document is not printed immediately upon, receipt but rather only upon user request, i.e. upon selection of the 'print' option by the user, as explained above in step a, which may occur at any time after the document has been received, and not necessarily immediately thereafter." t. If "the user selects the 'print' option in step a, the user is prompted to input the fax number which sent the message he is expecting. If a message is stored in disk 76, and the fax number which sent the message, which is also stored in disk 76 in association with the message itself, corresponds to the fax number input by the user, then the message will be printed out in response to the user's 'print' request. Otherwise, the user is informed that no message has been received from the fax number in question. u. If a message is to be printed out, a suitable 1 quantity of paper, according to the length of the 2 stored message which is to be printed, is dispensed by 3 paper dispenser 110. 4 v. Monitor 60 prompts the user to place clean 5 paper in tray 12. Monitor 60 also prompts the user to 6 align the paper in response to suitable indications 7 from alignment detectors 14, as explained above with 8 reference to step d. 9 w. Once alignment detectors 14 have detected 10 correct alignment, printer head 40 begins to move 11 across the page and print a single page of the stored 12 message. At the end of the page the monitor 60 displays 13 one of the following messages: 14 "THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT HAS NOW BEEN PRINTED", indicating 15 that the printing process of the document has 16 terminated; or"PLEASE INSERT ANOTHER PAGE SO THAT 17 PRINTING MAY CONTINUE". 18 19 Reference is now made to Fig. 4. The 20 apparatus of Fig. 4 is generally similar to the 21 apparatus of Figs. 1-3 except that the tray and print 22 head of Figs. 1-3 are replaced by two printers 150 and 23 152 with paper-out slots 154 and 156 respectively, such 24 as two conventional thermal paper printers. In this 25 embodient, it may occur that the current roll of 26. thermal paper is used up in the course of reception. 27 Preferably, therefore, more than one printer is 28 provided and the following steps are carried out if one 29 printer runs out of paper: 30 a. the other printer comes into operation; 31 b. the apparatus automatically makes telephone 32 contact with a service center, using the second 33 telephone line of Fig. 1; and 34 c. speech synthesizer .100 delivers a suitable 35 preprogrammed message over the second telephone line, 36 such as "PAPER OUT IN FAX UNIT NUMBER (SERIAL NUMBER OF 37 FAX UNIT)". 38 It is appreciated that monitor 60 is not an essential component of the facsimile apparatus shown and described herein and alternatively any other method may be employed to instruct the user as to proper use of the apparatus, such as written instructions in a booklet provided with the apparatus and/or an LED display or indicators. It is appreciated that the apparatus shown and described herein is also suitable for implementing a facsimile machine intended for placement in a hotel guest room in communication with the telephone extension of the hotel guest room. Preferably, the apparatus of Fig. 1 is modified by eliminating one of the telephone lines and providing a voice/fax switch associated with the remaining telephone line. User debiting memory 142 of Fig. 1 may also be omitted since debiting of the hotel guest may be handled by the existing hotel system for recording and debiting of telephone services. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather, the scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims that follow: . • .

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A public access facsimile system operative to transmit a document page and comprising: a paper support surface for supporting the document page face upward; an overhead scanner for scanning the document page and transforming it to electronic data form; and a fax modem unit for transmitting the - electronic data to a remote location, wherein the document page remains stationary during scanning. 2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the field of view of the overhead scanner includes the entire document page. 3- A system according to claim 1 or claim 2 and also comprising a physical barrier for preventing user access to the overhead scanner. 4. A system according to claim 3 wherein the physical barrier comprises : an enclosure enclosing the overhead scanner and the paper support surface, the enclosure having a relatively, small opening adjacent the paper support surface and distanced from the overhead scanner to allow a user to position document pages on the paper support surface while simultaneously preventing user access to the overhead scanner. ~ . A system according to any of claims 1 - 4 wherein the scanner comprises a CCD array camera. 6. A system according to any of the preceding claims which is also operative to receive and print a facsimile message, the system also comprising: a fax modem unit for receiving electronic 1 data from a remote. location; and 2 a printing unit for printing the electronic 3 data onto a stationary piece of paper. * 5 7• A public access facsimile system operative to 6 receive and print a facsimile message and comprising: 7 a fax modem unit for receiving electronic 8 data from a remote location; and 9 a printing unit for printing the electronic 0 data onto a stationary piece of paper. 8. A system according to any of the preceding claims and also comprising: a user identification receiver operative to receive and store a user identification code identifying an individual one of a multiplicity of users; a user debiting unit operative to compute a quantity to be debited to the user. 9• system according to any of the preceding claims and also comprising first and second telephone line connections for connecting the system to respective first and second telephone lines. 10. A system according to any of the preceding claims 6 - 9 wherein the printing unit comprises: two printing devices operatively associated with two respective depletable paper supplies; and a printer control circuit operative to actuate one of the printing devices when the other of the printing devices runs out of paper. 11. A public access facsimile system operative to receive and print a facsimile message and comprising: a fax modem unit for receiving electronic data from a remote location; and a printing unit for printing the electronic data onto paper and comprising: two printing devices operatively associated with two respective depletable paper supplies; and a printer control circuit operative to actuate one of the printing devices when the other of the printing devices runs out of paper. 12. A facsimile system according to any of the preceding claims and also comprising means for associating the system with a guest telephone use recording system in a hotel, comprising: a voice/fax switch; and means for associating the system with the guest telephone use recording system. 13« A system according to claim 12 wherein the high resolution monitor comprises a CRT monitor. 14. A system according to claim 12 wherein the high resolution monitor comprises an LCD monitor. 15. A system according to any of claims 12-15 and also including means for modifying contrast of the elctronically stored image in accordance with input received from a viewer thereof.

Inventors: CARMON AMIRAM, CARMON, AMIRAM
Applicants: TELEMOND HK LTD, TELEMOND (H.K.) LTD.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: H04N1
IPC codes: G07F7, G07F17, H04N1