JPS63100859A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To recognize the communication operating state of a data communication equipment via a telephone set by transferring and displaying information relating to the communication by a data communication equipment to a telephone set via a data communication means between a telephone set and the data communication equipment. CONSTITUTION:A control section 54 controls the operation of telephone sets 4, 6 and 8 in addition to the communication of a facsimile equipment totally and a data is sent between the facsimile equipment and the telephone set as required to couple the function of the telephone set and the facsimile equipment. The information obtained during facsimile transmission such as the telephone number of an opposite telephone number, its abbreviation and communication mode is sent as required to the telephone set via a signal line 52a and displayed on the display section 82 of the telephone set or the communication is intermitted or continued via the keyboard 84 of the telephone set.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [& Further Fields of Application] The present invention relates to a communication device, and particularly to a communication device configured by connecting a telephone and a data communication device that performs data communication of a predetermined method to a predetermined communication line. It is.

[Prior Art] As a communication system as described above, a system is known in which a plurality of telephones and non-voice communication devices such as facsimile machines are connected to a plurality of telephone lines as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, reference numerals 2a and 2b indicate two telephone lines (office lines) connected to the main device 2. This main device allows three pushbutton dial telephones4.6.
8, and the facsimile device 10 through two telephone lines 2a.
, 2b as desired.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The illustrated telephone is not a device that can be independently connected to a line, but rather a circuit that performs line control such as making and receiving calls, a communication path,
A power supply unit and the like are included in the main device 2. The main device 2 automatically controls the transmission and reception of each telephone.

On the other hand, in many cases, the facsimile machine 2tlO can be connected to the line independently, and when it is connected to the line together with the communication system consisting of the above-mentioned telephone Ia4.6.8 and the main device 2, the unillustrated parts are Therefore, the signal line 10a that connects the facsimile machine 10 and the main device 2 is a pair of communication lines only, and the signal line 10a that connects each telephone and the main device 2 is used. The signal lines 4a, 6a, and 8a were composed of a communication line and two pairs of lines for power supply and control.

In such conventional systems, the functionality is limited to simply connecting the facsimile device 2 to the main device of the telephone as described above, and making calls using the facsimile communication line when the facsimile device is not in use. Moreover, the facsimile machine can only be used by itself by being directly connected to a central office line, and since it has the same line control function as the main unit 2, it cannot be said to be an economical communication system.

It can be said that there is no functional connection between the telephone system and the facsimile machine, and it has been impossible to control the facsimile machine from the telephone side. Therefore, when performing facsimile communication, the operator must move from his or her desk where the telephone is installed to the facsimile machine. Even without actually communicating, it is necessary to move to the location where the facsimile device is installed in order to check whether the device is receiving image data or whether the transmission operation has been completed.

The above problems are common even if the communication device connected to the telephone line and the telephone line is a data communication device other than a facsimile machine.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a communication system configured by connecting a telephone and a data communication device that performs data communication of a predetermined method to a predetermined communication line. In the apparatus, a data communication means is provided between the telephone and the data communication device, and information related to communication operations by the data communication device is transferred to the telephone through the data communication means, and the information is displayed and output by the telephone. Adopted.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the communication status of the data communication device connected to the telephone can be displayed and output on the telephone near the operator, so the operator does not have to go to the trouble of moving to the data communication device. It is possible to know the communication status of the data communication device without having to do so.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings. However, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding members as in the conventional example, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a communication system employing the present invention.As shown in the figure, two telephone lines 2a and 2b are connected to a line control device 12.The line control device 12 according to the present embodiment In this case, it is integrated with the facsimile device (which may be another non-voice terminal device). That is, the line control device 12 is a line control section of a facsimile machine, and is also a telephone 4.6.8 similar to the main device of Fig.
The entire operation of the telephone 4 includes the control 8i functions, including the transmitter section for outside calls, speed dialing, on-footer dialing function, hands-free calling, common-line calling, forwarding function, and other known calling functions. In this embodiment, the facsimile apparatus and the accompanying functions are controlled by a control section, which will be described later, on the facsimile machine side.

In this way, by performing line control for the telephone and facsimile devices by a common line control unit, the functions of the facsimile device and each telephone are organically combined as described below.
For example, it becomes possible to display information obtained through facsimile communication on a display device of a telephone, and to control the operation of a facsimile machine from the telephone.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of FIG. 1 in more detail.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 20a is a telephone line, and a line switching device 20 comprising an analog switch or the like is connected to this line.

The line switching device 20 has a telephone 4.6.8 as a voice terminal.
are connected via signal lines 4a, 6a, and 8a. As a non-voice terminal, a facsimile communication system after the high predetermined circuit 28 is connected via a signal line 20b.

The control unit 54 controls the switching operation of the line switching device 20 via the signal line 54a. Data "0" to "3" are sent to the line switching device 2, and the line 20a is connected to either the hybrid circuit 28 or the telephone 4.6 or 8 according to each data value.

The control unit 54 controls the entire operation of the facsimile machine and the telephone, and performs the control according to a program, which will be described later, stored in the ROM 54r.

The facsimile machine after the hybrid circuit is configured as follows.

First, the hybrid circuit 28 connected to the line switching device 2 via the signal line 20b is used to separate transmitted and received signals. The transmission signal is input from the signal line 38a,
The received signal is output via signal line 28a. The transmission system is composed of an adder circuit 38, a modulator 36, and an image transmitting section designated by reference numerals 30, 32, and 34.

The adding circuit 38 is for adding procedural signals or image signals inputted from the modulator 36 and the modulator 34 via the signal lines 34a and 36a.

The modulator 36 modulates the transmission procedure signal input from the control unit 54 via the signal line 54d using a modulation method that conforms to CCITT recommendation V21.

The reading circuit 30 is composed of a CCD sensor, etc., and reads the bubbled image signal to the encoding circuit 3 via a signal line 30a.
Send to 2. The encoding circuit 32 is a circuit for redundancy suppression, and compresses the image signal using a known encoding method such as the MH (Modified Huffman) method, and the compressed image signal is sent to the modulator 34 via a signal line 32a. send to

The modulator 34 is CCITT recommendation v27ter or v
The image signal is modulated using a modulation method that conforms to the standard No. 29.

On the other hand, a demodulator 40 connected to the signal line 28a demodulates the received procedural signal using a demodulation method compatible with the modulator 36. The demodulated procedural signal is input to the control unit 54 via the signal line 40a. Ru.

The received image signal is demodulated, decoded, and recorded by an image signal receiving unit indicated by reference numerals 42, 44, and 46.

Reference numeral 42 demodulates the image signal using a demodulation method corresponding to the modulation method of the modulator 34. The image signal is decoded using a decoding method corresponding to the demodulated signal, and the decoded signal is sent from the signal line 44a to the recording circuit 46. Output. The recording circuit 46 is configured using a thermal printer or the like.

Facsimile circuit and telephone set shown above 4.6.8
Line control is controlled by the control circuit 54 by each block shown in the left half of the figure.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a circuit that detects an incoming call by detecting a predetermined signal such as a calling signal, and is connected to the line 20a, and the incoming call detected by this circuit is notified to the control circuit 54 via the signal line 22a.

Reference numeral 24 generates a hold tone audio signal to be sent to the other party via the line 20a during line switching. code 2
6 sends a dial signal of a predetermined method such as a dial tone or dial pulse to the line 20a when calling the other party.
This is a circuit for sending data to. The operations of the hold tone generation circuit 24 and the dial signal transmission circuit 26 are controlled by the control section 54 via signal lines 54b and 54c, respectively.

In FIG. 2, signal lines 4a, 6a, and 8a are different from the previous example in that they are lines for transmitting and receiving voice signals for telephone calls. In this embodiment, power is supplied to the telephone 4°6.8. This is done by the power supply circuit 48.

Further, data transmission for combining control of the telephone 4.6.8 and the facsimile device is controlled by a data transmission control device 52 composed of elements such as PPI. Data input/output between data transmission control device 52 and control device 54 is performed via signal line 52b. On the other hand, phone 4.6
．． Data transmission and power supply between the signal line 8 and the data transmission device 52 are performed via the signal line 52a (double a). The data transmission control circuit 52 and the control circuit 54 operate in synchronization with a clock generated by a timing generation circuit 50 composed of a clock generator or the like.

In this embodiment, information related to the facsimile communication status will be considered as information exchanged by the data communication means between the telephone and the facsimile device as described above. In particular, in this embodiment, in order to clearly indicate that the facsimile communication has ended, it is necessary to check whether the received image information has arrived or not.
Alternatively, it is assumed that information indicating whether all of the transmitted originals have been used and is present at the ejection position is transferred to the telephone set 4.6.8 and displayed on the telephone 4.6.8.

For this reason, in this embodiment, the control unit 54 is provided with a detection circuit 29 for detecting the presence or absence of a transmitted document and a detection circuit 47 for detecting the presence or absence of a received image. A detection element using a photosensor or the like of the sent original detection circuit 29 is provided at the original ejection position of the reading circuit 30 or the like. Further, the received image detection circuit is provided at a position where recorded recording paper is discharged from the recording circuit 46 or the like. When using a reception method in which the received image is not recorded but written in a memory or the like, the same function as the detection circuit 47 can be realized by identifying whether the received image is stored in the image memory using a flag or the like. Can be done.

Each detection information obtained by the above detection circuit is transferred to the telephone 4.6.8 via the data transmission control circuit 52 and the signal line 52a, and is output for display.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of telephones 4.6 to 8.

Signal lines 4a and 6 connected to the line switching circuit 20 in FIG.
a to 8a are connected to a line control circuit 70. The signal lines 4a, 6a, to 8a are connected to a telephone circuit 72, a signal tone generation circuit 76 that generates a ring tone, or a speaker circuit used for noise-free calls, etc., via any of the signal lines 70b, 76a, and 70c. 78.

The telephone circuit 72 is composed of a sound protection circuit, a speech network circuit, etc., and is connected to the handset 7 via a signal 872a.
Connected to 4. On the other hand, the signal line 52a for data transmission and power supply is connected to a power supply circuit 80 that supplies power to each circuit of the telephone and a data transmission control circuit 88. The data transmission control circuit 88 is a PPI similar to the one described above.
It is composed of elements such as.

A control unit 92 of the telephone, which is composed of a microcomputer or the like, controls the operation of the entire telephone. Data transmission between the data transmission control circuit 88 and the control section 92 is performed using a signal @9.
This is done via 0e.

In the control unit 92, a keyboard 84 including a numeric keypad and the like is connected to the signal line 9 for inputting a telephone number when making a call.
Connected via 2. The keyboard 84 is provided with start and stop keys used for remote control of the facsimile machine.

In addition, the input telephone number or the signal line 52a can be displayed.
A display unit 82 composed of a liquid crystal display or the like to display data transferred from the facsimile device side via the
is connected to the control unit 92 via the signal line 92b.
The display section 82 can also be used to monitor the operation of the facsimile machine.For example, the telephone number, abbreviation, etc. of the other party obtained during facsimile communication can be inputted from the signal line 52a and displayed on the display section 38. 0 display section 8
2 is used to display both information related to the operation of the telephone and information related to the operation of the facsimile machine. In order to display these information, the display area of the display unit 82 is
Display control such as dividing or alternately switching the display can be considered.

Furthermore, lamp circuits 86 and 88 made up of light-emitting elements such as LEDs are connected to signal lines 94d and 88 to display the results of detection of the presence or absence of transmitted documents and received images detected on the facsimile machine side, or the status of transmission and reception operations. 94f, respectively. Here, reference numeral 86 is a transmission lamp that indicates the presence or absence of a transmitted document, and 88 is a reception lamp that indicates the presence or absence of a received image.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Figures 4 and 5 are the second
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of the control procedure of the control unit 54.94 in FIG. The procedure shown in FIG.
is stored in the ROM 54r. The control procedure of the control section 94 of the telephone is stored in the ROM 94r of the control section 94 as a program.

In addition to the communication operations of the facsimile device, the control section 54 comprehensively controls the operations of the telephone 4.6.8, and also transmits data between the facsimile device and the telephone as necessary to adjust the functions of the telephone and the facsimile device. combine the functions of Here, the description will focus on control for displaying the telephone number to indicate the presence or absence of a transmitted document or a received image based on the detection operation of the detection circuit 29.47.

In the reset operation of steps 5102 and 5104 in FIG. 4, the control unit 54 turns off the transmitting and receiving lamps 86,88 of the telephone 4.6.8. This light-off control is performed by transmitting a light-off command via the data transmission control circuit 52 and the signal line 52a. Processing on the telephone side based on reception of this lights-off command will be described later.

Next, in step 3106, it is determined via the document presence/absence detection circuit 29 whether or not there is a transmitted document on the document discharge table. If there is a document, the process moves to step Sl 10, and if there is no document, in step 5108, a command to turn off the transmission lamp 86 is sent to the telephone as in step 5102.

In step 5iio, the received original detection circuit 47 determines whether there is a recording paper on which the received image is recorded on the recording paper base or whether there is received image data in the image memory.

If there is a received image, the process moves to step 5114, and if there is no image, a command to turn off the reception lamp 88 is sent to the telephone in step 5112.

In steps 5114.124, it is determined whether facsimile transmission or reception is selected, respectively. This determination is made by checking the operation status of the operation panel of the facsimile machine (not shown). If neither transmission nor reception is selected, the process returns to step 5106. If transmission is selected, the process moves to step 5116, and if reception is selected, the process moves to step 5126.

In step 5116, a command to turn on the transmitting lamp 86 is sent to the telephone to turn on the transmitting lamp 86.

Next, in step 5118, each part of the facsimile machine is controlled in response to the operation to perform a facsimile transmission operation. Information obtained during this facsimile transmission, such as the telephone number of the other party, communication mode 1, etc., is necessary. Accordingly, the information is sent to the telephone via the signal line 52a and is displayed on the display section 82 of the telephone, or control is received via the keyboard 84 of the telephone to interrupt or continue the communication operation.

The step 5120 is a step for determining whether facsimile transmission has been completed. If the transmission has been completed, the process moves to step 5122 and a blinking command is sent to the telephone to make the transmission lamp 86 blink.

On the other hand, if the facsimile reception operation is designated, in step 5126 a command to turn on the reception lamp is sent to the telephone to turn on the reception lamp 88 .

In step 5128, a facsimile reception operation is performed.
Even during this facsimile reception, the information obtained during communication is sent to the telephone as necessary and displayed on the display section 82 of the telephone, or the communication operation is interrupted or continued via the telephone keyboard 84. accept.

Step 5130 is a step for determining whether facsimile reception has ended. If the reception is finished, the process moves to step 5132, and a blinking command is sent to the telephone to make the reception lamp 88 blink.

On the other hand, on the telephone FI4.6, 8 side, the transmitted and received lamp lighting control commands are processed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

Steps 5142, 5146, and 5150 in FIG.
This is a step of detecting commands for turning off, blinking, and turning on the light.

Each of the command detection steps described above is sequentially connected in the negative direction, and only when one of the steps is positive, executes the execution steps connected in the positive direction. That is, the transmitting lamp and the receiving lamp are turned on, turned off, or blinked depending on the detection step.

The execution steps corresponding to each detection step are steps 5144.5148.5152.5156.5160
．． It is 5164. Control passes after the final execution step 5164 if the execution step has been performed.

After the detection and execution loop constituted by steps 5142 to 5164 described above is completed, other operation controls are performed in step 5166.

Here, the keyboard 84 is used to make a call, control a young call, or remotely control a facsimile machine.

As described above, the line control functions of a telephone and a facsimile machine, which have conventionally been provided in duplicate, can be configured by a common circuit, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Also,
The functions of a facsimile machine and the function of a telephone, which were previously independent, are now interconnected, and information can be mutually exchanged and displayed from a telephone to a facsimile machine or vice versa. This allows an operator to monitor and control the operation of a facsimile machine without having to move near the facsimile machine.

Particularly, in this embodiment, the transmission lamp of the telephone is lit during facsimile transmission, and when the transmission is completed and the transmitted document is ejected onto the document table, the transmission lamp of the telephone flashes. Further, control is performed so that the reception lamp of the telephone turns on during facsimile reception, and blinks when reception is completed and a received image is prepared in the memory or recording paper base.

Such control allows the operator to monitor communication operations of a facsimile machine located at a remote location while remaining at his or her desk. According to the above control, the operator can collect the transmitted original or received image immediately after transmission or reception is completed. It is also possible to know via the telephone whether or not the facsimile machine is in use.

In the above description, a lamp circuit is used to indicate the communication status on the telephone side, but a liquid crystal display or the like may be used for display output.

In the above, a facsimile device is connected as a non-voice terminal device along with a telephone, and the telephone is controlled by the line control unit of the facsimile device. The same technique as above can be implemented even when connecting to a line.

[Effect] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, in a communication device configured by connecting a telephone and a data communication device that performs data communication of a predetermined method to a predetermined communication line,
A data communication means is provided between the telephone and the data communication device, and information related to communication operations by the data communication device is transferred to the telephone through the data communication means, and the information is displayed and output by the telephone. Therefore, the communication operating status of the data communication device can be known through the telephone, and the efficiency of work using the data communication device can be significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication device adopting the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of FIG. 1 in more detail, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the telephone set of FIG. 2. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the control section of the telephone shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the control section of the telephone shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a conventional FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of Tsushin Corporation. 2a, 2b, 20a...-Telephone line 20...Line switching circuit 22...Incoming call detection circuit 24...Hold tone generation circuit 26...Dial signal sending circuit 29...Document presence detection circuit 47 ... Received image presence/absence detection circuit 52.88... Data transmission control circuit 54.92... Control section 74... Handset 82...
・Display section 84... Keyboard figure 6 yg1 figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a communication device configured by connecting a telephone and a data communication device that performs data communication of a predetermined method to a predetermined communication line, a data communication means is provided between the telephone and the data communication device, and a data communication device is provided via the data communication means. A communication device characterized in that information related to communication operations by the data communication device is transferred to the telephone and displayed on the telephone.