Internet facsimile device

• US 6,922,255 B1
• Filed: 01/26/1999
• Issued: 07/26/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Tomida, Wataru
• Primary Examiner(s): Pokrzywa, Joseph R.
• Application Number:
  US09/236,552
• Time in Patent Office: 2,373 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.16, 358/1.18, 358/402, 358/403, 358/407, 358/438, 358/440, 358/442, 358/468, 382/176, 382/179, 382/181, 709/204, 709/206, 709/207
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00217 only involving computer data transmission protocols, e.g. SMTP, WAP or HTTP communication protocol aspects and techniques in packet data networks H04L69/00; network-specific arrangements or communication protocols supporting networked applications H04L67/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0022 involving facsimile protocols or a combination of facsimile protocols and computer data transmission protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32005 Automation of particular receiver jobs, e.g. rejecting unwanted calls requesting a communication from a transmitter H04N1/32771; with picture signal storage for forwarding messages H04N1/32358
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/324 intermediate the transmitter and receiver terminals, e.g. at an exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3226 of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image

Abstract

A facsimile can be transmitted via both the internet and the public network. An image is read from an original document, and image data is generated. The image data is converted into facsimile data, and further corded into e-mail data. The e-mail data is transmitted as a facsimile along with a header via the internet. The header includes a title elected by a user. When a receiving party receives the facsimile via the internet, the receiving party can obtain the general contents of the facsimile and determine its urgency from the title.

Claims

1. An internet facsimile device of a receiving party, comprising:

first receiving means for receiving by the internet facsimile device via an internet at least one set of electronic mail data attached with an electronic mail title;

title reading means for reading the electronic mail title;

title displaying means for displaying the electronic mail title that has been received along with the electronic mail data;

data selecting means for selecting electronic mail data from the at least one set of the electronic mail data based on the electronic mail title;

priority determining means for determining whether or not each one of the at least one set of electronic mail data has a high priority based on a corresponding electronic mail title; and

image forming means for forming an image based on electronic mail data selected by the data selecting means, wherein the internet facsimile device displays the received electronic mail title, and wherein the image forming means forms an image based on the electronic mail data which has been determined to have a high priority, whereby the internet facsimile device prints the image formed by the image forming means automatically without any instructions from a user; and

notifying means for notifying a user when the image forming means forms an image based on the electronic mail data which has been determined to have a high priority.

2. The internet facsimile device according to claim 1, further comprising second receiving means for receiving facsimile data via a public network, and data converting means for converting the at least one set of the electronic mail data into facsimile data, wherein the image forming means forms an image based on the facsimile data received via the public network and on the facsimile data converted from the at least one set of the electronic mail data.

3. The internet facsimile device according to claim 1, further comprising priority determining means for determining whether or not each one of the at least one set of electronic mail data has a high priority based on a corresponding electronic mail title, and notifying means for notifying the user of electronic mail data having the high priority.

4. The internet facsimile device according to claim 1, wherein the priority determining means determines that a priority is high when corresponding electronic mail title contains a predetermined character.

5. A method of controlling an internet facsimile device of a receiving party, comprising the steps of:

receiving electronic mail attached with a header by the internet facsimile device from a remote internet facsimile device, the header including a title;

reading the title from the header;

displaying the title that has been received along with the electronic mail data;

determining whether or not the electronic mail has a high priority based on a corresponding electronic mail title; and

forming an image based on the electronic mail which has been determined to have a high priority, wherein the internet facsimile device displays the received electronic mail title and prints the image formed based on the electronic mail which has been determined to have a high priority automatically without any instructions from a user; and

notifying a user when the image is formed based on the electronic mail data which has been determined to have a high priority.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether or not the electronic mail belongs to a predetermined group based on the title; and

notifying a user of an urgent mail when the electronic mail belongs to the predetermined group.