Network scanner

• US 8,892,655 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2003
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sakiyama, Masahiro, Nagai, Yusuke
• Primary Examiner(s): BIAGINI, CHRISTOPHER D
• Application Number:
  US10/702,811
• Publication Number:
  US 20040093386A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,031 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00236 using an image reading or reproducing device, e.g. a facsimile reader or printer, as a local input to or local output from a computer image input to or image output from a computer via a network H04N1/00209
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00241 using an image reading device as a local input to a computer input via network, e.g. network scanners H04N1/00225
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32122 in a separate device, e.g. in a memory or on a display separate from image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32368 Functions of a still picture terminal memory associated with transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0081 Image reader H04N2201/0091 - H04N2201/0094 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3204 of data relating to a user, sender, addressee, machine or electronic recording medium H04N2201/3256 and subgroups take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3214 of a date
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3216 of a job size, e.g. a number of images, pages or copies, size of file, length of message
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3222 of processing required or performed, e.g. forwarding, urgent or confidential handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3274 Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3295 Deletion of stored data; Preventing such deletion

Abstract

A network scanner for transmitting image data as read from a document, which has been stored in a predetermined memory includes: a transmission part specifying means for specifying a part of the image data to be transmitted to said terminal(s); and specified data transmission means for transmitting the part of the image data as specified by the transmission part specifying means to the terminal(s). According to the foregoing structure, the load on communicating can be significantly reduced.

Claims

1. A network scanner comprising a memory,

wherein the network scanner is configured to transmit image data to one or a plurality of terminal(s) which is(are) connected with a network, and the image data is obtained by reading from a document and then storing the image data in said memory, and said network scanner further comprises:

a transmission part specifying section that specifies a part of the image data to be transmitted to said terminal(s);

a transmission section that transmits the part of the image data specified by the transmission part specifying section to said terminals; and

a terminal request processing section that receives a request from said terminal(s), which has(have) received the part of the image data specified by the transmission part specifying section, and

(i) determines whether or not the request indicates deletion, and upon determining that the request indicates deletion, causes the deletion of the image data from the memory, and

(ii) determines whether or not the request indicates transmission, and upon determining that the request indicates transmission, causes said transmission section to transmit

(a) a remaining part of the image data or

(b) a whole of the image data to said terminal(s),

wherein an entire image data of a whole document is not transmitted to said terminal(s) as a pre-scanned image data;

wherein the image data is sent to said terminal(s) for the first time after the part of the read image data to be transmitted is specified; and

wherein the network scanner transmits to said terminal(s), along with the part of the read image data as specified, a query about a remaining unspecified part of the read image data.

2. The network scanner as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said transmission part specifying section specifies the transmitted part of the image data by automatically specifying page(s) of the document.

3. The network scanner as set forth in claim 2, wherein:

said transmission part specifying section specifies the transmitted part of the image data by specifying a predetermined number of pages from the first page of the document.

4. The network scanner as set forth in claim 2, wherein:

said transmission part specifying section automatically sets a page among all the pages of the scanned data, on which an image is formed using a largest number of colors as the transmission part of the image data.

5. The network scanner as set forth in claim 2, wherein:

said transmission part specifying section automatically sets a page with an image of a largest data size as the transmitted part of the image data.

6. The network scanner as set forth in claim 2, wherein:

said transmission part specifying section automatically sets data in a predetermined amount from the top of the image data as the transmitted part of the image data.

7. The network scanner as set forth in claim 2, wherein:

said transmission part specifying section automatically sets data on page(s) from the first page, in which an amount of scanned data as specified can be stored, as the transmitted part of the image data.

8. The network scanner as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

the specified data transmission section transmits the part of the image data as specified by said transmission part specifying section only when the image data are to be transmitted to a plurality of terminals of the receiving ends, more than a predetermined pages of the image data are to be transmitted, or the volume of the entire image data is more than a predetermined amount, and otherwise transmits all the image data to the terminal(s).

9. The network scanner as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

storage limit setting software for setting the storage limit of the image data; and

deletion software for deleting the image data from the memory after the data storage limit.

10. The network scanner as set forth in claim 9, wherein:

said terminal request processing section causes a transmission of either the remaining scanned data or all the scanned data before the image data are deleted by said deletion software.

11. The network scanner as set forth in claim 1, which communicates with said terminal(s) by e-mail.