Facsimile apparatus for accounting for supplies used in receiving facsimile transmissions

• US 5,251,044 A
• Filed: 08/27/1991
• Issued: 10/05/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vitatron Medical BV, Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Ikegaya, Tadahiko
• Primary Examiner(s): BRINICH, STEPHEN M
• Application Number:
  US07/750,479
• Time in Patent Office: 770 Days
• Field of Search: 358/402-403, 358/440
• US Class Current: 358/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32117 in a separate transmission or protocol signal prior to or subsequent to the image data transmission, e.g. in digital identification signal [DIS], in non standard setup [NSS] or in non standard field [NSF] for mode signalling H04N1/333
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/34 for coin-freed systems ; Pay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3207 of an address
• 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 2201/3274 Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information

Abstract

An amount of an expendable supply, e.g., recording sheets, of a facsimile machine consumed in each reception of transmission is detected, and accumulated/stored for each user based on a sub-address included in a SETUP sent from a caller. Consumption amounts of a plurality of expendable supplies may be detected and accumulated/stored for each item of the supplies.

Claims

1. A facsimile apparatus connected to an ISDN network for use by a plurality of users having associated party sub-addresses or party numbers, comprising:

means for identifying a user in receipt of a facsimile transmission received by the facsimile apparatus based on a called party sub-address or called party number transmitted from a caller;

means for storing an accumulated consumption amount of an expandable supply of the facsimile apparatus for each of the users receiving facsimile transmission from a caller;

means for detecting a consumption amount of the expendable supply consumed in connection with each facsimile transmission received by the facsimile apparatus; and

means for updating the accumulated consumption amount of the identified user in receipt of the facsimile transmission based on the detected consumption amount.

3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when no called party sub-address or called party number is transmitted, the updating means updates the accumulated consumption amount of a sub-address or number representing receiver-unspecified transmission.

2. A facsimile apparatus connected to an IDSN network for use by a plurality of users having associated party sub-addresses or party numbers, comprising:

means for identifying a user in receipt of a facsimile transmission received by the facsimile apparatus based on a called party sub-address or called party number transmitted from a caller;

means for storing respective accumulated consumption amounts of a plurality of expendable supplies of the facsimile apparatus for each of the users receiving facsimile transmissions from a caller;

means for detecting a kind of the plurality of expendable supplies and a consumption amount of the detected kind consumed in connection with each facsimile transmission received by the facsimile apparatus; and

means for updating the accumulated consumption amount of the detected kind and of the identified user in receipt of a facsimile transmission received by the facsimile apparatus based on the detected consumption amount.