Patent · US Expired

Facsimile device with user-friendly automatic receive mode

US5815285A · kind A · utility

2Cited by
3References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 22, 1996
Grant dateSep 29, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 22, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N1/32752
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A facsimile machine is provided with only two receive modes: "Auto Answer" and as "Manual". In the Auto Answer mode the device will automatically receive incoming facsimiles and in the Manual mode it will not. The Auto Answer mode allows the user to automatically receive facsimile calls on either a dedicated facsimile line or a line shared with any other receiving device such as a telephone or answering machine. Since several receive modes have been collapsed into a single mode that may be used for all configurations, the user simply controls the behavior he desires by turning Auto Answer mode ON or OFF (i.e., Auto Answer mode must be ON for the facsimile to eavesdrop, or to answer the call when nothing else answers), with Auto Answer OFF being equivalent to Manual mode ON, and vice versa. In Auto Answer mode, "eavesdropping" for a CNG sequence is enabled for all incoming calls answered by another device, and "silent detection" is enabled for at least those devices which are connected in series with ("downstream" from) the facsimile. In order to support users who are accustomed to change the receive mode setting each time they receive a facsimile, the facsimile device is preferably…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.