US6141695A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Email system converts email data to a different format according to processing mode information set in memory in correspondence with post office information
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1997-12-02
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Granted: 2000-10-31
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Expires: 2017-12-02
Abstract
Abstract In a communication apparatus having the function of retrieving electronic mail data from an e-mail server of a local area network or the Internet, a setting function for setting the processing mode of e-mail data in advance and a processing function for automatically processing the e-mail data retrieved by a retrieving function in a processing mode set by the setting function are arranged, so that the retrieved e-mail data can be automatically processed without any operation performed by an operator.
Inventors
- 👤 Kenzou Sekiguchi
- 👤 Toru Maeda
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 14:57
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L51/00; H04L51/06; H04L51/066; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/00127; H04N1/00204; H04N1/00209; H04N2201/00; H04N2201/0008; H04N2201/0015; H04N2201/0065; H04N2201/0067
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
178 words
A communication apparatus for receiving electronic mail (e-mail) data, comprising: a connection circuit adapted for connecting said communication apparatus to a network, the network being one of local area and Internet networks; a setting circuit adapted for setting, in advance of data retrieval, one of a plurality of processing modes of e-mail data which is to be retrieved; a retrieving circuit adapted for retrieving the e-mail data from an e-mail server of the network; a processing circuit adapted for processing the e-mail data retrieved by said retrieving circuit in the processing mode set by said setting circuit; and a memory, wherein said processing circuit converts a format of the e-mail data to another data format, said setting circuit sets processing mode information in said memory in correspondence with post office information of the e-mail server, and said processing circuit reads, from said memory, processing mode information corresponding to a post office from which the e-mail data is retrieved by said retrieving circuit, and processes the e-mail data in a processing mode corresponding to the read processing mode information.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
178 words
A communication apparatus for receiving electronic mail (e-mail) data, comprising: a connection circuit adapted for connecting said communication apparatus to a network, the network being one of local area and Internet networks; a setting circuit adapted for setting, in advance of data retrieval, one of a plurality of processing modes of e-mail data which is to be retrieved; a retrieving circuit adapted for retrieving the e-mail data from an e-mail server of the network; a processing circuit adapted for processing the e-mail data retrieved by said retrieving circuit in the processing mode set by said setting circuit; and a memory, wherein said processing circuit converts a format of the e-mail data to another data format, said setting circuit sets processing mode information in said memory in correspondence with post office information of the e-mail server, and said processing circuit reads, from said memory, processing mode information corresponding to a post office from which the e-mail data is retrieved by said retrieving circuit, and processes the e-mail data in a processing mode corresponding to the read processing mode information.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said processing circuit processes an interpretable part of the e-mail data retrieved by said retrieving circuit.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when the retrieved e-mail data includes data that cannot be interpreted, said processing circuit generates a message indicating a presence of non-interpreted data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a memory, wherein when a memory capacity of the memory is insufficient to receive the e-mail data, said processing circuit generates a message representing that the memory capacity is insufficient and processes header information of the e-mail data.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, when the retrieved e-mail data includes data that cannot be interpreted, or when the memory capacity is insufficient, said communication apparatus does not request the e-mail server to erase the e-mail data.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing modes include a first mode for developing the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent transmission, such that, when in the first mode, said processing circuit converts an interpretable part of the e-mail data retrieved by the retrieving means into image data.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
40 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said processing circuit includes a calling circuit adapted for performing a calling operation to a predetermined communication destination, and a transmitter for transmitting the image data to the destination as facsimile data.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
26 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the calling circuit performs the calling operation according to communication destination information described in the retrieved e-mail data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the calling circuit performs the calling operation according to communication destination information set by said setting circuit.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
59 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the calling circuit performs the calling operation according to communication destination information described in the retrieved e-mail data or communication destination information set by said setting circuit, and uses the communication destination information described in the retrieved e-mail data when the communication destination information is described in the retrieved e-mail data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
55 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing modes include a second mode for developing the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent recording and outputting, such that, when in the second mode, said processing circuit develops an interpretable part of the e-mail data retrieved by the retrieving means into image data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
60 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing modes include a third mode for developing list information of the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent recording and outputting, such that, when in the third mode, said processing circuit forms the list information from the retrieved e-mail data and develops the formed list information into image data.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
43 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said processing circuit extracts information of a header portion of the retrieved e-mail data to form text data of the list information, and converts the formed text data of the list information into image data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
58 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing modes include a fourth mode for developing list information of the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent transmission, such that, when in the fourth mode, said processing circuit forms the list information from the retrieved e-mail data and develops the formed list information into image data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
36 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory stores processing mode information corresponding to a plurality of post offices, and said setting circuit respectively sets different processing information for the plurality of post offices.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
58 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory stores post office information, for respectively accessing post offices opened for users who use the e-mail servers and processing mode information corresponding to the post office information, and said retrieving circuit retrieves e-mail data from the e-mail server according to the post office information stored in said memory.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said memory stores communication destination information to be transmitted as image data.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
23 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said retrieving circuit retrieves e-mail data from the e-mail server according to a manual operation.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
19 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said retrieving circuit periodically retrieves e-mail data from the e-mail server.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
45 words
A communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a generator circuit adapted for generating information representing a processing result of the e-mail data processed by said processing circuit and for notifying a destination that has retrieved the e-mail data of the processing result information.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
141 words
A method of processing electronic mail (e-mail) data, comprising the steps of: connecting to a network, the network being one of local area and Internet networks; setting, in advance of data retrieval, one of a plurality of processing modes of e-mail data that is to be retrieved; retrieving the e-mail data from an e-mail server of the network; and processing the retrieved e-mail data in the set processing mode, wherein said processing step includes converting a format of the e-mail data to another data format, processing mode information is set in a memory in correspondence with post office information of the e-mail server, the processing mode information corresponding to a post office from which the e-mail data is retrieved is read from the memory, and the e-mail data is processed in a processing mode corresponding to the read processing mode information.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
141 words
A method of processing electronic mail (e-mail) data, comprising the steps of: connecting to a network, the network being one of local area and Internet networks; setting, in advance of data retrieval, one of a plurality of processing modes of e-mail data that is to be retrieved; retrieving the e-mail data from an e-mail server of the network; and processing the retrieved e-mail data in the set processing mode, wherein said processing step includes converting a format of the e-mail data to another data format, processing mode information is set in a memory in correspondence with post office information of the e-mail server, the processing mode information corresponding to a post office from which the e-mail data is retrieved is read from the memory, and the e-mail data is processed in a processing mode corresponding to the read processing mode information.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein said processing step processes an interpretable part of the retrieved e-mail data.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method according to claim 22, wherein, when the retrieved e-mail data includes data that cannot be interpreted, said processing step generates a message indicating a presence of non-interpreted data.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method according to claim 23, wherein when a memory capacity of a memory is insufficient to retrieve the e-mail data, a message indicating that the memory capacity is insufficient is generated and said processing step processes header information of the e-mail data.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method according to claim 24, wherein when the e-mail data retrieved from the e-mail server includes data that cannot be interpreted, or when the memory capacity is insufficient, the e-mail server is requested to erase the e-mail data.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein the processing modes include a first mode for developing the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent transmission, such that, when in the first mode, an interpretable part of the retrieved e-mail data is converted into image data.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method according to claim 26, further comprising the step of performing a calling operation to a predetermined communication destination, wherein the image data is transmitted to the destination as facsimile data.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 27, wherein the calling operation is performed according to communication destination information described in the retrieved e-mail data.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method according to claim 27, wherein the calling operation is performed according to communication destination information set in said setting step.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
62 words
A method according to claim 27, wherein the calling operation is performed according to communication destination information described in the retrieved e-mail data or communication destination information set in said setting step, and the calling operation is performed by using the communication destination information described in the retrieved e-mail data when the communication destination information is described in the retrieved e-mail data.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein the processing modes include a second mode for developing the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent recording and outputting, such that, when in the second mode, an interpretable part of the retrieved e-mail data is developed into image data.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
58 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein the processing modes include a third mode for developing list information of the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent recording and outputting, such that, when in the third mode, the list information is formed from the retrieved e-mail data, and the formed list information is developed into image data.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method according to claim 32, wherein said processing step extracts information of a header portion of the retrieved e-mail data to form text data of the list information, and the formed text data of the list information is converted into image data.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
55 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein the processing modes include a fourth mode for developing list information of the retrieved e-mail data into image data for subsequent transmission, such that, when in the fourth mode, the list information is formed from the e-mail data, and the formed list information is developed into image data.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein the memory stores processing mode information corresponding to a plurality of post offices, and said setting step respectively sets different processing information for the plurality of post offices.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
56 words
A method according to claim 35, wherein the memory stores post office information for accessing post offices opened for users who use the e-mail servers and processing mode information corresponding to the post office information, and said retrieving step retrieves e-mail data from the e-mail server according to the post office information stored in the memory.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method according to claim 36, wherein the memory stores communication destination information to be transmitted as image data.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein e-mail data is retrieved from the e-mail server according to a manual operation.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein said retrieving step retrieves e-mail data from the e-mail server.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein information representing a processing result of the processed e-mail data is generated, and the generated processing result information is transmitted to a destination that has retrieved the e-mail data.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-10-31 | 2004-05-01 | 2004-10-31 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-10-31 | 2008-05-01 | 2008-10-31 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-10-31 | 2012-05-01 | 2012-10-31 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |