The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 12, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 02, 1995
Dirk Hughes-Hartogs, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Apparatus for efficiently routing facsimiles to and from a plurality of facsimile devices (62, 64, 66). At least one BRI line (16) is coupled to several ISDN terminals (21-28). At least one multiplexer (31, 32) is coupled to the outputs of the terminals (21-28). A fax server (50) is coupled to the outputs of the multiplexers (31, 32), typically via fax process computers (41, 42). Coupled to the fax server (50) are a plurality of facsimile devices (62, 64, 66), each having a unique fax number. A given facsimile device (62, 64, 66) may send or receive more than one facsimile simultaneously by means of programming its fax number into more than one terminal (21-28) address. A terminal (21-28) may be coupled to more than one multiplexer (31, 32). Multiple BRI lines (16) may be used. The fax server (50) preferably contains an incoming generic module (51) that interacts with all incoming facsimiles, an incoming specific module (53) that interacts with facsimiles destined for selected ones of the facsimile devices (62, 64, 66), an outgoing generic module (52) that interacts with all outgoing facsimiles, and an outgoing specific module (54) that interacts with outgoing facsimiles that emanate from selected ones of the facsimile devices (62, 64, 66).