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:
Nov. 30, 1999
Filed:
Jan. 22, 1997
Kan Ito, Machida, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention aims to facilitate the maintenance inspection for the communications terminal and the communications system. A fault detection unit 24 monitors the communication line and each terminal unit, and upon detecting a malfunction, the fault information is immediately output to a fault information recording unit 26. The fault information recording unit 26 stores and records fault information from the fault detection unit 24. It operates to only record the fault conditions on the fault information recording unit 26 in the case of the slight fault, or record the fault conditions on the fault information recording unit 26 and automatically call the preregistered service office to notify its fault conditions in the case of the heavy fault which may hinder the television conference in performance. The fault information recording unit 26 automatically calls the registered service office periodically, e.g., once a week, to notify the fault information recorded after the previous call. When making the television conference between three or more points, the multi-point connection control unit 60 is also provided with a fault detecting unit and a fault information recording unit.