JPH1055370A - Map printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the map printer which can retrieve map data at high speed and output it. SOLUTION: When a recognition number (symbol) is inputted as a key word from a retrieval item input part, an input area decision part 221 decides whether or not the input area corresponding to the recognition number is in off-line data bases 223 and 224 according to the inputted recognition number. When it is decided that the input area is in the off-line data bases 223 and 224, a data composition processing part 222 retrieves map data by using the off-line data bases 223 and 224 and puts the retrieved data together after this retrieval. The composite data are printed on recording paper (print form) by a print engine part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a commercial map printer which can be used by an unspecified number of people to obtain a desired map.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the invention relating to this type of apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-11693 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-165.
The invention described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 401 and the like is known. The invention disclosed in JP-A-5-11693 is a system capable of obtaining a road map by a facsimile machine, and in this case, a map to which a location under construction or traffic congestion information at each time is added. It is. Also, the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-165401 can automate a map search using a telephone number from a contact as a search key, and can quickly present a detailed map and character information of a contact to a receiver. It is a map search system.

[0003]

However, all of the conventional apparatuses are configured to search the map database on the center side by communication through a telephone line. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that it takes a long time to transmit and receive the map database in a time zone with a large traffic. Further, if the data in the map database is fixed, the search / output processing becomes faster, but there is an inconvenience that it is difficult to follow a change in the data.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a map printer capable of searching and outputting map data at high speed. A second object of the present invention is to provide a map printer which can search and output map data at high speed and can prevent the search range from being reduced. A third object of the present invention is to provide a map printer designed to improve data updating efficiency. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a map printer which makes it easy to grasp the latest map information.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a map database for storing map data in a surrounding area where a map printer is installed, a specifying means for specifying a search area, and a specifying means for specifying the search area Determining means for determining whether or not the map data of the searched search area is in the map database, and when the determination means determines that the map data of the designated search area is in the map database, By providing a search means for searching the map data from the map database, and an output means for outputting the map data searched by the search means,
The first object is achieved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the map printer according to the first aspect, there is provided communication means for exchanging data with a central database storing map data of all areas to be searched, and When the means determines that the designated search area is not in the map database, the map data of the designated search area is searched in the central database through the communication means, and the search result is output by the output means. By doing so, the second object is achieved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the map printer of the first aspect, communication means for exchanging data with a central database storing map data of all areas to be searched, and the central database. When there is an update in the content of the map data, during a time period when the communication volume is small, in accordance with the update, by updating the content of the map database via the communication means,
The third object is achieved. In the invention according to claim 4,
2. The map printer according to claim 1, wherein a history of the latest update data of the map database is managed in the map database, and when output by the output unit, the color or density is different from the data of other parts. By doing so, the fourth object is achieved.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a map printer according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a map printer and a central database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the map printer.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the data processing creating unit shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the map printer 2 is connected via a communication line 3 to a central database 1 installed at an information providing center for providing map information. You. The central database 1
It has map data of all areas (all areas) to be searched, and processing such as data update and search described later is performed on the central database 1. The central database 1 is used by connecting to a computer for updating and searching data, but is omitted in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the map printers 2 installed in various places include a search item input unit 21, a data processing creation unit 22,
And a print engine unit 23. In addition, the map printer 2 may add a data display unit (not shown) for displaying data.

As shown in FIG. 3, the data processing creating section 22 includes an input area determining section 221 and a data synthesizing processing section 222.
, Destination database 223 and map database 2
24 and a communication control device 225. The input area determination unit 221 determines an area input from the search item input unit 21. The data synthesis processing unit 222 performs a search, synthesis of the searched content, and outputs the synthesized content to the print engine unit 23.

The destination database 223 and the map database 224 have only data around the area where the map printer 2 is installed, and are used as off-line databases. This database is a subset of the central database 1. The destination database 223 and the map database 224 are stored in a removable storage device such as a readable and writable CD-ROM or a fixed storage device. The contents of the database of the map printer 2 are not limited to the destination database 223 and the map database 224. The communication control device 225 is connected to the central database 1 via the communication line 3, and smoothly and reliably exchanges data during communication.

Next, an example of a search operation of map data in the map printer 2 thus configured will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the user searches the map data, the user inputs the search item input section 2
The recognition number (symbol) from 1 is input as a keyword.
Based on the input identification number, the input area determination unit 2
21 determines whether or not the input area corresponding to the identification number is in the offline database (step 1).
The above identification numbers have a hierarchical structure such as, for example, the area code and the local area code of telephone numbers, so that it can be easily determined whether or not the search area is in the offline database.

As a result of the above determination, when the input area is in the offline database, the data synthesizing processing unit 222 searches for map data using the offline database (destination database 223 and map database 224). After this search, the search data is combined (step 2). The combined data is printed by the print engine unit 23 on a recording sheet (print sheet) in the form of a map. On the other hand, if the result of the determination indicates that the input area is not in the offline database, the communication control device 2
25, an online search for map data is performed by the central database 1 via the central database 25, and the searched data is synthesized (step 3). The composite data is printed by a print engine unit 23 on a recording sheet (print sheet) in the form of a map.

With the above-described search processing, in the case of an offline search, search and data synthesis are performed from the databases 203 and 204 in the individual map printers 2.
Compared to online search performed via a communication line, the time for performing communication can be omitted, and thus search / output can be performed at high speed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the search is online, the search / output can be performed without limitation of the area, although it takes a little time since the search for the map data which does not exist in each map printer can be performed.

Next, the operation of the map printer 2 for updating the data of its own destination database 223 and the map database 224 when the contents of the central database 3 are updated will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. I do. In this case, a time zone in which the communication volume between the central database 1 and each map printer 2 is small is set in advance, and when the set time comes (step 11), the communication control device 225 transmits the data via the communication line 3. The data in the central database 1 is periodically checked (inquired) for update status (step 12). As a result, when the data is updated, the data relating to the update is transferred to the map printer 2, and the data in the destination database 223 and the map database 224 are updated (step 13). By such a data updating process, even if the database is normally an offline database, the trouble of updating the data can be saved. In addition, by limiting the communication time, efficient communication can be performed by selecting a time with a small amount of communication. The search input unit 21
A data update command input unit is provided as an additional function, and in addition to the above-described periodic data update, when a user instructs an update command from the data update command input unit as needed (step 14), the instruction is issued. , The data may be updated as described above.

The database of the map printer 2 is as follows:
As shown in FIG. 3, it is divided into a destination database 223 and a map database 224, or FIG.
As shown in (B), the inside of each of the destination database 223 and the map database 224 is divided and managed. As a result, the amount of information of each database and block is reduced, and only the part of the database that has actually been updated in the light of the central database 1 is updated by communication, thereby reducing the amount of communication at the time of updating. Because you can. Here, when the contents of the large-scale database are changed, the contents are not limited to the change of the database by communication, and the CD-ROM of the database attached to each map printer 2 is used.
This may be dealt with by exchanging the information.

Next, when map data is output by the map printer 2, a portion relating to the latest update data of the map database 224 is output by changing the color or density of the updated portion. This will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, for example, the history of the update data is managed in the map database 224. For the data that has been updated most recently, the color or density of the updated portion is changed from the other portions when the map data is output. Output. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, the roads and landmarks that were made latest with reference to the history information in the map database 224 are classified by color or density with other roads and landmarks, and the data synthesis processing unit 222 is classified. Are synthesized, and the synthesis result is printed and output by the print engine unit 23. According to such a print output, even in a place that was known in the past, its change can be easily grasped, which is useful for easily grasping the place.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an off-line database can be used for a search within a target area at a location where a map printer is installed, so that a high-speed search can be performed. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since search items outside the target range of the map printer can be used in the online database, the searchable range is not narrowed. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the data is updated during a time period when the traffic is small, so that the efficiency of the data update can be improved. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the latest map data is output so as to be different in color or density from other parts, so that the latest map information can be easily grasped.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a map printer and a central database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the map printer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a data processing creation unit illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a search operation of the map printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of updating a database of the map printer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating division management in a map printer database.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a print output example of a map printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Central database 2 Map printer 3 Communication line 21 Search item input part 22 Data processing creation part 23 Print engine part 221 Input area determination part 222 Data synthesis processing part 223 Destination database 224 Map database 225 Communication control device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A map database for storing map data in a peripheral area where a map printer is installed, a designating means for designating a search area, and map data of the search area designated by the designating means are stored in the map database. Determining means for determining whether or not the map data exists in the map database; and when the determining means determines that the map data of the designated search area is in the map database, a search for searching the map data from the map database. A map printer comprising: means for outputting map data retrieved by the retrieval means. 2. A communication system for transmitting and receiving data to and from a central database storing map data of all areas to be searched, wherein the determining means does not include the specified search area in the map database. 2. The map printer according to claim 1, wherein when the determination is made, the map data of the designated search area is searched in the central database through the communication means, and the search result is output by the output means. 3. A communication means for exchanging data with a central database storing map data of all areas to be searched, and when the contents of the central database are updated,
The map printer according to claim 1, further comprising: updating means for updating the contents of the map database via the communication means in response to the update during a time period when the communication volume is small. 4. The latest update data of the map database is managed in a history in the map database, and when output by the output means, the color or density is different from the data of other parts. The map printer according to claim 1, wherein: