Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Navigation – Employing position determining equipment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-26
2002-06-18
Camby, Richard M. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Navigation
Employing position determining equipment
C701S208000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06408243
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service delivery system, which provides various services such as repair services and pick-up services (meeting and farewell services) by moving to a specified predetermined position (that is, a delivery destination), in addition to delivery of goods to the delivery destination. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for route guidance at the time of moving to the delivery destination.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a technique for transmitting order information to a shop side.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, there is known a car navigation system such as disclosed for example in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 10-221104, which reads a bar code which has been prepared with the contents of a delivery slip attached to a package as data, to obtain delivery information such as the address, name and telephone number for the delivery destination, and also receives a positioning signal such as a GPS (Global Position System) signal to detect the current position of a delivery vehicle, and generates route information for a route to the delivery destination.
In this car navigation system, when a client makes a request for delivery of a package, to a delivery center controlling pickup and delivery of packages, the delivery center prepares a bar code including the delivery information described therein and attaches this to the package. Then, a delivery vehicle reads the bar code attached to the package, and displays the current position of the vehicle, the position of the delivery destination and the route information on a map display screen of a navigation apparatus.
Moreover, when there is a request made for the picking up of a package, to the delivery center, the delivery center informs the delivery vehicle of the address and name of the pickup destination by means of, for example, PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System), cellular phone, pager or the like. In this case, the driver of the delivery vehicle resets the pickup and delivery route.
In the car navigation system in the above example of the related art, complicated processing is required wherein the order information for a delivery request from a client is converted to a bar code via the delivery slip, and the content of the bar code is taken into the navigation apparatus of the delivery vehicle, causing a problem in that the delivery service cannot be performed efficiently.
Moreover, when there is a request for picking up a package, only the address and name of the pickup destination are advised from the delivery center to the delivery vehicle, and there is a possibility that it cannot be quickly judged whether or not the pickup and delivery route can be changed to pass the pickup destination of the package.
In view of the above situation, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a service delivery system, which can simplify processing processes from receiving order information from a client to preparing the route information, to thereby improve the efficiency of a service delivery business.
Furthermore, delivery is performed only for a case in which a delivery request is transmitted from a client to the delivery center. Hence, for example, in the case where the client forgets to make a delivery request, delivery is not performed, and an unprofitable situation may arise for the client.
In view of the above situation, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a service delivery system, which can simplify processing processes from receiving order information from a client to preparing the route information, to thereby improve the efficiency of a service delivery business, and which can automatically place an order in accordance with information related to the client.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the first object, a service delivery system of a first aspect of the present invention is a service delivery system comprising: a client side terminal for ordering delivery of various services to a delivery destination (for example, a client side terminal device
11
in a first embodiment described later), and a shop side terminal for receiving the order information and instructing delivery of the service to the delivery destination (for example, a shop side terminal device
13
in the first embodiment described later). The client side terminal comprises a client side display device (for example, a display section
21
in the first embodiment described later) for displaying map information and product information on a screen, and an order information transmission device (for example, an information transmission section
23
in the first embodiment described later) for attaching position information for the delivery destination to the order information and transmitting this combined information. The shop side terminal comprises a shop side display device (for example, a display section
41
in the first embodiment described later) for displaying map information and product information on a screen, and a route information generation device (for example, a route information generation section
42
in the first embodiment described later) for generating route information for a route to the delivery destination based on the position information.
According to the service delivery system having the above construction, since position information (for example, latitude and longitude) for the delivery destination on the map is attached to the order information transmitted from the client side terminal to the shop side terminal, the position of the delivery destination is immediately displayed on the map display screen of the shop side display device of the shop side terminal which has received this order information.
Therefore, based on the position information for the delivery destination and the current position information for the delivery vehicle, the route information can be quickly generated, thereby enabling the efficiency of the delivery business to be improved.
Moreover, a service delivery system of a second aspect of the invention comprises a navigation apparatus (for example, a navigation apparatus
14
in the first embodiment described later) furnished in a vehicle for delivering the service, and the shop side terminal comprises a route information storing device for storing the route information (for example, an information storing section
43
in the first embodiment described later), and the navigation apparatus obtains the route information stored in the route information storing device.
According to the service delivery system having the above construction, the route information generated by the route information generation device of the shop side terminal is stored in a computer readable recording medium, for example a memory such as a hard disk built in to the computer system, or a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a portable medium such as an IC card having a flash memory therein.
The navigation apparatus in the delivery vehicle obtains the route information by connecting to the route information storing device via a communication circuit, or by directly reading the route information from a portable medium brought into the delivery vehicle.
In this case, the obtained route information is displayed on the display screen of the navigation apparatus, and hence the delivery vehicle can move to the delivery destination immediately, thereby enabling the delivery business to be quickly performed.
Moreover, a service delivery system of a third aspect of the invention comprises a navigation apparatus furnished in a vehicle for delivering a service, and the navigation apparatus comprises a communication device connected to the client side terminal so as to be able to communicate therewith (for example, a communication section
52
in the embodiment described later), and a vehicle side route information generation device for generating route information for a route to the delivery destination based on the
Camby Richard M.
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
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