JP2003242388A - Method for printing and selling content on-demand and supporting method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly print content desired by a customer on a paper medium on the spot with the appearance as a printed matter arranged in the shape for sale. <P>SOLUTION: A host computer 3 sorts respective provided content data in each different category and generates composition information with editing processing for print with all corresponding data as objects in each category or in each combination of categories (S3 to S6). A terminal output printer 4a receives the composition information in each category or each combination of categories and corresponding contents data groups from the host computer 3 for storage (S7 and S8). The printer 4a makes the customer select his desired content from a list of content in each category or each combination of categories, composes all contents data corresponding to a category or a combination of categories of the selected content according to corresponding composition information and prints all the content data on the paper medium (S9 to S14). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for on-demand print sales of contents suitable for selling contents desired by customers, and more particularly to printing contents desired by customers on a paper medium on the spot. The present invention relates to an on-demand print selling method of content suitable for selling as printed matter, and a supporting method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, various kinds of electronic information represented by music information and game software programs (so-called game software) are sold at stores such as convenience stores or information sales terminals installed on the streets. It has become to.

The information sale at the information sale terminal is realized by recording electronic information designated by the customer on the screen of the terminal in a storage medium mounted on the terminal by the customer. The customer mounts the recording medium on which the purchased electronic information is recorded in his or her own personal computer or a dedicated information reproducing device to reproduce the information. If the electronic information is newspaper information, comic information, etc., it can be printed on a paper medium using a printer.

As an example of such an information sales system,
An information distribution / sale system for selling electronic information on newspaper is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-143618. This publication describes that only the information desired by the information purchaser can be purchased from the electronic information that constitutes the newspaper page. In the information sales system described in this publication, when a desired newspaper is selected with a newspaper selection button provided on the panel of the information sales terminal (information sales machine), the heading of the column of the selected newspaper such as politics and economy is displayed on the terminal. Is displayed on the display. Therefore, the information purchaser selects the information to be purchased by referring to the displayed heading, and stores only the political news of the “AAA” company and the “BBB” company or only the economic news in the memory card. You can buy the news.

[0005]

As described above, there has been known an information sales terminal which records electronic information such as newspaper pages, that is, contents in a storage medium and sells the information. However, a personal computer, a dedicated information reproducing device, or the like is required to reproduce electronic information purchased at this type of information selling terminal. A printer is required to print on a paper medium.

Therefore, an information terminal equipped with a printing machine, that is, an information printing terminal can be considered. However, JP-A-5-143
As described below, an efficient printing paper surface cannot be output by simply adding a printing machine to the information sales terminal (information sales machine) applied to the information sales system described in Japanese Patent No. 618. For example, if the purchaser is "AAA"
It is assumed that the political article of the company and the economic article of the "BBB" company are selected. The political article of the "AAA" company and the economic article of the "BBB" company each have their own editing style. This also applies to political and economic articles of the same newspaper company. That is, the electronic information of the political article and the economic article is information of a unique editing style. If you print the electronic information of such political and economic articles with a printing machine, for example, the political article on the first page
Then, the page will be changed and an economic article will be placed on the second page. In this case, blank pages may occur on each page, which is not only difficult to see but also looks bad, and there is a problem in terms of quality from the viewpoint of printed matter.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to quickly print the content desired by the customer on the spot in a form of printed matter on a paper medium and sell it. An on-demand print sales method of the above and a support method therefor.

[0008]

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and the invention according to claim 1 classifies each content data provided by a content provider by genre by a computer system. And printing by imposing the content data on a paper surface by the computer system for all corresponding content data for each predetermined genre or each combination of genres based on the classification result for each genre A step of executing editing for editing to generate typesetting information, typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres, and a group of corresponding content data,
Distributing via a network to the terminal output printing machine installed in each place via the network, and displaying the content list for each genre or each combination of genres by the terminal output printing machine, and requesting the purchase from the customer The step of urging the user to select and specify the content, and output all the content data corresponding to the genre or combination of genres selected and specified from the content list to the terminal according to the typesetting information corresponding to the genre or combination of genres. Printing with a printing machine, printing the result of the printing on a paper medium, and outputting the printed matter.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the on-demand print sales method for contents according to the first aspect, in the classification step, as a classification result by the genre, the genre of the content data is set for each of the content data. A content table is created in which entry information including identification information and identification information of the content data is registered, and in the typesetting information generation step, according to each entry information in the content table, a genre or a combination of genres indicated by the entry information is created. Is specified, and the editing for printing is executed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the on-demand print selling method for contents according to the second aspect, the typesetting information generating step corresponds to each genre or combination of genres indicated by each entry information in the content table. Create a typesetting table in which entry information including identification information of all content data and the typesetting information is registered, and in the delivering step, the typesetting table and a group of corresponding content data are delivered, and in the printed matter output step. All the content data indicated by the entry information in the typesetting table corresponding to the genre or combination of genres of the selected and designated contents is formatted according to the typesetting information in the entry information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an on-demand print selling method of contents, which is printed by a terminal output printing machine on a paper medium and sold to the customer. A step of displaying a content list for each and prompting the customer to select and specify the content desired to purchase, and the content data stored in the storage means based on the genre or combination of genres of the content selected and specified from the content list. Select all the corresponding content data from the group of, the typesetting information stored in the storage unit corresponding to the genre or a combination of genres,
Compiling the selected content data in accordance with the composition information generated in advance by the print editing for imposing the content data corresponding to the genre or the combination of genres on the paper surface, and the composition of the selected content data Printing the result on a paper medium and outputting the printed matter.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a step of classifying each content data provided by a content provider by genre by a computer system, and a predetermined genre for each genre based on the classification result for each genre Alternatively, for each combination of genres, a step of performing print editing for imposing the corresponding content data on a paper surface by all the corresponding content data to generate typesetting information, and generating the typesetting information. The customer selects and specifies the typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres and the corresponding content data group from the content list for each genre or each combination of genres, which is the terminal output printing machine installed at each place. Content genre or combination of genres By composing all the content data corresponding to the case and printing it on a paper medium, the computer system can be used for printing at the terminal output printing machine for selling the printed matter. And delivering via a network.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal output printing machine that prints a content designated by a customer on a paper medium and sells the content to the customer. Receives typesetting information generated by print editing for imposing all content data corresponding to a genre or a combination of genres on a paper, and a group of content data corresponding to typesetting information for each genre or each genre combination. Receiving means, storage means for storing grouping of typesetting information and content data received by the receiving means for each genre or each combination of genres, and content for each genre or combination of genres to be sold Display means for displaying a list, input means for input operation, and the input All the content data corresponding to the genre or combination of genres of the content selected and designated from the content list by the operation of the customer using the row is read from the storage means, and the content data is stored in the storage means. It is characterized by further comprising a typesetting means for performing typesetting according to the typesetting information corresponding to the genre or the combination of genres, and a printing machine for printing the result of typesetting by the typesetting means on a paper medium and outputting the printed matter.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, receiving means for receiving the content data transmitted from the computer system of the content provider, storage means for storing a group of content data received by the receiving means, and Content grouping means for classifying the group of content data stored in the storage means by genre, and stored in the storage means for each predetermined genre or each combination of genres based on the classification result of the content classification means Generated by the automatic imposition calculation processing means for executing the editing for printing to imprint the content data on all the corresponding corresponding content data and generating the typesetting information, and the automatic imposition calculation processing means Typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres, and the storage Corresponding to the genre or combination of genres of the content selected by the customer from the content list for each genre or each combination of genres, which is a terminal output printing machine installed in each place By sending all the content data in a formatted form and printing it on a paper medium, it will be distributed to the terminal output printing machine that sells the printed matter via the network so that it can be used for printing at the terminal output printing machine. It is characterized by comprising means.

In the inventions according to claims 1, 5, and 7,
Each content data provided by the content provider is classified by genre. Therefore, it is possible to easily identify all corresponding content data for each predetermined genre or each combination of genres, and perform the print editing process for the identified content data to generate the typesetting information. can do. The typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres, and the corresponding group of content data are distributed to the terminal output printing machine installed in each place. As a result, the terminal output printing machine displays a content list for each genre or each combination of genres, and when the customer selects the desired content, all the content corresponding to the genre or combination of genres of the selected content is displayed. It is possible to print the content data of (1) on a paper medium by typesetting it according to the corresponding typesetting information. Here, the typesetting information used for typesetting is, as described above, generated in advance by the computer system based on the corresponding content data group and distributed to the terminal output printing machine. Therefore, the terminal output printing machine can use the corresponding typesetting information to typeset the content data group corresponding to the genre or the combination of genres selected by the customer and output the printed matter. Therefore, in the terminal output printing machine, the content desired by the customer can be promptly printed on the spot in the form of printed matter on a paper medium and can be sold. This point is the same in the inventions according to claims 4 and 6.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the content table in which the entry information including the information indicating the genre of the content data and the identification information of the content data is registered for each content data is created in advance. All the content data corresponding to the defined genre or combination of genres can be easily specified from the content table.

In the invention according to claim 3, the typesetting in which the entry information including the identification information and the typesetting information of all the corresponding content data is registered for each genre or combination of genres indicated by each entry information in the content table. By creating a table and distributing it to the terminal output printing machine, the terminal output printing machine can easily identify the content data and typesetting information necessary for printing and selling the content selected by the customer from the typesetting table. it can.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a content on-demand print sales system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, computers (content provider computers) 2A and 2B owned by business operators (hereinafter referred to as content providers) A and B that provide content are connected to a network 1. In the present embodiment, the content provider is a newspaper company. The content provided by the content provider is a newspaper article, and includes articles of genres such as current affairs, sports, entertainment, and culture. Computer 2A, 2
B is a transmission server computer (transmission server) used to transmit the contents provided by the content providers A and B to the host computer 3 described below.

The network 1 also includes a business (hereinafter referred to as a business operator) that sells content provided by the content provider.
Host computer 3 and terminal output printing machine (information sales printing terminal) owned by X, which is referred to as a content sales business operator.
4a, 4b and 4c are connected. Terminal output printing machine 4
It is assumed that a, 4b, and 4c are installed at convenience stores, station corners, or street corners. Network 1
May be a wired or wireless network, but is preferably a high speed network. In the example of FIG. 1, the number of content providers is set to 2 for the convenience of drawing.
Although the number of terminal output printing machines is three, the number is not limited to this.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the host computer 3 shown in FIG. Host computer 3
Includes a reception unit 31, a content classification unit 32, an automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33, a transmission unit 34, an input device 35,
It is composed of a display device 36, a storage device 37, and a control unit 38. The content classification unit 32 and the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33 are realized by the CPU executing the content classification software and the typesetting software stored in the storage device 37, respectively.

The receiving unit 31 receives the content data transmitted from the computers 2A and 2B of the content providers A and B, and stores it in the content data area 3 of the storage device 37.
71. This content data is data (edited data of newspaper articles) that has been edited according to the output medium (here, newspaper page) used to output the data for the original purpose on the content provider side. .

The content classifying unit 32 classifies and organizes the content data received by the receiving unit 31 according to a predetermined genre, generates a content table 372 representing the classification result, and stores it in the storage device 37. The automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33, for each predetermined genre or each combination of genres, the content table 372.
Data of the typesetting (hereinafter referred to as a typesetting table) is executed by executing the automatic calculation process (automatic imposition calculation process) of the editing for printing on the corresponding content data indicated by
73 is generated. The typesetting table 373 is stored in the storage device 37. The data structures of the content table 372 and the typesetting table 373 will be described later.

The transmitting unit 34 transmits the content data in the content data area 371 of the storage device 37 and the typesetting table 373 stored in the storage device 37 to the terminal output printing machines 4a-4c, for example, periodically. . The input device 35 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse or the like, and the display device 36 is a CRT display, a liquid crystal display or the like.

The storage device 37 is a large-capacity external storage device such as a magnetic disk device. The control unit 38 includes a receiving unit 31,
It controls each unit in the host computer 3, such as the content classification unit 32, the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33, the transmission unit 34, the input device 35, and the display device 36.

Depending on the amount of data handled by the system of FIG. 1, instead of the host computer 3, a dedicated server computer (reception server) that realizes the reception unit 31, a content classification unit 32, and an automatic imposition calculation are performed. If a computer system including an arithmetic processing computer that implements the processing unit 33 and a storage device 37 and a data storage server computer that implements the management function of the storage device 37 is used, the number of computers increases, but Data can be processed efficiently.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the terminal output printing machine 4a shown in FIG. The terminal output printing machine 4a includes a receiving unit 41, an input device 42, a display device 43, a control unit 44, a typesetting unit 45, a storage device 46, and a printing machine 47.

The receiving unit 45 receives the content data and the typesetting table 373 transmitted from the host computer 3. The content data is stored in the content data area 461 of the storage device 46. Typesetting table 37
3 is stored in the storage device 46 as a typesetting table 462.

The input device 42 includes, for example, a transparent touch panel laminated on the display surface of the display device 43. The display device 43 has contents to be sold (newspaper articles).
Is used for displaying a paper selection screen used for the customer Z to select the type, that is, the genre. Here, the page space of the content is specified by the genre.

The control unit 44 controls each unit in the terminal output printing machine 4a, such as controlling the display of the paper surface selection screen on the display device 43 and the input from the input device 42 according to the paper surface selection screen. The typesetting unit 45 specifies the content data that composes the article of the genre selected through the page selection screen based on the typesetting table 462, typesets the specified content data according to the typesetting table 462, and then prints the paper by the printing machine 47. Let the media print.

The terminal output printing machine 4a is provided with an effect insertion slot for cash settlement, a bill insertion slot, a credit card insertion slot for credit settlement, and a settlement section for performing settlement processing. However, since these payment mechanisms in terminals are well known in the art and are not directly related to the present invention, illustration and description thereof will be omitted. Further, the terminal output printing machines 4b and 4c have the same configuration as the terminal output printing machine 4a shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of the content table 372 and the typesetting table 373 (462). Each entry of the content table 372 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the date when the article of the corresponding content was issued (the date of issue), the genre name of the content, the content number as identification information for identifying the content, and the title of the content. Contains configuration fields for information. Each entry of the content table 372 further includes a corresponding content provider (content provider) and information about a usage fee per usage of the content to be paid from the content sales business operator X to the content provider. Contains configuration fields.

Each entry of the typesetting table 373 (462) is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the date when the article of the content forming the corresponding typesetting is issued (issue date), the genre of the typesetting. The setting field of each information of the name and the content number of the content that constitutes the typesetting is included. Each entry of the typesetting table 373 (462) further includes a setting field of corresponding typesetting information (typesetting information).

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the sequence chart of FIG.
Now, it is assumed that the content data provided by the content provider A is transmitted from the computer 2A of the content provider A to the host computer 3 of the content seller X via the network 1 (step S1). This content data is edited data of newspaper articles by genre that compose the newspaper page. Header information is added to each content data. This header information includes, for example, the issuer (content provider), the issue date, the genre, and the title of the corresponding article.

The content data transmitted from the computer 2A via the network 1 is received by the receiving unit 31 in the host computer 3 and stored in the content data area 371 secured in the storage device 37 in the computer 3. (Step S2). Similarly, the content data transmitted from the computer 2B of the other content provider B is also stored in the content data area 371 of the storage device 37. If the content data having the same header information with the same publisher information and genre information as the header information of the content data received by the receiving unit 31 is already stored in the content data area 371, it is already stored. The content data (here, the content data received the day before) is
The latest content data received this time is updated.

The control unit 38 in the host computer 3 is
The content classification unit 32 in the host computer 3 is regularly activated, for example, on a daily basis. As a result, the content classification unit 32 reads the group of content data stored in the content data area 371 of the storage device 37 on a data-by-data basis, and classifies and organizes the data by genre (step S3). That is, the content classification unit 3
The item 2 classifies each content data based on the publisher information in the header information attached to the content data, first by the provider, that is, the content provider.

Next, the content classification unit 32 classifies each content data into genres such as politics, economy, sports, and entertainment based on the information of the genre in the header information attached to the content data. At this time, the content classification unit 32 gives, for example, a serial number to each content data as identification information of the content data, and adds it to the header information of the content data. Then, the content classification unit 32 creates the latest content table 372 having the data structure shown in FIG. 4A in which the result of classification for each content data is registered,
The data is stored in the storage device 37 (step S4). Here, the date, genre, title, and content provider information in each entry information of the content table 372 include the issue date in the header information of the corresponding content data,
Information on the genre, title and publisher is used. If the content table 372 already created, that is, the old content table 372 is stored in the storage device 37, the old content table 372 is
It is updated to the latest content table 372 created this time.

When the content table 372 is generated by the content classification unit 32, the control unit 38 activates the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33. Accordingly, the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33 follows the content table 372.
For each predetermined genre or each combination of genres, identify (select) the corresponding content data,
Editing processing for printing, that is, calculation processing of typesetting (imposition) is performed (step S5). As described above, by using the content table 372, all the content data corresponding to a predetermined genre or a combination of genres can be easily specified from the content table 372.

In the print editing process (typesetting process) by the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33, the size (information indicating the size) of the paper medium used for printing, that is, the paper face (output paper face) and the amount of data of the contents to be typeset. (Characters, images) and position information (what position on the paper, what kind of layout, etc.)
Is automatically set. Here, the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33
The result of the print editing process (typesetting process) by the control unit 4
4 can be displayed on the display device 36, and the editor can be prompted to perform an operation for correction using the input device 35.

The feature of the printing editing process (typesetting process) in the present embodiment is that the process unit is a unit of a genre or a combination of genres, and is not a process of a content provider unit. is there. For example, suppose that the genre is “politics” and the political articles are provided by A company and B company, respectively, with the content data of the political article edited in the editing style of A company and the editing style of B company. Both the content data of the edited political article and the data are subjected to the print editing process. However,
It is also possible to perform processing by content provider unit, for example, B
The content data of the economic article of the company and the content data of the article of another genre (for example, entertainment article) of the same company B but having different editing styles can be the target of the print editing process. That is, the feature of this embodiment is that the editing process for printing is performed on a plurality of peculiar edited content data as a target, so that the editing process for printing is performed.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the size of the output paper surface is fixed to A3, A4, etc., which are generally easy to see. Further, the number of sheets may be changed depending on the type of content. In this case, in the print editing process, the number of sheets is set in addition to the sheet size, the content data amount, and the position information.

In this way, by performing the printing editing process (typesetting process) in step S5, information about the typesetting of the corresponding content data or content data group, that is, the size of the paper, the amount of content data, and the position information. Typesetting information including and is generated. When the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33 generates the typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres, the correspondence between the genre or the combination of genres and the typesetting information is registered.
A typesetting table 373 having the data structure shown in (b) is generated and stored in the storage device 37 (step S6). Here, when the typesetting table 373 already created, that is, the old typesetting table 373 is stored in the storage device 37, the old typesetting table 373 is updated to the latest typesetting table 373 created this time.

The control unit 38 controls the automatic imposition calculation processing unit 33.
When the typesetting table 373 is created by the
To start. As a result, the transmission unit 34 causes the latest typesetting table 373 and content data area 371 created.
The content data group therein is transmitted to the terminal output printing machine 4a via the network 1 (step S7). At this time, the transmission unit 34 also transmits the typesetting table 373 and the content data group to the other terminal output printing machines 4b and 4c via the network 1.

When the receiving unit 41 in the terminal output printing machine 4a receives the typesetting table 373 and the content data group transmitted from the transmitting unit 34 in the host computer 3,
The typesetting table 373 and the content data group are stored in the storage device 46 in the terminal output printing machine 4a (step S8). Here, the typesetting table 373 is stored in the storage device 46 as the typesetting table 462. The content data group is stored in the content data area 461 secured in the storage device 46. More specifically, the old typesetting table 462 already stored in the storage device 46 is updated to the new typesetting table 462, and the old content data group also stored in the content data area 461 is newly updated. Updated to the content data group.

The control unit 44 in the terminal output printing machine 4a displays, for example, as a main screen, a list of information types (genres) of newspaper articles to be sold, that is, a paper selection screen which is a screen of the article list, as a display device 43. Is displayed (step S9). An example of this page selection screen is shown in FIG. The page selection screen of FIG. 6 includes a comprehensive article selection screen 61 that is a list screen of comprehensive articles (digest version) and a specialized article selection screen 62 that is a list of specialized articles (detailed version). In the selection items on the article selection screens 61 and 62, items used for selection designation of a combination of a plurality of genres, for example, "all genres""politics + economy""economy + entertainment""sports + entertainment" are designated. include. If the number of printed materials output when the corresponding article is printed differs depending on the selected item, the number is displayed in the vicinity of each selected item in the article selection screens 61 and 62, for example, next to it. It is preferable to set.

As described above, the input device 42 of the terminal output printing machine 4a includes a transparent touch panel laminated on the display surface of the display device 43. Therefore, customer Z
6 is displayed on the display device 43 of the terminal output printing machine 4a, that is, it is possible to select an article (content) of an arbitrary genre on the paper selection screen. While being prompted by, the selection item can be selected and designated by touching the selection item (selection button) corresponding to the article of the desired genre with, for example, a finger. Now, it is assumed that the customer Z has performed an operation (touch operation) of selecting and designating "politics + economy" from the selection item group on the comprehensive article selection screen 61 (step S10).

When the control section 44 detects that an operation for selecting and designating a selection item has been performed from the page selection screen, the control section 44 selects the genre corresponding to the selection item (step S1).
1). Next, the control unit 44 determines the cost of the article (printed matter) of the genre selected according to the selection designating operation of the customer Z,
Well-known payment processing is performed (step S12). here,
The customer Z is prompted by the screen display on the display device 43 to specify whether to use cash card (credit card) payment or cash payment. Then, the payment is made by the method specified by the customer Z.

If each entry information of the typesetting table 373 includes the information of the title of the corresponding content, the title of the content corresponding to the selected item is provided in the vicinity of each selected item on the page selection screen of FIG. It is also possible to display. Further, if there is no space for displaying this title, when the selection item is selected and designated on the page selection screen, the title of the content corresponding to the selected selection item may be displayed. . As the title information set in each entry information of the typesetting table 373, the title information set in the corresponding entry information of the content table 372 may be used.

When the control section 44 executes the settlement processing relating to the sale of articles of the genre selected and designated by the customer Z, the control section 44 passes the information of the genre to the typesetting section 45 and activates the typesetting section 45. Here, from the control unit 44 to the typesetting unit 4
"Politics + economy" is given to 5. In this case, the typesetting unit 45 specifies the content data forming the article of the genre (“politics + economy”) selected and specified by the customer Z, and formats the specified content data as described below (step S13). ).

That is, the typesetting section 45 first refers to the typesetting table 462 in the storage device 46 using "politics + economy" as a key, and constructs a "politics + economy" article from the corresponding entries in the typesetting table 462. The content numbers of all the content data to be processed are “0001” “0010” “00”
11 ”and the typesetting information. Next, the typesetting section 45
The content data specified by the content numbers “0001”, “0010”, and “0011” is read from the content data area 461 of the storage device 46. And typesetting section 45
Reads the content number “0001” “001
The content data of "0" and "0011" are formatted according to the formatting information extracted from the formatting table 462 in advance.

Thus, in this embodiment, the customer Z
The typesetting information and content data necessary for typesetting articles of the genre selected and designated by
It can be easily identified from 62. Moreover, the terminal output printing machine 4
Since it is not necessary to newly create the typesetting information on the side a, the articles of the genre selected and designated by the customer Z can be typeset extremely quickly.

When the typesetting process by the typesetting unit 45 is completed, that is, when the typesetting of the article of the genre “politics + economy” selected and designated by the customer Z is completed, the control unit 44 finishes printing.
Start 7. As a result, the printing machine 47 prints the typesetting result by the typesetting unit 45 on the output paper surface and outputs it as a printed matter (step S14). An example of this printed matter is shown in FIG.
Is shown in the schematic diagram. In FIG. 7A, the number "000
Area 71 in which "1", "0010", and "0011" are set,
72 and 73 are content numbers "0
This is an area in which each content data of “001”, “0010”, and “0011” is laid out. Further, FIG. 7B shows an example of a printed matter output from the printing machine 47 when the customer Z selects and designates the “political” article.

When the content is sold by the terminal output printing machine 4a, information on the sales result is recorded as log information in a sales history area (not shown) in the storage device 46. This log information includes the sales date and time, the selling price, the genre of the article sold, and the content number of the content that constitutes the article. Storage device 4 of terminal output printing machine 4a
The sales history information recorded in 6 is, for example, on a daily basis,
It is transmitted to the host computer 3 from a transmission unit (not shown). Similarly to the terminal output printing machine 4a, the sales history information is transmitted from the other terminal output printing machines 4b and 4c to the host computer 3. The host computer 3 calculates the content usage fee to be paid to each content provider from the sales history transmitted from each terminal output printing machine 4a to 4c and the usage fee for each content registered in the content table 372. To do.

In the embodiment described above, the content group stored in the host computer 3, the content table 372 and the typesetting table 373, and the terminal output printing machine 4 are used.
It has been described that the content groups stored in a to 4c and the typesetting table 462 are updated. However, as for at least the content group stored in the terminal output printing machine and the typesetting table 462, the new data may be stored while the old data is left as long as there is a storable free area. This makes it possible for the customer to specify the article that the customer wants to purchase by the genre and the issue date. In other words, you can sell past articles as well as the latest articles.

Further, in the above embodiment, the content to be sold is a newspaper article provided by a newspaper company. However, not limited to newspaper articles, for example, paperback books, comic magazines, etc. provided by publishers, guides (guide maps, guide magazines, etc.) provided by publishers,
Employment information, rental housing news, articles in other information magazines, etc. can be targeted for sale.

Further, it is possible to provide the printed matter to the customer free of charge, with free articles such as excerpted articles and various advertisements from a mail order catalog provided by a mail order company (so-called mail order company). In this case, the content seller can obtain the information transmission fee from the content provider. On the other hand, for the content provider, the printed matter corresponding to only the customer who truly needs the information provided by the provider will be distributed,
Compared to distributing to an unspecified number of customers, effective information transmission is possible at a low cost.

Regarding the paid contents, it is possible to sell both the printed matter and the electronic information, instead of selling the printed matter only at the terminal output printing machine, and whether to purchase the printed matter or the electronic information. It is also possible to make the customer select.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified at the stage of implementation without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the section of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the section of the effect of the invention can be solved. When at least one of the above is obtained, the configuration in which this constituent element is deleted can be extracted as the invention.

[0059]

As described in detail above, the first, fifth, and seventh aspects are provided.
According to the invention of claim 1, each content data provided by the content provider is classified by genre, and based on the classification result, all the content data corresponding to each predetermined genre or each combination of genres. To generate typesetting information by performing a print editing process on the target, and to distribute the typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres and the corresponding content data group to the terminal output printing machine installed in each place. Because I chose
In the terminal output printing machine, when the customer selects the desired content, all the content data corresponding to the genre or combination of genres of the selected content is formatted according to the format information already prepared and printed on the paper. Can be printed on media. Therefore, according to the inventions according to claims 1, 5, and 7, in the terminal output printing machine, the content desired by the customer is prepared on the spot in the form of a printed matter on a paper medium, and the customer is waited for. Can be printed and sold promptly without printing. This effect is also obtained in the inventions according to claims 4 and 6.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the classification result for each genre is registered for each content data as entry information including information indicating the genre of the content data and identification information of the content data. Since it is represented as the created content table, all content data corresponding to a predetermined genre or a combination of genres can be easily specified from the content table.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, for each genre or combination of genres indicated by each entry information in the content table, entry information including identification information and typesetting information of all corresponding content data is registered. Since the created typesetting table is created and distributed to the terminal output printing machine, the terminal output printing machine uses the terminal data printing machine to print the content data and the typesetting information necessary to sell the content selected by the customer. Can be easily identified from the table.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an on-demand print sales system for contents according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a host computer 3 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal output printing machine 4a in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a content table 372 and a typesetting table 3
The figure which shows the data structure example of 73 (462).

FIG. 5 is a sequence chart for explaining the operation of the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a paper surface selection screen displayed on the display device 43 of the terminal output printing machine 4a.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a printed matter output from the terminal output printing machine 4a.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network 2A, 2B ... Computer (content provider computer) 3 ... Host computer (computer system which supports on-demand print sale of content) 4a-4c ... Terminal output printing machines 31, 41 ... Receiving part 32 ... Content classification part 33 ... Automatic imposition calculation processing unit 34 ... Transmission unit 35, 42 ... Input device 36, 43 ... Display device 37, 46 ... Storage device 38, 44 ... Control unit 45 ... Composition unit 47 ... Printing machine 371, 461 ... Content data Area 372 ... Content table 373, 462 ... Formatting table

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A step of classifying each content data provided by a content provider by a genre by a computer system, and for each predetermined genre or each combination of genres based on the classification result for each genre , For all corresponding content data, the computer system executes print editing for imposing the content data on a paper to generate typesetting information, and typesetting for each genre or each combination of genres Distributing a group of information and corresponding content data to a terminal output printing machine installed in each place via a network by the computer system, contents by the genre or each combination of genres by the terminal output printing machine Display a list Corresponding to the genre or the combination of genres, all the content data corresponding to the genre or the combination of genres of the content selected and specified from the content list are corresponded to the genre or the combination of genres. A method of on-demand printing and selling content, comprising the steps of: typesetting by the terminal output printing machine according to the typesetting information, printing the typesetting result on a paper medium, and outputting the printed matter. 2. The content table in which, in the classification step, as classification results by the genre, entry information including information indicating a genre of the content data and identification information of the content data is registered for each of the content data. In the typesetting information generating step, all content data corresponding to a genre or a combination of genres indicated by the entry information is specified according to each entry information in the content table, and the editing for printing is executed. The on-demand print selling method for contents according to claim 1, wherein. 3. In the typesetting information generating step, entry information including identification information of all corresponding content data and the typesetting information is registered for each genre or combination of genres indicated by each entry information in the content table. Creating a typesetting table, in the delivering step, delivering the typesetting table and a group of corresponding content data, and in the printed matter output step, corresponding to a genre or a combination of genres of the selected and designated content,
3. The on-demand print sales method for contents according to claim 2, wherein all the content data indicated by the entry information in the typesetting table is typeset according to the typesetting information in the entry information. 4. An on-demand print selling method for printing content specified by a customer on a paper medium by a terminal output printing machine and selling the content to the customer, wherein a content list for each genre or each combination of genres is displayed. Then, prompting the customer to select and specify the desired content to purchase, and based on the genre or combination of genres of the content selected and specified from the content list, all corresponding content data stored in the storage means Editing data for printing, which selects the content data of the genre or the genre or combination of genres, which is the typesetting information stored in the storage means, and imprints the content data corresponding to the genre or combination of genres on a paper surface. According to the typesetting information generated in advance by Steps and, the selected on-demand printing method of marketing content, wherein a result of formatting the content data printed on a paper medium and a step of outputting the printed material typesetting content data. 5. A step of classifying each content data provided by a content provider by a genre by a computer system, and for each predetermined genre or each combination of genres based on the classification result for each genre. , A step of performing editing for printing by imposing the content data on a sheet of paper for all corresponding content data to generate typesetting information, and the generated genre or a combination of genres Typesetting information for each and a group of corresponding content data,
A terminal output printing machine installed in each place, which forms a paper medium by formatting all content data corresponding to the genre or combination of genres of the content selected and designated by the customer from the content list for each genre or each combination of genres Printing the printed matter to a terminal output printing machine that sells the printed matter so that the computer system can distribute the printed matter via the network so that it can be used for printing at the terminal output printing machine. An on-demand print sales support method for featured content. 6. A terminal output printing machine, which prints a content designated by a customer on a paper medium and sells the content to the customer, wherein the genre or a combination of genres is set for each predetermined genre or combination of genres. Receiving means for receiving the typesetting information generated by the print editing for imposing all the corresponding content data on a sheet, and the group of the content data corresponding to the typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres, Storage means for storing grouping of typesetting information and content data received by the means for each genre or each combination of genres, and display means for displaying a content list for each genre or each combination of genres to be sold And an input means for input operation, and a customer using the input means. All content data corresponding to the genre or a combination of the genre of the selected specified content from the content list in the work is read from the storage means, the content data,
A typesetting unit for typesetting according to the typesetting information corresponding to the genre or a combination of genres stored in the storage unit; and a printing machine for printing the typesetting result by the typesetting unit on a paper medium and outputting the printed matter. A terminal output printing machine characterized by: 7. Receiving means for receiving content data transmitted from a computer system of a content provider, storage means for storing a group of content data received by the receiving means, and storage means stored in the storage means. A group of content data, a content classification unit for classifying by genre, based on the classification result of the content classification unit, for each predetermined genre or for each combination of genres,
Automatic imposition calculation processing means for performing all the corresponding content data stored in the storage means, and performing print editing for imposing the content data on a paper surface to generate typesetting information; It is a terminal output printing machine installed at each place of the typesetting information for each genre or each combination of genres generated by the arithmetic processing means, and the group of content data stored in the storage means. By selecting all the content data corresponding to the genre or combination of genres of the content selected by the customer from the content list for each genre combination and printing it on a paper medium, the terminal output printing machine that sells the printed matter , Sending via the network so that it can be used for printing on the terminal output printing machine. A computer system for supporting on-demand print sales of contents, comprising: a communication means.