Patent ID: 7584434

Claim:
A system of displaying map images allowing a user terminal to display a map image on the basis of map data transmitted from a map database site through a computer network, comprising: a map information database provided in said map database site for accumulating the map data constructed of units of rectangular map images each with a display range smaller than a display range of a map image corresponding to one page displayed on a user terminal, in association with position data indicating the display ranges of the individual map images; and map-image display means provided in said user terminal for arranging the map data of a plurality of units with each other in columns and rows on the basis of the position data of the map data, which are read out from the map information database provided in the map database site and transmitted from the map database site, to form the map image corresponding to one page for display; wherein said map-image display means detects display positions in relation to the display range of the map image designated on the user terminal, on the basis of said position data included in said individual units of the map data transmitted from said map database site, and displays the map images, generated from the map data of the respective units, in said corresponding display positions detected; and wherein when the display area of the one-page map image displayed on the user terminal is not equal to an integral multiple of the display area of the map image generated from the map data of the individual unit, with regard to the unit of the map data for displaying the map image straddling the display region and the non-display region of the map image on the user terminal, the map-image display means selects the map data for displaying a map image of the section included in the display region of the map image on the user terminal, from the map data of the unit concerned, and then displays the map image based on the selected map data.