JP2003084877A - Information selection apparatus and music playback unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To resolve a problem that a complicated selection operation is required for selecting desired information from an enormous quantity of file information by using a folder hierarchical structure. SOLUTION: This apparatus has: a storage means 11 for storing, in the folder hierarchical structure, the file information, folder information in the lowermost tier including the file information, and folder information in upper tiers including the folder information in the lowermost tier and stratified item by item; a selection means 12 for selecting the folder information for every tier; and a display control means 16 for indicatively displaying a list of the folder information in the uppermost tier on a display means 15, and for reading, from the storage means, the folder information in the next lower tier to the tier including desired folder information every time the desired folder information is selected from the list of the folder information indicatively displayed and thereby indicatively displaying the list of the folder information of the tier on the display means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information selection device for selecting desired file information from a huge number of file information stored in a folder hierarchical structure, and more particularly to a huge number of music pieces stored in a folder hierarchical structure. The present invention relates to a music reproducing device for selecting desired music piece file information from the music piece file information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a vehicle-mounted music reproducing device, by reading and reproducing music data for each song recorded in a storage medium such as a cassette tape, a CD or an MD,
I was playing songs.

Further, in recent years, with the technical progress of large-capacity storage media, large-capacity storage media such as HDDs, DVDs or CD-ROMs have become widespread. For example, HDDs have a capacity of about 60 Gbytes. There are also things.

Further, as technical progress of data compression technology progresses, for example, MPEG1 Audio Layer III (hereinafter referred to simply as M
In the data compression technology of the P3 method), since the music data can be compressed to about 1/10 while suppressing the deterioration of quality due to the compression of the music data, the average music The data capacity is about 3 Mbytes. Therefore, even if it is simply considered, it is possible to record more than 300 pieces of music with, for example, a 1 Gbyte HDD.

Therefore, in the future, it is possible to mount a storage means, which is a large-capacity storage medium such as an HDD, a DVD, or a CD-ROM, on an in-vehicle audio reproducing device, so that the reproducing is performed even in an in-vehicle environment. It is expected that the number of music songs that can be made will be enormous.

However, assuming such a vehicle-mounted music reproducing device, if the number of music songs becomes enormous, it becomes complicated to select a desired song from the enormous number of songs while driving. It is possible that

Therefore, in order to efficiently select the desired music song file information from the HDD storing the music song file information of such a huge number of songs, for example, music song files for each music item such as performer or album name. A folder hierarchy structure for classifying information is required.

A music reproducing device using such a folder hierarchical structure includes music song file information, music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy containing this music song file information, and folder information of this lowest hierarchy. A storage unit, such as an HDD, which stores the music item folder information of the upper layer that is included and hierarchical for each music item in a folder hierarchical structure, an operation unit that selects the music item folder information for each layer, and this operation unit When the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected in, the music reproducing means is controlled so as to start the reproducing operation based on the music piece file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy. It has been proposed to have a control means.

[0009]

However, according to such a conventional music reproducing apparatus, since a large number of music piece file information is stored in the storage means such as the HDD, these music piece files are stored. Even if a folder hierarchy structure in which music item folder information including information is hierarchized is directly displayed on the display means, the number of songs of the music song file information and the number of stages of the folder hierarchy become enormous.
For example, like a car music player, while driving
The operation of selecting desired music song file information from a huge number of menus on the display screen becomes very complicated.

Further, even if it is not the above-mentioned music reproducing device,
Generally, in an information selection device that selects desired file information from a storage unit that stores a huge number of file information using a folder hierarchical structure, the number of file information and the number of folder layers are enormous. The operation of selecting desired file information from the huge menu on the display screen becomes very complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an operability for selecting desired file information from a huge number of file information by utilizing a folder hierarchical structure. It is to provide a significantly improved information selection device.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to utilize a folder hierarchical structure to generate desired music piece file information from a huge number of pieces of music piece file information. An object of the present invention is to provide a music reproducing device with greatly improved operability for selection.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the information selecting device of the present invention provides file information, folder information of the lowest hierarchy containing this file information, and folder information of this lowest hierarchy. A storage unit that stores the folder information of the upper hierarchy that is included and hierarchical for each item type in a folder hierarchy structure, a selection unit that selects the folder information for each hierarchy, and a folder of the lowest hierarchy by this selection unit. When the information is selected, an information selecting device having a control means for executing a control operation based on the file information included in the folder information of the lowest hierarchy, the highest hierarchy being stored in the storage means. Of the folder information of the uppermost layer, and display control means for displaying a list of the folder information of the highest hierarchy on the display means. Each time the desired folder information is selected by the selecting means from the list of the folder information displayed as an indicator on the folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs, from the storage means. The list of the read folder information of the read layer is displayed as an indicator on the display means.

Therefore, according to the information selection device of the present invention,
A list of folder information layered for each item type is displayed as an indicator on the display means, and each time the desired folder information is selected by the selection means from the list of the folder information displayed by the indicator, the selected desired folder information is selected. The folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and the list of the read folder information is displayed as an indicator on the display means, that is, the folder information list is displayed graphically. Therefore, it is possible to significantly improve the operability for selecting desired file information from a huge number of file information by using the folder hierarchical structure.

In the information selection device of the present invention, when the display control means reads the folder information of the same layer from the storage means so that the display means displays an indicator on the display means, the read folder information of the same layer is displayed. An identification display control means for displaying a list of the folder information on the display means as an indicator is provided so that individual folder information in the same hierarchy can be identified based on the number.

Therefore, according to the information selection device of the present invention,
Based on the number of folder information displayed by the indicator
To make it possible to identify individual folder information in the same hierarchy,
Since the list of the folder information is displayed as an indicator on the display means, the user can recognize the individual folder information from the indicator display.

In the information selection device of the present invention, the storage means stores the item type name for identifying the item type for each layer, and the display control means causes the item of the layer being displayed by the indicator of the display unit. The item type name for identifying the type is read from the storage means, and the item type name is displayed on the display means.

Therefore, according to the information selection device of the present invention,
Since the item type name related to the hierarchy of the folder information being displayed on the indicator is displayed on the display means, the user can visually recognize the item type of the current hierarchy on the indicator display.

In the information selection device of the present invention, when the display control means reads the item type name from the storage means, the item type name is converted into voice, and the voice converting means converts the voice. And a voice output means for outputting voice.

Therefore, according to the information selection device of the present invention,
When the item type name is read, the item type name is converted into voice and the voice converted is output as voice, so that the user can perceptually recognize the item type of the current layer on the indicator display. You can

In the information selection device of the present invention, each time the display control means selects desired folder information from the list of the folder information displayed by the indicator by the selection means, the desired folder information indicator is displayed. While displaying the display on the display means, the folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and the list of the read folder information of the hierarchy is being displayed. The indicator is displayed on the display means so as to be distinguishable from the indicator display.

Therefore, according to the information selection device of the present invention,
Each time the desired folder information is selected by the selecting means from the list of the folder information displayed by the indicator, the indicator display of the desired folder information is displayed, and the hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs. Since the folder information of the next lower hierarchy is read and the list of folder information of the read hierarchy is displayed as an indicator so as to be distinguishable from the indicator display being displayed, the folder hierarchy structure of the selected folder information Can be recognized as a whole.

In the information selection device of the present invention, the selection means is constructed in a touch panel format for selecting the folder information or file information being displayed on the display screen of the display means.

Therefore, according to the information selection device of the present invention,
Since the selection means is of the touch panel type, the user can select folder information or file information on the display screen.

In order to achieve the above object, the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises music song file information, and music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy including this music song file information,
A storage unit that stores the lower-layer folder information and stores the upper-layer music item folder information layered for each music item in a folder hierarchy structure, and a selection unit that selects the music item folder information for each layer. When the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected by this selecting means, the reproducing operation is started based on the music piece file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy.
A music reproducing device having control means for controlling music reproducing means, wherein the music item folder information of the highest hierarchy stored in the storage means is read and a list of the music item folder information of the highest hierarchy is displayed. A display control means for displaying an indicator on the display control means, each time the desired music item folder information is selected by the selection means from the list of the music item folder information displayed as an indicator on the display means. The music item folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired music item folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and the list of the music item folder information of the read hierarchy is displayed as an indicator on the display means. I chose

Therefore, according to the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention,
A list of music item folder information layered for each music item is displayed on the display means as an indicator, and each time the desired music item folder information is selected by the selecting means from the list of music item folder information displayed by the indicator, The music item folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired music item folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and the list of the read music item folder information of the hierarchy is displayed as an indicator on the display means. In other words, since the list of music item folder information is displayed as a graphic indicator, an operation for selecting a desired music song file information from a huge number of music song file information by using the folder hierarchy structure It is possible to significantly improve the property.

In the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention, when the display control means selects the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy by the selecting means, it is included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy. The playback position from the beginning of the song to the end of the song of the music song file information is displayed as an indicator on the display means, and when any playback position in the indicator display is selected by the selection means, playback is performed from this arbitrary playback position. The music reproducing means is controlled so as to start the operation.

Therefore, according to the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention,
When the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected, the playback position from the beginning of the music to the end of the music of the music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is displayed as an indicator on the display means. The control means starts the reproduction operation from the arbitrary reproduction position when the arbitrary reproduction position in the indicator display is selected by the selection means, so that the user visually recognizes the arbitrary reproduction position. The playback operation can be started from.

The music reproducing device of the present invention has a selection monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the selection operation by the selection means is performed within a predetermined time with respect to the music item folder information indicated by the indicator on the display means. When the selection monitoring unit determines that the selection operation of the music item folder information is not performed, the control unit controls the music included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently displayed by the indicator. The music file information is read from the storage means, and the music reproducing means is controlled so as to start the reproducing operation based on the music music file information.

Therefore, according to the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention,
When it is determined that there is no selection operation by the selecting means within the predetermined time with respect to the music item folder information displayed by the indicator, the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently displayed by the indicator is included. Since the music reproducing means is controlled so as to read out the music piece file information to be reproduced and start the reproducing operation based on the music piece file information, the user can obtain not only the desired music piece file information but also the desired music piece file information. It is possible to listen to music item folder information, for example, music of music song file information corresponding to an album name or a performer name.

In the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention, when the control means has a plurality of music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently displayed by the indicator, these music pieces are played. The music reproducing means is controlled so as to start reproducing music in a predetermined order based on music file information.

Therefore, according to the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention,
When there is a plurality of music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently being displayed by the indicator, the song reproduction in a predetermined order is started based on these music song file information. Therefore, the user can sequentially listen to the desired music item folder information, for example, the music of the plurality of music song file information corresponding to the album name and the performer name.

In the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the folder hierarchical structure of the music item folder information is constructed by layering storage medium designation information, performer name information, album name information, and song name information in order from the highest layer. I chose

Therefore, according to the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention,
Since the folder hierarchical structure of the music item folder information is hierarchically configured in the order of the storage medium designation information, the performer name information, the album name information, and the song name information from the highest level, the user can store the storage medium name, You can listen to music corresponding to the performer's name, album name, and song name.

[0035]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the inside of an information selection device showing a first embodiment.

This information selection device is a device for selecting desired file information from a storage means that stores a huge number of file information by using a folder hierarchical structure.

The information selection device 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes file information, folder information of the lowest hierarchy containing this file information, and folder information of this lowest hierarchy,
A storage unit 11 that stores, in a folder hierarchical structure, upper-level folder information that is layered for each item type, a selection unit 12 that selects folder information for each layer, and a folder that is the lowest layer by this selection unit 12. When the information is selected, the control means 14 for executing the control operation of the drive means 13 based on the file information included in the folder information of the lowest hierarchy and the folder of the highest hierarchy stored in the storage means 11. Display control means 16 is provided for reading information and displaying a list of the folder information of the highest hierarchy on the display means 15 as an indicator.

The storage means 11 is, for example, the highest layer, the second layer.
It is assumed that the folder has a four-layer hierarchical structure including a hierarchy, a third hierarchy, and a lowest hierarchy.

Each time the display means 15 selects the desired folder information from the list of the folder information displayed on the display means 15 by the selection means 12, the display control means 16 selects the layer to which the selected desired folder information belongs. The folder information of the next lower hierarchy is read from the storage means 11, and the list of the read folder information of the hierarchy is displayed as an indicator on the display means 15. The indicator display is a graphic band display shown in FIG.

Further, the display control means 16 is the display means 1
When the folder information of the same layer is read from the storage means 11 so as to be displayed as an indicator on 5, the individual folder information of the same layer can be identified based on the number of the read folder information of the same layer. Further, it has an identification display control means 16A for displaying a list of these folder information on the display means 15 as an indicator.

The storage means 11 stores the item type name for identifying the item type for each layer, and the display control means 16
The item type name for identifying the item type of the layer being displayed by the indicator of the display unit 15 is read from the storage unit 11 and the item type name is displayed on the display unit 15.

Further, in the information selection device 10, when the display control means 16 reads the item type name from the storage means 11,
A voice conversion means 17 for converting this item type name into voice,
It has a voice output unit 18 that outputs the voice converted by the voice conversion unit 17.

Further, the display control means 16 displays the indicator display of the desired folder information on the display means 15 every time the desired folder information is selected by the selection means 12 from the list of the displayed folder information. As it is, the folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs is read from the storage means 11, and the list of the read folder information of the hierarchy can be distinguished from the indicator display being displayed. In addition, an indicator is displayed on the display means 15.

Further, the selecting means 12 is constituted by a touch panel type for selecting the folder information or file information being displayed on the display screen of the display means 15.

Next, the operation of the information selection device 10 showing the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing operation relating to the file information selection processing of the information selection device 10 showing the first embodiment.

The file information selection process shown in FIG. 2 is a process of selecting desired file information from a huge number of file information stored in the storage means 11.

In FIG. 2, the display control means 16 of the information selection device 10 reads out the folder information of the highest hierarchy from the storage means 11 through the control means 14 (step S1).
1) The number of folder information read from the storage unit 11 is detected (step S12).

The display control means 16 calculates the indicator range corresponding to each folder information based on the number of folder information (step S13). The indicator range is, for example, the indicator display 50 of the highest layer.
In the case of, since there are three pieces of folder information in the highest hierarchy, it is divided into three indicator ranges 50A as shown in FIG.

The display control means 16 displays a list of folder information of the same hierarchy on the display means 15 based on the indicator range as shown in FIG. 3A (step S14). It should be noted that the list of individual folder information may be identified and displayed in color.

The display control means 16 reads out the item type name of the same layer and the folder name of the folder information in the indicator display from the storage means 11 (step S15). Note that the item type name is the name of the item type for each layer, and in FIG. 3 is the top layer, the second layer, the third layer, and the bottom layer for convenience of explanation, and the folder name is the name of each folder information. And, for example, AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EE
It is designated as E.

The display control means 16 displays on the display means 15 the item type name of the same layer in the indicator display on the screen (step S16). In addition, in the display screen of FIG.
“Top level” is displayed on the screen as the item type name 60. Further, the “top level”, which is the item type name, is voice-converted through the voice converting means 17 so that the “top level” is voice-outputted from the voice output means 18.

Further, the display control means 16 comprises the selection means 1
It is determined whether or not the touch selection operation by 2 is detected (step S17). If the touch selection operation by the selection means 12 is detected, the identification display control means 16A
The indicator range 50B corresponding to the touched position is identified and displayed, for example, highlighted as shown in FIG. 3A (step S18).

Further, the display control means 16 reads the folder name of the folder information corresponding to the indicator range corresponding to this touch position from the storage means 11 and displays this folder name (step S19). Note that FIG. 3 (A)
In the display screen of, “AAA” is displayed on the screen as the folder name 70.

Further, the display control means 16 comprises the selection means 1
It is determined whether or not the touch selection determination operation by 2 is detected (step S20). If the touch selection determination operation is detected, it is determined that the desired folder information is selected, and whether the folder information of the lower hierarchy to which the folder information of the indicator range corresponding to the touch position belongs is in the storage unit 11. It is determined whether or not (step S21).

When it is determined that the folder information of the lower hierarchy to which the folder information of the indicator range corresponding to this touch position belongs is in the storage means 11, the display control means 16 stores the folder information of this lower hierarchy in the storage means 11. Is read out (step S22), and the process proceeds to step S12 in order to display the folder information of the lower hierarchy as an indicator.

If the touch selection operation is not detected in step S17, the process is monitored until the touch selection operation is detected. If the touch selection determination operation is not detected in step S20, the process proceeds to step S17.

When it is determined in step S21 that the folder information of the lower hierarchy to which the folder information of the indicator range corresponding to the touch position belongs does not exist in the storage means 11, the folder information currently displayed by the indicator is the folder of the lowest hierarchy. It is determined that the information is the information, the file information included in the folder information of the lowest hierarchy is read from the storage means 11 (step S23), and the control operation of the driving means 13 is executed based on this file information (step S2).
4) The processing operation is finished.

According to the first embodiment, a list of folder information hierarchized for each item type is displayed on the display means 15 as an indicator, and desired folder information is selected from the list of folder information displayed by the indicator. Each time it is selected by 12, the storage unit 11 stores the folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs.
The list of folder information of the read hierarchy is displayed on the display means 15 as an indicator.
In other words, the list of folder information is displayed as a graphic indicator, so the operability for selecting desired file information from a huge number of file information by using the folder hierarchy structure is greatly improved. You can

Further, according to the first embodiment, the folder information list is displayed by the display means so that individual folder information in the same hierarchy can be identified based on the number of folder information displayed in the indicator. Since the indicator is displayed on 15, the user can recognize the individual folder information from the indicator display.

Further, according to the first embodiment, since the item type name related to the hierarchy of the folder information being displayed on the indicator is displayed on the display means 15, the user can display the current hierarchy on the indicator display. The item type of can be visually recognized.

Further, according to the first embodiment, when the item type name is read, the item type name is converted into voice,
Since this converted voice is output as voice,
The user can auditorily recognize the item type of the current layer on the indicator display.

According to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), each time the desired folder information is selected from the list of the folder information displayed by the indicator by the selecting means 12, the desired indicator of the desired folder information is displayed while the indicator display of the desired folder information is displayed. The folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the folder information of belongs to is read out, and the list of the read-out folder information of the hierarchy is displayed as an indicator so that it can be distinguished from the indicator being displayed. The folder hierarchical structure of folder information can be recognized as a whole.

It should be noted that the four-layer folder hierarchical structure related to the selected folder information is displayed on the display means 15 as an indicator as shown in FIG. 3B.
For example, even if you change the selection of the desired file information after selecting the file information included in the folder information of the lowest hierarchy, instead of selecting the folder information from the highest hierarchy again, the indicator display By easily selecting the folder information including the desired file information from the indicator display of the second hierarchy, the third hierarchy, etc., the complicated operation until the desired file information is selected can be omitted.

In this case, for example, when the desired folder information of the second layer is selected, the indicator displays of the currently displayed third layer and the lowest layer are erased, and the second layer is displayed again.
This is an indicator display of a list of folder information of the third hierarchy included in desired folder information of the hierarchy.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a music reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the inside of the music reproducing device according to the second embodiment.

The music reproducing device is a device for selectively reproducing desired music piece file information from the storage means which stores a huge number of pieces of music piece file information by using the folder hierarchical structure.

The music reproducing device 20 shown in FIG. 4 stores music data, for example, CD 21A, DVD 21B, M
Storage medium 21 such as HDD 21C storing P3 data
And music data or MP3 recorded on the storage medium 21.
A music reproducing unit 22 for reproducing data (music song file information) and the like, a voice converting unit 23 for converting text information into voice information, a speaker 24 for outputting this voice converted voice information by voice, a user's voice, etc. A microphone 25 for picking up sound, a voice recognition section 26 for recognizing the picked up sound, and a display section 27 for displaying various information on the screen.
A touch panel 28 for inputting various commands on the display screen of the display unit 27; a display control unit 29 for controlling the display of the display unit 27;
It has a microcomputer 30 for controlling the whole.

The storage medium 21 stores music song file information,
The music item folder information of the lowest layer that contains this music song file information and the music item folder information of the upper layer that contains this folder information of the lowest layer and is layered for each music item have a folder hierarchy structure. I remember.

The touch panel 28 is for selecting music item folder information for each layer on the display screen.

When the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected on the touch panel 28, the microcomputer 30 outputs the music reproducing section 22 based on the music piece file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy. The control operation of is executed.

The display control unit 29 reads out the music item folder information of the highest hierarchy stored in the storage medium 21, displays the list of the music item folder information of the highest hierarchy on the display unit 27 as an indicator, and at the same time displays the display unit. Every time the desired music item folder information is selected from the list of music item folder information indicated by the indicator 27 on the touch panel 28, the music of the lower layer next to the layer to which the selected desired music item folder information belongs The item folder information is read from the storage medium 21, and a list of the read music item folder information of the hierarchy is displayed on the display unit 27 as an indicator.

Further, when the music item folder information of the same layer is read from the storage medium 21 so that the indicator 27 is displayed on the display unit 27, the display control unit 29 determines the number of the read music item folder information of the same layer. On the basis of this, an identification display control unit 29A for displaying a list of the music item folder information as an indicator on the display unit 27 is provided so that the individual music item folder information in the same hierarchy can be identified.

Further, when the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected on the touch panel 28, the display controller 29 starts from the beginning of the music of the music music file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy. The reproduction position up to the end of the song is displayed on the display unit 27 as an indicator (reference numeral 80 shown in FIG. 6), and when an arbitrary reproduction position 80A displayed on the touch panel 28 is selected, the music reproduction unit 22 selects an arbitrary position. The reproduction operation from the reproduction position 80A is executed.

Further, the microcomputer 30 has selection monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the music item folder information indicated by the indicator on the display unit 27 has been selected by the touch panel 28 within a predetermined time. When it is determined that there is no operation for selecting the folder information, the music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently displayed by the indicator is read from the storage medium 21, and these music song files are read. The music reproducing unit 22 is controlled so as to start the reproducing operation based on the information.

Further, when there is a plurality of music piece file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently being displayed by the indicator, the microcomputer 30 determines a predetermined value based on the music piece file information. The music reproducing unit 22 is controlled so as to reproduce music in order.

The music item folder information is composed of a four-folder hierarchy structure of the highest hierarchy, the second hierarchy, the third hierarchy, and the lowest hierarchy. The highest hierarchy is the storage medium designation information and the second hierarchy is the performer name. Information, the third layer is album name information, and the lowest layer is song name information.

The storage medium designation information is C in the storage medium 21.
Information for designating a source such as D21A, DVD21B, HDD21C, performer name information is information for designating a performer name, album name information is information for designating an album name, and song name information is a song. This is information for doing.

The storage means described in the claims is the storage medium 2.
1, a touch panel 28 as a selection unit, a music reproduction unit 22 as a music reproduction unit, a microcomputer 30 as a control unit, a display control unit 29 as a display control unit, and an identification display control unit 2 as an identification display control unit.
9A, the voice conversion unit corresponds to the voice conversion unit 23, and the voice output unit corresponds to the speaker 24.

Next, the operation of the music reproducing device 20 according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing operation relating to the music piece file reproduction processing of the music reproduction device 20 according to the second embodiment.

The music song file reproduction process shown in FIG. 5 is
This is a process of selecting desired music piece file information from a huge number of pieces of music piece file information stored in the storage medium 21.

In FIG. 5, the display control unit 29 of the music reproducing device 20 reads the music item folder information (storage medium designation information) of the highest hierarchy from the storage medium 21 (step S
31), the number of music item folder information read from the storage medium 21 is detected (step S32).

The display control unit 29 calculates the indicator range corresponding to each music item folder information based on the number of music item folder information (step S33). still,
This indicator range is, for example, in the case of the indicator display 50 of the highest hierarchy, since there are three pieces of music item folder information of the highest hierarchy, it is divided into three indicator ranges 50A as shown in FIG. Become.

The display control unit 29 displays a list of music item folder information of the same layer on the display unit 27 based on the indicator range on the display unit 27 as shown in FIG. 6 (step S34).

The display control unit 29 reads out the music item type name of the same layer and the folder name of the music item folder information in the indicator display from the storage medium 21 (step S3).
5). The music item type name is the name of the item type for each level, for example, the highest level is the source name, the second level is the performer name, the third level is the album name, and the lowest level is the song name.
In FIG. 6, for convenience of description, the highest level, the second level, the third level, and the lowest level are used, and the folder name is the name of individual folder information.

The display control unit 29 displays the music item type name of the same layer in the indicator display on the display unit 27 (step S36). In the display screen of FIG. 6, “source” is displayed on the screen as the music item type name 60 of the highest hierarchy, for example. Further, the “source”, which is the name of the music item type, is voice-converted through the voice converting unit 23 so that the “source” is output as voice from the speaker 24.

The microcomputer 30 starts the timer operation of the predetermined time timer (step S37) and determines whether or not the touch selection operation on the touch panel 28 is detected (step S38).

If the touch selection operation on the touch panel 28 is detected, the identification display control unit 29A displays the indicator range corresponding to the touch position in an identification display, for example, reverse display as shown in FIG. 6 (step S39).

Further, the display control unit 29 reads out the folder name of the music item folder information corresponding to the indicator range 50B corresponding to this touch position from the storage medium 21 and displays this folder name (step S40).
In the display screen of FIG. 6, for example, “HDD” is displayed as the selected folder name 70 of the highest hierarchy.

Further, the display control unit 29 determines whether or not a touch selection determining operation on the touch panel 28 has been detected (step S41). If the touch selection determination operation is detected, it is determined that the desired music item folder information is selected, and the music item folder information of the lower hierarchy to which the music item folder information of the indicator range corresponding to this touch position belongs is stored. It is determined whether the medium 11 is present (step S42).

When the display control means 16 determines that the music item folder information of the lower hierarchy to which the music item folder information of the indicator range corresponding to the touch position belongs is present in the storage medium 21, the music item of the lower hierarchy. Read the folder information from the storage medium 21 (step S43),
In order to display the music item folder information in the lower hierarchy as an indicator, the process proceeds to step S32.

When it is determined in step S42 that the music item folder information of the lower hierarchy to which the music item folder information of the indicator range corresponding to the touch position belongs does not exist in the storage medium 21, the music item folder information currently displaying the indicator. Is determined to be the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy, the music piece file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is read from the storage medium 21 (step S44), and this music piece file information is set. Based on this, the music reproducing section 22 executes a reproducing operation (step S
45) and terminates this processing operation.

If the touch selection operation is not detected in step S38 or the touch selection determination operation is not detected in step S41, it is determined whether or not the predetermined time timer started in step S37 has expired. Is determined (step S46).

If the predetermined time timer has not expired, the process proceeds to step S38. If the predetermined time timer has timed up, all music song file information in the lowest hierarchy of the same hierarchy is read from the storage medium 21 (step S47), and a predetermined order is given to these all music song file information (step S48). ), The music piece file information is sequentially reproduced in this predetermined order (step S49), and this processing operation is ended. Although the music piece file information is sequentially reproduced in a predetermined order in step S48, it may be reproduced randomly.

Next, a description will be given of the operation when the desired music piece file information is selected in step S44 and then this music piece file information is displayed as an indicator on the display screen as shown in FIG.

When the music item folder information of the lowest layer is selected on the touch panel 28, the display control section 29 selects from the beginning of the song to the end of the song of the music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest layer. The playback positions up to are displayed as indicators on the display unit 27 (reference numeral 80 shown in FIG. 6).

Further, the microcomputer 30 uses the touch panel 2
When an arbitrary reproduction position 80A displayed on the indicator is selected at 8, the music reproduction unit 22 is caused to execute the reproduction operation from the selected arbitrary reproduction position 80A. Similarly, since the indicator display during the reproducing operation also reversely displays the reproducing position after the reproducing operation according to the reproducing operation, the user visually recognizes the length of the music being reproduced. be able to.

According to the second embodiment, a list of music item folder information layered for each music item is displayed on the display unit 27 as an indicator, and a desired music is selected from the list of music item folder information displayed by the indicator. Each time the item folder information is selected on the touch panel 28, the music item folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired music item folder information belongs is stored in the storage medium 21.
Since the list of the music item folder information of the read hierarchy is displayed as an indicator on the display unit 27, that is, the list of the music item folder information is displayed as a graphic indicator, the folder hierarchy structure is read. It is possible to significantly improve the operability for selecting desired music piece file information from a huge number of pieces of music piece file information.

According to the second embodiment, based on the number of pieces of music item folder information displayed in the indicator, individual pieces of music item folder information in the same layer can be identified so that these pieces of music item folder information can be identified. Since the list is displayed as an indicator on the display unit 27, the user can recognize the individual music item folder information from the indicator display.

Further, according to the second embodiment, since the music item type name relating to the hierarchy of the music item folder information being displayed on the indicator is displayed on the display unit 27, the user can display the indicator on the indicator display. The music item type of the current layer can be visually recognized.

Further, according to the second embodiment, when the music item type name is read out, the music item type name is converted into voice and the voice converted voice is output as voice. , It is possible to auditorily recognize the music item type of the current layer on the indicator display.

According to the second embodiment, when the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected, the music piece file information contained in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected from the beginning of the music to the end of the music. The playback position up to is displayed on the display unit 27 as an indicator and the touch panel 28
When an arbitrary reproduction position in the indicator display is selected at, the music reproduction unit 22 executes the reproduction operation from the arbitrary reproduction position, so that the user can visually perform the reproduction operation from the arbitrary reproduction position. You can start.

According to the second embodiment, when it is determined that there is no selection operation by the touch panel 28 within the predetermined time for the indicator-displayed music item folder information, the music item folder currently being displayed by the indicator is displayed. Since the music song file information included in the music item information of the lowest hierarchy related to the information is read out and the reproducing operation by the music reproducing unit 22 is executed based on these music song file information, the user can obtain the desired music. Not only the music file information but also desired music item folder information, for example, music of music music file information corresponding to an album name or a performer's name can be heard.

Further, according to the second embodiment, when there are a plurality of music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently being displayed by the indicator, when there are a plurality of these music pieces, Since the music file information is sequentially reproduced in a predetermined order, the user can sequentially listen to desired music item folder information, for example, music of a plurality of music music file information corresponding to album names and performer names. .

Further, according to the second embodiment, the music item folder information is hierarchically constructed in the order of the storage medium designation information, the performer name information, the album name information and the song name information from the highest hierarchy. Therefore, the user can listen to music corresponding to the source name, performer name, album name, and song name.

It should be noted that although the four-stage folder hierarchical structure relating to the selected folder information is displayed on the display unit 27 as shown in FIG.
For example, even if the selection of the desired music song file information is changed after selecting the music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy, the music item folder information is selected again from the highest hierarchy. Rather than going forward, the desired music piece file information is selected by selecting the music item folder information including the desired music piece file information from the indicator display of the second layer, the third layer, etc. in the indicator display. The complicated operation up to can be omitted. In this case, for example, when the desired folder information of the second hierarchy is selected, the currently displayed third hierarchy and the indicator display of the lowest hierarchy are erased, and the third desired folder information of the second hierarchy is newly included. This is an indicator display of a list of hierarchical folder information.

Further, in the second embodiment,
The MP3 data recorded in the HDD 21C has been described as a folder hierarchical structure, but in the case of a CD or DVD,
For example, a folder hierarchical structure may be formed by album numbers and song numbers recorded on individual CDs or DVDs, and each layer of these folder hierarchical structures may be indicated by an indicator.

In the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, the selection means is operated by the touch panel 28, but the cursor selection or the click selection may be performed by the button or the mouse.

The storage medium 21 is a CD 21A, a DVD 2
The HDD 21C that records 1B and MP3 data has been described as an example, but the H that records MD and WAVE files.
It goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even when applied to DD.

In addition, in the second embodiment described above,
The music item folder information is configured by hierarchically arranging storage medium designation information, performer name information, album name information, and song name information from the highest level. For example, for each music genre item such as classical music, pops, and enka. The music item folder information may be hierarchically structured. In this case, if the storage medium designation information, music genre information, performer name information, album name information, and song name information are hierarchically arranged from the highest hierarchy. By selecting a favorite music genre, the user can also listen to desired music from that music genre.

When the information selection device according to the first embodiment and the music playback device according to the second embodiment are applied to an in-vehicle device, the operability thereof is good, so that the vehicle is running. Even in this case, it can greatly contribute to the safety of traveling operation.

[0112]

According to the information selection device of the present invention configured as described above, a list of folder information hierarchized for each item type is displayed as an indicator on the display means, and the list of folder information displayed by this indicator is displayed. Each time the desired folder information is selected by the selecting means from the storage means, the folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs is read out from the storage means, and the list of the folder information of the read hierarchy Is displayed on the display means as an indicator, that is, the list of folder information is displayed as a graphic indicator, so that desired file information is selected from a huge number of file information by utilizing the folder hierarchy structure. Therefore, the operability can be greatly improved.

Further, according to the music reproducing apparatus of the present invention, a list of music item folder information hierarchized for each music item is displayed as an indicator on the display means, and a desired music item folder information list is displayed from the indicator display. Each time the music item folder information is selected by the selecting means, the music item folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired music item folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and the music of the read hierarchy is read. Since the list of item folder information is displayed as an indicator on the display means, that is, the list of music item folder information is displayed as a graphic indicator, a huge number of music song files can be used by using the folder hierarchy structure. The operability for selecting desired music song file information from the information can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the inside of an information selection device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing operation relating to file information selection processing of the information selection device according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of the information selection device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration inside a music reproducing device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing operation relating to a music piece file reproducing process of the music reproducing device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of the music reproducing device according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Information selection equipment 11 storage means 12 Selection means 13 Drive means 14 Control means 15 Display means 16 Display control means 16A identification display control means 17 Voice conversion means 18 audio output means 20 music player 21 storage medium (storage means) 22 Music playback unit (music playback means) 23 Voice converter (voice converter) 24 speakers (voice output means) 27 Display unit (display means) 28 Touch panel (selection means) 29 Display control unit (display control means) 29A Identification display control unit (identification display control means) 30 Microcomputer (control means)

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5B082 EA01 GC04                 5D077 AA22 AA23 BA08 CA02 DC08                       DC15 EA06 EA08 HA01 HC05                 5E501 AA20 AC33 BA05 CA08 CB05                       EA05 EA13 EB05 FA01 FA09                       FA22 FA32 FB28

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A folder comprising file information, folder information of the lowest hierarchy containing this file information, and folder information of the upper hierarchy containing this folder information of the lowest hierarchy and hierarchized by item type. A storage unit that stores in a hierarchical structure, a selection unit that selects folder information for each layer, and a file included in the folder information of the lowest layer when the folder information of the lowest layer is selected by this selection unit. An information selection device having a control means for executing a control operation based on information, wherein the folder information of the highest hierarchy stored in the storage means is read, and a list of the folder information of the highest hierarchy is displayed on the display means. Display control means for displaying an indicator, wherein the display control means is a desired folder from a list of folder information displayed as an indicator on the display means. Each time the information is selected by the selection means, the folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and a list of the read folder information of the hierarchy is obtained. An information selection device characterized by displaying an indicator on a display means. 2. The display control means, when the folder information of the same hierarchy is read from the storage means so as to be displayed as an indicator on the display means, the display control means displays the same folder information based on the number of the read folder information of the same hierarchy. 2. An identification display control means for displaying a list of the folder information as an indicator on the display means so that individual folder information of the hierarchy can be identified.
Information selection device described. 3. The storage unit stores an item type name for identifying an item type for each layer, and the display control unit identifies an item type for a layer in an indicator display of the display unit. The information selection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the name is read from the storage means and the item type name is displayed on the display means. 4. The display control unit reads out an item type name from the storage unit, and a voice converting unit for converting the item type name into a voice, and a voice output by the voice converted by the voice converting unit. The information selection device according to claim 3, further comprising a voice output unit. 5. The display control means, each time desired folder information is selected by the selection means from the list of folder information displayed by the indicator,
While the indicator display of the desired folder information is displayed on the display means, the folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the selected desired folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and the read folder information of the hierarchy. 4. The information selection device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the list is displayed on the display means so as to be distinguishable from the displayed indicator. 6. The selection means comprises a touch panel for selecting the folder information or file information being displayed on the display screen of the display means. The information selection device described in 4 or 5. 7. An upper layer, which is layered for each music item, including music song file information, music item folder information of the lowest layer that contains this music song file information, and folder information of this lowest layer. Storage means for storing the music item folder information of No. 1 in a folder hierarchical structure, selecting means for selecting music item folder information for each hierarchy, and music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected by this selecting means, A music reproducing device having a control means for controlling the music reproducing means so as to start the reproducing operation based on the music piece file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy, Display control for reading the stored music item folder information of the highest hierarchy and displaying a list of these music item folder information of the highest hierarchy as an indicator on the display means. Each time the desired music item folder information is selected by the selection device from the list of the music item folder information displayed as an indicator on the display device, the display control device has a selected step. Music reproduction characterized in that the music item folder information of the next lower hierarchy of the hierarchy to which the music item folder information belongs is read from the storage means, and a list of the read music item folder information of the hierarchy is displayed as an indicator on the display means. apparatus. 8. The display control means, when the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy is selected by the selecting means, the music of the music music file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy. The playback position from the beginning to the end of the song is displayed on the display means as an indicator, and when the control means selects an arbitrary playback position on the indicator display, the playback operation is performed from this arbitrary playback position. 8. The music reproducing device according to claim 7, wherein the music reproducing means is controlled so as to start. 9. The selection means for observing whether or not the selection operation by the selection means has been performed within a predetermined time for the music item folder information indicated by the indicator on the display means, the control means comprising: When the selection monitoring means determines that the music item folder information is not selected, the music piece file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently displayed by the indicator is stored. 9. The music reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the music reproducing means is controlled so that the reproducing operation is started based on the music piece file information read from the means. 10. The control means, when there are a plurality of music song file information included in the music item folder information of the lowest hierarchy related to the music item folder information currently displayed by the indicator, based on these music song file information. 10. The music reproducing device according to claim 9, wherein the music reproducing means is controlled so as to start reproducing music in a predetermined order. 11. The folder hierarchical structure of the music item folder information is configured by hierarchically layering storage medium designation information, performer name information, album name information, and song name information in order from the highest layer. The music reproducing device according to 7, 8, 9 or 10.