JP2011169621A - Map display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a map display device improve the visibility of facility icons, while preventing part of facility icons that overlap one another from being undisplayed. <P>SOLUTION: Among facility icons 21a-21i which are displayed being overlapped on a map (20), the facility icons 21a-21d are mutually overlapped and the visibility of the facility icon 21a-21d is poor. In such a case, a user presses the part where the facility icon 21a-21d are overlapped. As the result, the reduction scale of the map (20) is changed to the reduction scale so that the facility icons 21a-21d do not overlap each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a map display device that displays facility icons on a map.

  When the icons displayed on the map overlap each other, an automobile navigation device that displays only icons having a high display priority is known as a prior art (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-10091

  In a conventional navigation device as described in Patent Document 1, when icons overlap, an icon with a low display priority is not displayed. Therefore, there is a case where a facility corresponding to an icon that is not displayed is misidentified as not being in a place where the icons overlap.

(1) The map display device of the invention of claim 1 is a display control means for displaying an icon corresponding to a feature on a display monitor in correspondence with the position of the feature on the map, and an arbitrary place on the display monitor. A monitor position selecting means for selecting, an overlap determining means for determining whether or not a plurality of icons existing around the position on the display monitor selected by the monitor position selecting means, and a plurality of icons by the overlap determining means Scale determining means for determining the scale at which the overlapped icons are displayed on the display monitor without overlapping, and the display control means is determined by the scale determining means. The map and icons are displayed on a scale that does not overlap the icons.
(2) The invention of claim 2 is the map display device according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays a map of a reduced scale in which the plurality of icons do not overlap instead of a map in which the plurality of icons overlap. It is characterized by displaying.
(3) The invention according to claim 3 is the map display device according to claim 1, wherein the display control means is a part or all of a reduced scale map in which the plurality of icons do not overlap with the map in which the plurality of icons overlap. Are displayed on a display monitor.
(4) The invention of claim 4 is the map display device according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays a map in which a plurality of icons are overlapped in the first area of the display monitor, and the plurality of icons are displayed. A map having a scale that does not overlap is displayed in a second area of a display monitor different from the first area.
(5) The invention of claim 5 is a display means for displaying a building on a map, a facility icon storage means for storing a facility icon corresponding to a facility provided in the building, and a building displayed on the display means. It comprises selection means for selecting an object, and display control means for displaying a facility icon related to the building selected by the selection means on the display means.
(6) The map display device according to claim 5, wherein the display control means generates an icon display region for generating an icon display region for displaying a facility icon in a region different from the display region of the building. Means, and icon display position control means for displaying a facility icon in the icon display area.
(7) The invention of claim 7 is the map display device according to claim 6, wherein the facility icon storage means stores a plurality of facility icons, and the icon display position control means has a plurality of facility icons in the icon display area. It is characterized by displaying so as not to overlap each other.
(8) The invention of claim 8 is a facility for selecting one of the facility icons when a plurality of facility icons are displayed without overlapping in the map display device according to claim 1 to 4 or 7. Facility information display that displays facility information corresponding to the facility icon when the facility icon is selected by the icon selection unit, the facility information storage unit that stores facility information about the facility corresponding to the facility icon, and the facility icon selection unit And means.

  According to the present invention, the scale of the map is selected so that the facility icons displayed on the display monitor do not overlap each other, and the map at the scale of the selected map is displayed. Therefore, the visibility of the facility icon can be improved without hiding a part of the facility icon that has overlapped.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the display process of the facility icon in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the display process of the facility icon in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the determination method of the reduced scale of the map in which a facility icon does not overlap. It is a figure for demonstrating the enlarged view of the scale with which facility icons do not overlap. It is a figure for demonstrating the display process of the facility icon by a speech balloon. It is a figure for demonstrating the Example at the time of recognizing a facility icon as a circle.

  FIG. 1 shows a navigation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. When a plurality of facility icons are displayed on the map displayed on the display monitor 16, the navigation device 1 can switch to a scale that does not overlap them.

  The navigation device 1 includes a control circuit 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, a current location detection device 14, an image memory 15, a display monitor 16, a speaker 17, an input device 18, a touch panel 19, a touch panel control unit 110, and a disk drive 111. The disk drive 111 is loaded with a storage medium such as a DVD-ROM 112 in which map data is stored. The storage medium for storing the map data is not limited to the DVD-ROM 112 but may be a CD-ROM or a hard disk.

  The control circuit 11 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and performs various controls by executing a control program stored in the ROM 12 using the RAM 13 as a work area. The control circuit 11 performs a predetermined route search (described later) process based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 112. Then, the processing result is displayed on the display monitor 16 as a recommended route (described later).

  The current location detection device 14 is a device that detects the current location of the vehicle. The current location detection device 14 includes a vibration gyro 14a, a vehicle speed sensor 14b, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 14c, and the like. The vibration gyro 14a detects the traveling direction of the vehicle, the vehicle speed sensor 14b detects the vehicle speed, and the GPS sensor 14c detects a GPS signal from a GPS satellite. The navigation device 1 determines a map display range, a route search start point, and the like based on the current location of the vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14. Further, the current location of the vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14 is displayed on the map as the vehicle position mark.

  The image memory 15 stores image data to be displayed on the display monitor 16. The image data includes road map drawing data and various graphic data, which are appropriately generated in the control circuit 11 based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 112.

  The disk drive 111 reads map data from the DVD-ROM 112. The map data includes map display data, route search data, facility data, and the like. The map display data and the route search data include road link information and node information stored in the map data. The facility data includes detailed information such as the location, name, type, and address and business hours of various facilities. A facility icon for displaying the facility is determined based on the facility type information.

  The map display data has map data of a plurality of scales from wide areas to details, and the scale of the display map can be changed according to a user request.

  The display monitor 16 displays various information such as a road map near the vehicle position to the user based on various information such as map data. The speaker 17 outputs sound for instructing the user to perform various input operations and for guiding the route. The input device 18 has operation keys that are operated by a user for setting various commands, and is realized by a button switch on the operation panel, a hard switch around the panel, or the like.

  The touch panel 19 is a transparent touch switch laminated on the surface of the display monitor 16, and an image displayed on the display monitor 16 is displayed through the touch panel 19. Accordingly, when the user presses various buttons and display menus displayed on the display monitor 16 with a finger, the touch panel 19 is operated. The touch panel 19 sends a signal corresponding to the operation position on the touch panel 19 to the touch panel control unit 110, and the touch panel control unit 110 calculates the operation position of the touch panel 19. As a result, processing defined in various buttons and display menus displayed on the display monitor 16 is executed.

  The user sets the destination by operating the input device 18 and the touch panel 19 in accordance with an instruction on the display screen of the display monitor 16 and a voice instruction from the speaker 17.

  When the destination is set by the user, the control circuit 11 sets the destination as the end point of the route search according to the control program stored in the ROM 12. Then, the route calculation from the start point to the end point of the route search is performed using the route search data. The route thus obtained (hereinafter referred to as a recommended route) is displayed on the display monitor 16 so as to be distinguished from other roads by changing the display form, for example, the display color. Thereby, the user can recognize the recommended route on the road map on the display monitor 16. In addition, the navigation device 1 instructs the user in the direction of travel using a screen or voice so that the vehicle can travel according to the recommended route, thereby guiding the route.

  Next, the facility icon display process according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A is a diagram for explaining the display on the display monitor 16. A map 20 is displayed on the display monitor 16, and facility icons 21 a to 21 i are displayed on the map 20. A facility icon is set in advance for each type of facility. Of the displayed facility icons, facility icons 21a and 21e represent supermarkets, and facility icons 21b and 21f represent gas stations. Moreover, the facility icons 21c, 21g, and 21i represent convenience stores, and the facility icons 21d and 21h represent restaurants. The user can change the type of facility displayed as a facility icon on the display monitor 16 by a predetermined operation.

  Of the facility icons 21a to 21i displayed on the map 20, the facility icons 21a to 21d overlap each other, and the visibility of the facility icons 21a to 21d is poor. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the user presses a portion where the facility icons 21a to 21d overlap each other, as shown in FIG. 2C, the facility icons 21a to 21d The display is changed to a scale map 20 that does not overlap.

  Next, the facility icon display processing in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the navigation apparatus 1 displays a map in a north-up manner, and east-west is referred to as an x-axis of the screen and north-south is referred to as a y-axis of the screen. The size of the facility icon is the same regardless of the scale of the map. The process of FIG. 3 is a facility icon display process that starts when the user touches the touch panel 19 when the facility icon is displayed on the map, and is executed in the control circuit 11 with the pressed position of the touch panel 19 as an input.

  In step S301, a range away from the pressed position by a predetermined distance is specified from the map displayed on the display monitor 16 when the touch panel 19 is pressed. In step S302, the facility existing within the specified map is searched from the map data, and the facility data of the facility within the range is acquired from the search result. If no facility is detected, it is determined in step 303 that there is no facility to be processed, and the facility icon display processing is terminated. If a facility is detected, the process proceeds to step S304.

In step S304, the distance between each facility on the map 20 is calculated based on the facility data acquired in step S302 and the scale of the map 20 being displayed. The distance between facilities on the map 20 is calculated separately for the x-axis component and the y-axis component. In step S305, the calculated distance between facilities is converted into the number of pixels based on the screen resolution of the display monitor 16, and the distance between facility icons on the display monitor 16 is set. Similarly to the distance between facilities, the distance between facility icons is also calculated by dividing into an x-axis component and a y-axis component, which are D _x dots and D _y dots, respectively. In step S306, based on the size of the facility icon and the distance between the facility icons, it is determined whether or not the icons overlap for all the facility icon combinations. FIG. 4A explains the determination process. Reference numerals 41a and 41b _denote facility icons, both of which have a size of I _x dots × I _y dots. The facility icons 41a and 41b are separated from each other by D _x dots in the x-axis direction and D _y dots in the y-axis direction. In order to determine the overlap between the icons, the distance between the facility icons is compared with the size of the facility icon. In the example of FIG. 4A, the distances D _x and D _y between the facility icons are smaller than I _x and I _y , respectively. For this reason, the facility icons overlap in the region 43. As described above, when “D _x <I _x and D _y <I _y ” is established as a result of the comparison between the distance between the facility icons and the size of the facility icon, it is determined that the icons overlap each other. A facility icon having the center of the facility icon in the region 42 overlaps the facility icon 41a. If there is no overlapping facility icon as a result of the determination, the facility icon display processing is terminated.

  In step S307, the number of pixels between facility icons determined to overlap in step S306 is compared, and the smallest number of pixels among the number of pixels between facility icons including both the x-axis component and the y-axis component is determined. The facility data of the combination that minimizes the number of pixels is extracted. In step 308, based on the number of pixels between the extracted facility icons, a scale of a map that can be displayed so that the facility icons do not overlap and can display the widest area is selected. Details of the scale selection method will be described later. In step 309, the map of the selected scale centering on the pressed position is displayed together with the facility icon.

  With reference to FIG. 4, the scale determination method of the map in which the facility icons do not overlap each other in step S308 will be described. In step S308, the scale of the map in which the facility icons do not overlap is selected by this determination method, and the scale of the map that displays the widest area is selected from the scales of the map.

As described above, the two facility icons overlap when “D _x <I _x and D _y <I _y ” is established. Conversely, if either “D _x ≧ I _x ” or “D _y ≧ I _y ” is established, the facility icons do not overlap. It is assumed that the smallest number of pixels between the facility icons extracted in step S307 is _Dmin, and this number of pixels is the x-axis component. When the x-axis component of the distance between facilities calculated from the location of the facility is L _x and the scale of the map 20 is 1 / T, the x-axis component of the distance between facilities on the map 20 is L _x / T. Become. The relationship between L _x , L _x / T, and D _x is shown in FIG. Further, assuming that the number of pixels per unit distance on the display monitor 16, that is, the screen resolution is r, the number of pixels between facilities is rL _x / T. _Therefore, when the _{L x} such that rL x / _{T = D min} and _{L min,} the value of _{D min} may be expressed as _{D min = rL} min / T. If the value of D _min is equal to or larger than the size of the facility icon, the distance between the other facility icons is also equal to or larger than the size of the facility icon. Therefore, from D _min = rL _min / T and the condition D _min ≧ I _x where the facility icons do not overlap, the conditional expression “1 / T ≧ I _x / (rL _min )” regarding the scale of the map where the facility icons do not overlap is derived. it can.

Since the facility data extracted in step S307 includes information regarding the location of the facility, the value of L _min can be calculated. Further, since the icon size I _x and the screen resolution r of the display monitor are predetermined values, the value of I _x / (rL _min ) can be calculated in step S308. If the smallest scale 1 / T that is equal to or greater than the calculated value of I _x / (rL _min ) is selected, the map that displays the widest area among the scale maps that do not overlap the facility icons is selected. can do.

  In the above example, the minimum number of pixels between facility icons is assumed to be the x-axis component, but the same processing can be performed in the case of the y-axis component.

The navigation device 1 according to the above embodiment has the following effects.
(1) When the facility icons are overlapped, the scale of the map is changed to a scale that does not overlap the facility icons according to a user instruction. Therefore, the visibility of the facility icon can be improved without hiding a part of the facility icon that has overlapped.

(2) By pressing the portion where the facility icons overlap and displayed, it is possible to indicate the facility icon that eliminates the overlap between the facility icons. Therefore, the facility icon that the user wants to confirm can be specified, and the convenience of the navigation device 1 is improved.

  The navigation device 1 of the above embodiment can be modified as follows.

(1) In the above embodiment, the touch panel 19 is used as means for selecting an arbitrary place on the display monitor, but other means may be used. For example, as another monitor position selection means, one using a remote controller, a joystick, a button, or the like can be considered.

(2) In the above embodiment, when the facility icons are overlapped, the scale of the map is changed to a scale that does not overlap the facility icons according to the user's instruction, but the scale of the facility icons does not overlap each other. The enlarged view may be displayed as a divided screen.

(3) In FIG. 2 (b), when a place where the facility icons 21a to 21d overlap each other is pressed, an enlarged view 50 of a scale that does not overlap the facility icons 21a to 21d as shown in FIG. May be displayed. In the enlarged view 50, a close button 51 is displayed. When the close button 51 is pressed, the enlarged view 50 is deleted. In the modification of FIG. 5, since the facility icons 21e, 21g, and 21i far from the pressed position are also displayed, it is convenient.

(4) According to the above embodiment and modification, when a facility icon is pressed after a scale map that does not overlap facility icons is displayed, facility information such as the name and address of the facility corresponding to the pressed facility icon May be displayed in a pop-up screen. When the facility icon is pressed, the scale of the map is changed to a scale where the facility icons do not overlap with each other, so that the facility icon can be easily pressed and the operability is improved.

(5) As shown in FIG. 6, when a plurality of facilities are provided in one building, the facility icon of the facility provided in the building is displayed when the building is selected by the user. You may make it display with the balloon from.

  With reference to FIG. 6, the display process of the facility icon by a balloon is demonstrated. FIG. 6A is a diagram for explaining a display screen displayed on the display monitor 16. A map 60 is displayed on the display screen, and a building 61 is displayed on the map 60. Since the building 61 is provided with a plurality of facilities, the building 61 is highlighted as compared with other buildings.

  When the facility icon of the facility provided in the building 61 is displayed on the display monitor 16, the user presses the building 61 as shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6C, facility icons 71 a to 71 c of the facilities provided in the building 61 are displayed by a balloon 70 from the building 61. In the balloon 70, a close button 72 is displayed. When the close button 72 is pressed, the balloon 70 is deleted.

  By pressing the building 61 displayed on the display monitor 16, the building 61 for displaying the facility icons 71a to 71c can be specified. Therefore, the building 61 for which the facility icons 71a to 71c are to be displayed can be specified immediately. Can be convenient. Thereby, visibility also improves about the facility icon of the facility provided in the building. If there are multiple facilities on different floors of the building, there is a possibility that the overlap of the facility icons may not be resolved even if the scale of the map is changed. The display effect is improved.

  Moreover, when the facility icons 71a to 71c displayed in the balloon 70 are pressed, the facility information of the facilities related to the pressed facility icons 71a to 71c may be displayed.

The icon overlapping process of the above embodiment can be modified as follows and executed.

(1) In the above embodiment, the facility icons 41a and 41b are not completely overlapped with each other. However, the facility icons may be overlapped as long as there is no problem in user visibility and operability. For example, when performing overlap determination, the facility icon may be corrected to a value smaller than the actual value and recognized.

(2) In the above embodiment, when the facility icons do not overlap, the scale changing process is not performed. However, considering the case where visibility is poor due to the denseness, etc., more conditional expressions for determining overlapping of icons are used. It may be harsh. For example, when performing overlap determination, the size of the icon may be corrected to a value larger than the actual size and recognized.

(3) In the above embodiment, the distance between facilities, the size of the facility icon, and the like are processed by dividing them into the x-axis component of the screen and the y-axis component of the screen. It may be recognized as a circle. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, it is conceivable that the diameter R of the circle is matched with the diagonal length of the square facility icon, and the center of the circle is matched with the center of gravity of the square. At this time, assuming that the minimum distance between facilities is L, if the map scale 1 / T is selected so that 1 / T ≧ R / L, a map in which icons do not overlap can be displayed. A method of matching the diameter R with the length of one side of the facility icon is also conceivable.

(4) In the above embodiment, whether or not there is an overlap is determined by comparing the number of pixels between facility icons and the number of pixels expressing the facility icon. However, a plurality of facility icons for all the pixels on the display monitor 16 are determined. You may scan for whether they overlap.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, as long as it is a map display device, it is not limited to the navigation device 1 and may be a mobile phone or the like that can display a map.

1 Navigation device 11 Control circuit 12 ROM
13 RAM
14 Current location detection device 14a Vibration gyro 14b Vehicle speed sensor 14c GPS sensor 15 Image memory 16 Display monitor 17 Speaker 18 Input device 19 Touch panel 20, 60 Maps 21a-21i, 41a, 41b, 71a-71c Facility icons 42 Overlapping condition boundaries of facility icons Line 43 Facility icon overlap area 50 Enlarged view 51, 72 Close button 61 Building 70 Balloon display area 110 Touch panel control unit 111 Disk drive 112 DVD-ROM

Claims (8)

Display control means for displaying an icon corresponding to the feature on the display monitor in correspondence with the position of the feature on the map;
Monitor position selecting means for selecting an arbitrary place on the display monitor;
Overlap determination means for determining whether or not a plurality of icons existing around the position on the display monitor selected by the monitor position selection means overlap;
Scale determination means for determining a scale at which the plurality of overlapped icons are displayed on the display monitor without overlapping when the overlap determination means determines that the plurality of icons overlap. ,
The map display device, wherein the display control unit displays the map and the icon at a scale that does not overlap the icons determined by the scale determination unit. The map display device according to claim 1,
The map display device, wherein the display control means displays, on the display monitor, a reduced scale map in which the plurality of icons do not overlap instead of a map in which the plurality of icons overlap. The map display device according to claim 1,
The map display device, wherein the display control means displays a part or all of a reduced scale map on which the plurality of icons do not overlap a map on which the plurality of icons overlap, on the display monitor. The map display device according to claim 1,
The display control means displays a map in which a plurality of icons overlap each other in the first area of the display monitor, and displays a map on a scale that does not overlap the plurality of icons different from the first area. A map display device characterized by displaying in the second area. Display means for displaying the building on the map;
Facility icon storage means for storing a facility icon corresponding to a facility provided in the building;
Selecting means for selecting the building displayed on the display means;
Display control means for displaying on the display means a facility icon relating to the building selected by the selection means;
A map display device comprising: The map display device according to claim 5,
The display control means includes
Icon display area generating means for generating an icon display area for displaying the facility icon in an area different from the display area of the building;
Icon display position control means for displaying the facility icon in the icon display area;
A map display device comprising: The map display device according to claim 6,
The facility icon storage means stores a plurality of facility icons,
The map display device, wherein the icon display position control means displays the plurality of facility icons so as not to overlap each other in the icon display area. In the map display apparatus in any one of Claim 1 to 4 or 7,
Facility icon selection means for selecting any of the facility icons when the plurality of facility icons are displayed without overlapping,
Facility information storage means for storing facility information related to the facility corresponding to the facility icon;
Facility information display means for displaying the facility information corresponding to the facility icon when the facility icon is selected by the facility icon selection means;
A map display device comprising:

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