JPH11258983A - Car navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a map in a desired direction to a sufficient extent. SOLUTION: A position grasping means 6 composed of a GPS grasps the position of its vehicle according to a radio wave sent from a satellite and an information read means 8 reads map information on the circumference of the grasped position of the automobile out of a storage means 4. Then a display control means 12 displays the map on a display means 10 by using the map information read out by the information read means 8. At this time, when the length direction of the screen part 11 of the display means 10 is horizontal, a microswitch 16 constituting a swing detecting means 14 is OFF, and consequently the display control means 12 displays a laterally long map on the entire screen part 11. When the driver swings the screen part 11 by 90 deg. to set the length direction of the screen part 11 vertically, the said microswitch 16 is turned ON, and consequently the display control means 12 displays a laterally long map on the entire screen part 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a car navigation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When using a car navigation system to travel to a destination by car, the car navigation system displays a map on the screen of a display device to show the route to the destination. No more hassle of turning over pages, searching for a destination, and choosing a route to the destination. Due to such convenience, car navigation systems have recently become widespread. By the way, many car navigation systems have a heading-up function, always display the position of the vehicle near the lower end of the screen on the map displayed on the screen, and display the position of the vehicle above it, that is, the widest possible range in the traveling direction. Can be displayed.

[0003]

However, conventionally, even if such a heading-up function is used, the display range in the traveling direction is limited, and it is desired to know a little further, but there is a limitation due to the size of the screen. Often there was no indication of the part you wanted to know. For example, it is possible to display the screen in a divided manner, for example, to enlarge the display in the vicinity of the own vehicle position and to reduce the display in a wide range in the traveling direction. However, it is difficult to clearly understand details in the reduced display. The display device is usually installed with the screen in a landscape orientation, but it is also possible to install the display device in a portrait orientation so that a wider range of the traveling direction can be displayed. The display range in the direction becomes narrow. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a car navigation system capable of displaying a map in a desired direction in a sufficiently wide range as needed.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a storage means for storing map information, a position grasping means for grasping the position of a car, and a position of the car grasped by the position grasping means. A car navigation system including: an information reading unit that reads nearby map information from a storage unit; a display unit; and a display control unit that causes a display unit to display a map based on the map information read by the information reading unit. , At least the screen unit is swingable about a virtual axis perpendicular to the screen, and further includes a swing detection unit that detects a swing angle of the screen unit of the display unit, and the display control unit includes the swing detection unit. The range of the map to be displayed on the display means is set based on the detected swing angle of the screen of the display means. In the present invention, the display control means sets the range of the map to be displayed on the display means based on the detection result of the swing angle of the display means screen by the swing detection means. By swinging the screen portion, a map in a desired direction such as the traveling direction of the car can be displayed with a sufficient size.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a car navigation system according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing a map displayed by the car navigation system of FIG. The car navigation system 2 includes a storage unit 4 for storing map information, and a position grasping unit 6 for grasping the position of a car.
Information reading means 8 for reading from the storage means 4 map information near the position of the car grasped by the position grasping means 6,
It includes a display means 10 and a display control means 12 for displaying a map on the display means 10 based on the map information read by the information reading means 8.

[0006] The display means 10 is specifically constituted by a CRT monitor or a liquid crystal display device. In the present embodiment, the screen has a larger aspect ratio than that of a conventional television monitor or the like, and has a horizontally wide screen. . At least the screen unit 11 can be manually swung about a virtual axis that is perpendicular to the screen and located at the center 15.

The car navigation system 2 further includes:
The display control means 12 includes a swing detection means 14 for detecting a swing angle of the screen portion 11 of the display means 10. The display control means 12 detects the swing angle of the screen portion 11 of the display means 10 detected by the swing detection means 14. Based on this, the range of the map to be displayed on the display means 10 is set, and the map is displayed on the entire (or almost the entire) screen portion 11 of the display means 10.

[0008] In the present embodiment, the storage means 4 comprises a CDROM in which map information is recorded.
In the present embodiment, the position grasping means 6 is a GPS
(Global Positioning System
m). Then, the swing detecting means 14
Includes a microswitch 16 and a microswitch 1
6 is a screen unit 11 of the display unit 10 in the present embodiment.
Is turned off when the longitudinal direction of the screen portion 11 is substantially horizontal, and turned on when the longitudinal direction of the screen portion 11 is substantially vertical. Display a vertical map.

Next, the operation of the car navigation system 2 configured as described above will be described. The position grasping means 6 constituted by the GPS grasps the position of the own vehicle based on the radio wave transmitted from the sanitation, and the information reading means 8 reads the map information near the position of the car grasped by the position grasping means 6. Read from the storage means 4. Then, the display control means 12 causes the display means 10 to display a map based on the map information read by the information reading means 8.

Here, if the longitudinal direction of the screen section 11 of the display means 10 is horizontal, the microswitch 16 constituting the swing detection means 14 is turned off, and the display control means 12 Screen section 11 of means 10
Display a landscape map throughout. Thereafter, assuming that the driver manually swings the screen unit 11 of the display unit 10 as shown by an arrow A, for example, and sets the longitudinal direction of the screen unit 11 of the display unit 10 to be vertical, the swing detection unit 14 Is turned off, and as a result, the display control means 12 displays a vertically long map on the entire screen section 11 of the display means 10.

Therefore, when the screen 11 is horizontal and the horizontal map as shown in FIG. 2A is displayed on the screen, for example, if the screen 11 is vertical, On the screen, a vertically long map as shown in FIG. 2B is displayed. Therefore, FIG.
(A), a dotted line portion (the range of X in FIG. 2 (B)) that is not displayed on the landscape map is displayed on the portrait map, and the driver can view a wider direction of the vehicle on the map. You can see the range. As described above, in the car navigation system 2 of the present embodiment, a map in a wider range in the traveling direction can be displayed by swinging the screen unit 11 of the display unit 10 as necessary.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, it is merely an example, and the present invention can be implemented in various forms without being limited to this example. For example, in the present embodiment, the screen of the display means 10 is a wide screen. However, even if the screen has the same aspect ratio as the conventional screen, the range is narrower than that of the wide screen, By swinging 11 vertically by 90 degrees, it is possible to display a map in a wider range in the traveling direction.

The screen section 11 of the display means 10 is not only set to either horizontal or vertical as described above, but also can be set to any swing angle, which is easy and useful. . In this case, the swing detecting means 14 is constituted by a variable resistor including a shaft connected to the screen unit 11 and having a resistance value that changes according to the swing angle of the shaft,
The display control unit 12 may set the range of the map to be displayed on the display unit 10 in accordance with the swing angle of the screen unit 11 detected by the swing detection unit 14. In such a configuration, the driver swings the screen unit 11 so that a map in any direction, not limited to the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, can be displayed with a sufficient size.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, the storage means for storing map information, the position grasping means for grasping the position of the car, and the map information near the position of the car grasped by the position grasping means are stored. A car navigation system including: an information reading unit that reads from a storage unit; a display unit; and a display control unit that displays a map on the display unit based on the map information read by the information reading unit. A swing detecting means for swinging around a virtual axis perpendicular to the screen and detecting a swing angle of a screen portion of the display means, wherein the display control means includes a display means detected by the swing detecting means. The range of the map to be displayed on the display means is set based on the swing angle of the screen section. Therefore, in the present invention, the display control means sets the range of the map to be displayed on the display means based on the result of detection of the swing angle of the display means screen by the swing detection means. By swinging the screen portion of the means, it is possible to display a map in a desired direction such as the traveling direction of the car with a sufficient size. In addition, as a result, it is not necessary to reduce the size of the display in order to view a wide range, so that it is possible to clearly observe details. Then, if necessary, the display can be returned to the horizontally long display as before, so that a sufficiently wide range of information can be obtained even in the horizontal direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a car navigation system according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing a map displayed by the car navigation system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Car navigation system, 4 ... Storage means,
6: Position grasping means, 8: Information reading means, 10 ...
... display means, 12 ... display control means, 14 ... swing detection means, 16 ... micro switches.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing map information, a position grasping means for grasping the position of a car, and an information reading for reading out the map information near the position of the car grasped by the position grasping means from the storage means. Means, display means,
Display control means for displaying a map on the display means based on the map information read by the information read means, wherein the display means is arranged so that at least the screen part is centered on a virtual axis perpendicular to the screen. The display unit further includes a swing detection unit that detects a swing angle of the screen unit of the display unit, and the display control unit includes the screen unit of the display unit detected by the swing detection unit. A car navigation system for setting a range of a map to be displayed on the display means based on the swing angle of the car navigation system. 2. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein said display control means causes a map to be displayed on the whole or substantially the entire screen section. 3. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein a screen of said display means is a wide screen. 4. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein said storage means includes a CDROM in which said map information is recorded. 5. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein said position grasping means grasps the position of the car by GPS. 6. The method according to claim 6, wherein the swing detecting means includes a variable resistor including a shaft connected to the screen of the display means and having a resistance value that changes according to the swing angle of the shaft. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein: 7. The swing detecting means includes a micro switch, and the micro switch is turned on / off depending on whether a longitudinal direction of the screen portion of the display means is substantially horizontal or substantially vertical, and the display control means is provided. 2. The display device displays a horizontally long or vertically long map according to whether the micro switch is on or off.
The car navigation system described. 8. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein said display means comprises a CRT or a liquid crystal display. 9. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein at least the screen portion of the display means can be manually swung.