JP3440973B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device suitable for route guidance while presenting map information on a display.

[0002]

[Related Background Art] Recently, a global positioning system (GPS) signal using a satellite is received to detect a current position, and map information around the current position obtained according to the information is displayed together with the current position information. Navigation devices that perform route guidance and the like by displaying them have become widespread. When a vehicle is equipped with this type of navigation device as standard equipment, the display is exclusively incorporated in the central front surface of the instrument panel.
When the device is optionally retrofitted, the display is often mounted on the front side of the center console using a predetermined mounting tool.

[0003]

By the way, when visually recognizing the display contents of the display provided at the above-mentioned position,
It is difficult to say that the visibility of the display is good because the angle of the line-of-sight movement of the driver who gazes forward in the vehicle traveling direction must be relatively large. In this respect, for example, JP-A-64-699
According to the publication No. 13, the display can be set in a direction according to the physique and posture of the driver.
A technique for enhancing the visibility is shown. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-1
In Japanese Patent No. 11193, by changing the scale of the map information displayed on the display according to the running condition of the vehicle, for example, the map information including the occurrence point of traffic congestion is enlarged and displayed in detail, thereby displaying the map. A technique for facilitating understanding of the contents is disclosed.

However, even if the direction of the display can be changed, the effect of improving the driver's line-of-sight angle itself cannot be expected so much. In addition, when the scale of map information is changed and the part required for route guidance is enlarged and displayed, it is easy to understand the display content. On the other hand, when it is not enlarged, the surrounding area is displayed. Since a lot of information regarding the above will be displayed, the display screen will be complicated, and it will be difficult to grasp the display contents.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve the visibility of a display for displaying navigation information and make it easy to grasp the display content. It is to provide a navigation device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a navigation device according to the present invention comprises a navigation device main body which obtains navigation information for the vehicle according to current position information of the vehicle, and the navigation device main body obtains the navigation information. By providing a display for displaying navigation information and the like that can be projected on the upper surface of the instrument panel of the vehicle, by vertically moving the display by a slide mechanism to adjust the protruding height to the upper surface of the instrument panel. The ins
The display visible on the upper surface of the torque panel.
The display screen area of the ray is variable, and the navigation device body determines the necessity of route guidance to the vehicle based on the current position information and the navigation information, and the determination means. when it is determined that there is a need for route guidance at, its is possible to protrude all <br/> the instrument panel upper surface of the display screen area of the by driving the slide mechanism display
The navigation information is displayed by maximizing the display screen area of, and when there is no need for route guidance,
Only part of the display screen on the display
And a display control means for displaying predetermined information by projecting on the upper surface of the front panel .

That is, the display is projected on the upper surface of the instrument panel, and preferably provided in the back of the central portion of the upper surface of the instrument panel so as to be movable up and down, and the projection amount of the display screen can be changed to display the map information. When it is necessary to guide the route by the enlarged detailed display, the display screen area protruding to the upper surface of the instrument panel of the display is maximized, that is, in the full screen state, the navigation information is displayed. I am trying.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is, as the judging means, whether or not the current position of the vehicle is an urban area based on the map information given as the navigation information, and whether or not there is a branch road ahead of the vehicle in the traveling direction. The feature is that the necessity of route guidance is determined based on whether or not the information is checked. In other words, the situation where the route guidance by the information display using the full screen of the display is required is judged and detected as the case where the road is complicated like the city area or the case where the branch road exists in the forward direction. The display is set to the full screen state only when the route guidance based on such detailed map information is performed. In other words, if route guidance based on detailed map information is not required, the display screen area itself should be made smaller by setting the display to, for example, a half screen state, and only necessary information should be properly displayed. It is characterized by having done.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an instrument panel unit incorporating the navigation device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part thereof. 1 and 2, 1 is an instrument panel arranged in the front part of the vehicle compartment, 2 is a center console extending from the front of the central part of the instrument panel 1 toward the foot of the driver's seat, and 2 Reference numeral 3 is a combination meter incorporated in the right side portion of the instrument panel 1, which is the front position of the driver's seat.

However, the display 4 which is a display part of the navigation device and which is composed of, for example, a color liquid crystal element,
The instrument panel 1 is provided at the center of the upper surface in the back, and is supported by a slide mechanism to be described later so as to be vertically movable. The display 4 is moved up and down by the operation of the slide mechanism, and its display screen is projected on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 to be used for displaying information such as navigation information (map information).

Incidentally, the display 4 has a full screen state in which the entire display screen is projected on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 to display information, and only the upper half of the display screen is projected on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 in other words. If this is done, the lower half of the display screen is housed inside the instrument panel 1, and the half screen state in which information is displayed only on the display screen portion protruding and exposed on the upper surface of the panel 1 is selectively controlled. It

In addition, the operation switch section 5a of the air conditioner, the operation section 5b of the audio equipment, and the like are provided on the front section of the instrument panel 1 which is hung from the center section on the front side to the center console 2 for each functional purpose. It is arranged collectively. Further, on the front side of the central portion of the upper surface of the instrument panel 1, there is provided a retractable switch support body 6 having the front portion as a fulcrum of rotation. The switch support 6 mainly supports operation switches for controlling information display such as navigation information on the display 4, so-called multi-functionalized multi switch 6a and the like.

The switch support 6 is always tilted so as to be flush with the upper surface of the instrument panel 1, and is popped up by the operation of the operation switch 7 to stand upright on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1.
By this pop-up (standing) of the switch support body 6,
The multi-switch 6 supported by the switch support 6
It is selectively positioned in the operable state position so that a is substantially flush with the operation switch 5a and the operation portion 5b. The operation switch 7 is arranged on the front surface of the instrument panel 1 together with the operation switches 5c for driving assistance, for example.

The pop-up structure of the switch support 6 and the slide structure of the display 4 will be briefly described, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, the slide mechanism 11 operates by receiving the driving force of the motor 12 to move the display 4 up and down, and variably sets the protrusion amount of the display 4 from the upper surface of the instrument panel 1. It is attached via a bracket 13 to a cross member 8 provided by connecting left and right skeleton members (for example, front pillars and lowers) of the vehicle on the back surface side of the vehicle. The slide mechanism 11 itself has a pair of left and right rails 15 provided in parallel at both ends of a base 14 fixed to the cross member 8 via a bracket 13, and slides vertically movable along the rails 15. The display 4 is supported between the upper ends of the guides 16. The slide guide 16 is connected to a gear mechanism 17 rotatably driven by the motor 12 via a link mechanism 18, and the link mechanism 18 is actuated by the rotation of the motor 12 to move up and down to move the display 4 in the vertical direction. It is designed to be slide driven.

With the slide mechanism 11 constructed as described above, the display 4 is moved to the highest position of the link mechanism 18.
Causes all of the display screen to project from the upper surface of the instrument panel 1, and the entire display screen is set to a full screen state usable for information display. Further, at the lowest position of the link mechanism 18, the display 4 projects only the upper half of the display screen from the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in the figure, and only the upper half of the display screen. It is set to the half screen state used for information presentation.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the switch support 6 is rotatably mounted on the front side of the central portion of the instrument panel 1 with the front lower portion of the main body thereof as a fulcrum of rotation. The switch support 6 is provided on the back side of the instrument panel 1 via a bracket 21 and is driven by a motor 22.
It is connected to a (driving mechanism) and is tilted up with respect to the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 by the operation of the link mechanism 23. That is, when the link mechanism 23 is at the lowermost position, the switch support 6 is tilted so as to be substantially flush with the upper surface of the instrument panel 1, and when the motor 22 moves the link mechanism 23 to the uppermost position, Along with this, it is tilted up and protrudes to the upper surface of the instrument panel 1, and the panel surface is set to be substantially flush with the front side surface of the instrument panel 1.

The motor 12 of the slide mechanism 11 and the motor 22 of the drive mechanism are respectively driven in the forward and reverse directions by a motor control circuit 25 which operates in response to the operation of the operation switch 7. By the way, the motor control circuit 25
Is composed of, for example, a relay or a semiconductor switch, and basically detects the operation of the operation switch 7 to drive the motors 12 and 22 in the forward direction to drive the slide mechanism 11 to fully drive the display 4. Operation for setting the screen state and tilting up the switch support 6 to operate the switches (multi-switch 6a etc.) incorporated in the switch support 6 without changing the driving posture of the driver. Position it in the operable position within the reach range.

The motor control circuit 25 changes the display mode of the display 4 based on display control information by operating the switches incorporated in the switch support 6 and control information given from other switches. At this time, the slide mechanism 11 is driven according to the displayed contents to selectively set the display 4 to the full screen or the half screen.

Now, the display 4 is provided as described above,
In addition, the navigation device in which the switches 6a for controlling the display are incorporated in the switch support 6 is mainly composed of a navigation unit 31, as shown in FIG. Explaining this navigation device, the navigation unit 31 which is the main body of the navigation device includes a global positioning signal from a satellite received via a GPS antenna 32, geomagnetic direction information detected by a geomagnetic sensor 33, and Is equipped with a sensor processing unit 35 for processing the turning angular velocity information of the vehicle detected by an angular velocity sensor 34 such as a vibration gyro mounted on the vehicle to obtain the current position and the vehicle direction of the vehicle. Further, the arithmetic processing unit 36 executes processing required for location, route search, route guidance, etc. according to the sensor information and map information described later, and the map display guidance voice unit 37 uses the display 4. It controls the display of map information regarding navigation and the output of guidance voice messages.

The map information and the like necessary for the route search and display are obtained from a CD (compact disc) which is an information recording medium set in the CD drive 38, and
It is taken into the map display guidance voice section 37 via the decoder section 39 and used for the above-mentioned route search, guidance voice output, and the like. The navigation unit 31 operates by receiving power from the accessory power supply unit 40, and displays map information and the like using the display 4 incorporated in the monitor unit 41. Further, in this example, an electronic circuit unit (ECU) 42 for controlling the air conditioner, an audio unit (sound device) 43, a television tuner 44, etc. are provided around the navigation unit 31, and each of these is provided. Information about the device is also selectively displayed using the display 4 incorporated in the monitor unit 41.
Reference numeral 45 in the figure denotes an engine control ECU.
The driving status detected by the CU 45 is also displayed on the display 4 via the navigation unit 41.
Is displayed appropriately.

In the navigation device configured as described above, the navigation unit 31 basically operates the CD according to the current position information and the vehicle direction information.
Road map information around the current position is sought from (information recording medium). Then, an optimum route to the destination is searched from the road map information according to the information of the destination and the current position information that are selectively designated (route search). Then, it is provided with a function of displaying the searched optimum route on the display 4 together with map information around the own vehicle. In addition, the navigation unit 31, according to the instruction from the driver,
Alternatively, it has a display function or the like for enlarging and displaying in detail map information used for route guidance based on a route guidance determination result described later.

The display of various information on the display 4 is performed as shown in FIG. 6, for example. That is, the navigation information including the map information is displayed, for example, in FIG.
Display 4 set to full screen as shown in
Is performed using. By the way, in the navigation image shown in FIG. 6A, the triangular mark M indicates the vehicle position and the vehicle direction, the thin line L indicates the road, the thick line G indicates the guide route set along the road, and the bar Mark B indicates road conditions such as traffic jams. As to the display of the navigation information, since the display information amount is large, the display 4 is set to the full screen state, and the information display is performed by making the most of the display screen. In particular, this Figure 6 (a)
When route guidance is required as shown in, the map information is enlarged and the information is displayed in detail.

When it is unnecessary to guide the route by enlarging / detailing the map information, such as when driving in the suburbs or on a highway, for example, with the display 4 set to a half screen, Navigation information is displayed. If you do not need to display navigation information,
As a steady information display on the display 4, for example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the weather forecast information W is displayed together with the date D and the current time T in the half screen state (daily information display). Also audio unit 4
3 is operated, so-called visible radio information R obtained as character information together with the channel switching information C on the half screen as shown in FIG. 6 (c), for example.
Is displayed (visible radio information display). Further, when the air conditioner is operated, the current passenger compartment temperature TM and the air conditioning state AC are displayed on the half screen as shown in FIG. 6D (air conditioning operation information display), and in other cases, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in (e), the travelable distance PD estimated from the remaining fuel amount and the like is displayed based on the information obtained from the ECU 45 (vehicle information display).

As described above, in displaying various information on the display 4, the display 4 is selectively set to the full screen state or the half screen state according to the display content, and only the information necessary at that time is displayed. It is displayed in a characteristic size that is easy to visually recognize. Particularly, in the device according to this embodiment, as described below, according to the traveling situation obtained from the navigation information on the basis of the current position information, the route should be guided in the urban area or forward in the traveling direction. If there is a branch road,
It is determined that this is the case where the route should be actively guided, the display 4 is set to the full screen state, and the entire area of the display screen is effectively used to enlarge and display the navigation image (map information). Has become.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a processing procedure for executing the above-described navigation image display control, which is started as part of the navigation processing while the map information of the surroundings of the vehicle is being displayed on the display. That is, in this processing, it is determined whether or not the navigation guidance mode is set (step S1), and is executed when the mode is set. Then, in this case, for example, it is first determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling in the city according to the current position information and the map information around the vehicle (step S2).
That is, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling in an urban area where there are many intersections and side roads and these are complicated. If it is not traveling in the city area, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling in the vicinity where route guidance is required next (step S
3).

When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the city or where the route guidance is required, the slide mechanism 11 is driven to slide up the display 4 to set the full screen state. Map information necessary for route guidance is enlarged and displayed in detail (step S
4). On the other hand, when it is determined that the route guidance is not required when the vehicle is not traveling in the city area, the display 4 is slid down, the half screen state is set, and only the rough map information is displayed. Do (Step S
5).

By the way, the judgment as to whether or not the vehicle is traveling in a place where route guidance is required in step S3 is basically judged by whether or not there is a branch road to turn left or right ahead in the traveling direction. Is done by doing. Turn left (right) at which branch (intersection), especially if there is a short distance before or after the road (intersection) that should turn left (turn right) in the forward direction. In order to clearly indicate that, for example, the necessity of route guidance is determined based on the first arriving branch road (intersection).

For this determination, for example, it is premised that the vehicle is going straight along a road currently running, and it is determined whether a left turn or a right turn accompanied by operation of a turn signal is necessary. It may be determined that route guidance is unnecessary. Further, information such as whether or not the road deviates from a highway to a side road, whether or not the highway is branched, whether or not intersections are intricate, and the like may be comprehensively determined.

Thus, according to the navigation device constructed as described above, the display 4 is provided separately from the operation system (operation switch) and is vertically movable at the back of the instrument panel 1. As compared with the case where the display is provided on the front side of the central portion of the instrument panel 1 as described above, the driver who gazes forward in the traveling direction of the vehicle visually recognizes the display 4 without causing a large line-of-sight movement. , It is possible to confirm the display content. That is, since the display 4 is provided in front of the driver and on the far upper surface of the instrument panel 1 that is far away, the driver moves the line of sight to the same extent as when visually grasping the display contents of the combination meter 3. This makes it possible to capture the display content of the display 4.

Moreover, the display 4 is provided so that the amount of protrusion from the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 can be variably set, and is configured to be a full screen or a half screen depending on the display content. The full screen state is set only when detailed navigation by the navigation image is required, and the navigation image is controlled to be enlarged and displayed in detail. In other cases, the half screen state is set. It has become. Therefore, only the necessary information can be displayed in an easy-to-see manner according to the contents to be displayed.

In other words, in the case of locally enlarging and displaying the map information for route guidance, by displaying the map information around the vehicle as a full screen state, detailed road information can be displayed in a wide range in detail. It will be possible to present it, and it will be easier to understand its contents. On the other hand, when the route guidance is not necessary, only the rough navigation information is displayed briefly on the half screen for reference, so that the information can be appropriately displayed within the restricted screen area range.

By the way, when information is displayed by using only a part of the display 4 in the full screen state, if a large part of the screen that is not used for the display is left, the appeal of the displayed information is impaired and the display screen is displayed. The display size of information is felt to be smaller than that of the whole and the visibility is deteriorated. Conversely, if other information is displayed using an area that was not used to display the message information, the display screen becomes complicated with a mixture of miscellaneous information. The sex becomes worse. Therefore, as described above, by setting the half screen according to the display content and displaying only the necessary information, the annoyance of the display on the large screen is eliminated and the appeal level is increased.
It is possible to improve the visibility.

Especially, as described above, the map information is enlarged and displayed by automatically sliding up the display 4 only when the route guidance is required.
By setting (slide up) to the full screen state of
It is possible to make the driver visually recognize that the route guidance is to be performed, and in turn, it is possible to call attention to the driver's attention accompanying a left turn or a right turn.

Secondly, since the display 4 displays information with a certain brightness, the brightness may be annoying when driving at night. In this respect, according to the above-described embodiment, the display 4 is set to the full screen or the half screen according to the display content, so that the display 4 does not feel unnecessarily bright. Especially in the half-screen state, the size of the shining surface is reduced to about half, and the amount of light leaking into the passenger compartment is suppressed to about half of the full-screen state, so the driving environment during night driving is disturbed unintentionally. There are advantages such as never.

On the other hand, since the operation switches supported by the switch support 6 so as to be movable are normally arranged along the upper surface of the instrument panel 1 due to the tilting of the switch support 6, It is difficult for the driver to see it directly and it is difficult to operate. Therefore, the switches supported by the switch support 6 can be positively excluded from the group of operation switches that the driver is aware of as an operation target, and inadvertent operation of those switches can be obviated. Can be prevented. Then, by operating the operation switch 7, the switch support 6 is tilted up under the driver's intention to operate, whereby the switches are operated toward the driver within the range of the driver's operation. Since they are positioned in a possible state, it becomes possible to easily operate these operation switches. That is, by tilting up the switch support body 6 when necessary, it becomes possible to sufficiently secure the operability of the operation switches provided on the switch support body 6.

In this way, by using the switch support 6 which is selectively positioned in the operable state position, infrequently used switches such as operation switches related to navigation are always provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel 1. If stored, many switches can be effectively classified and arranged on the instrument panel 1, and only the frequently used switches can be constantly installed in the operable position. Becomes As a result,
Combined with the overall layout of switches, it is possible to increase the size of each switch, which also improves operability. Moreover, the difference between the operation switches provided on the switch support 6 and the operation switches provided on the instrument panel 1 is clarified, and it is possible to prevent interference between them and effectively prevent erroneous operations. The effect of

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the display 4 can be configured to be completely housed inside the instrument panel 1 when it is not used. Further, the display screen area of the display 4 may be variably set in multiple stages according to the display content. Further, the configuration of the slide mechanism 11 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the display 4 may be moved up and down using a rack and a pinion, and spring force, aerodynamic force, or the like may be used instead of the motor. It is of course possible to mechanically control the movement of the display 4 and the like. Further, the judgment condition and the judgment algorithm for displaying the navigation information by setting the display 4 to the full screen state can be variously modified, and the display form can be changed, for example, the enlargement ratio (scale ratio) of the map information. May be determined according to the use. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the display for displaying the navigation information required by the navigation device body is provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel of the vehicle so as to be vertically movable, and the display is constructed by the slide mechanism. When the display screen area protruding to the upper surface of the panel can be moved up and down so as to be variable, while the navigation device body determines the necessity of route guidance to the vehicle, and the route guidance is required. Table of the display the slide mechanism is driven to
In all示画surface area that is projected to the panel top surface
The display screen area is maximized to display the navigation information, and when there is no need for route guidance,
Only part of the display screen of the display
The display control means for projecting predetermined information from the upper surface of the ment panel is provided.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when it is necessary to guide the route, the display screen area protruding above the instrument panel of the display is maximized, that is, the full screen state is set and the navigation information is displayed. Since it is displayed, it is possible to sufficiently secure the visibility (graspability) of the displayed content. Moreover, when the route guidance is not necessary, the navigation image and the like are displayed in a half screen state in which the display screen area is set small, so that the display itself can be eliminated and appropriate information can be displayed. Is possible.

In other words, the display is set to a large screen only when route guidance is required, and is normally set to a small screen. Therefore, information is displayed on a display screen of an appropriate size, that is, a display is displayed on an unnecessarily large display. It is possible to improve the visibility of the displayed contents by eliminating the annoyance. Moreover, by setting a large screen on the display, an effect such as being able to call attention to route guidance can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in particular, as the determination means, whether or not the current position of the vehicle is an urban area is determined from the map information given as the navigation information.
Furthermore, check whether there is a branch road ahead of the vehicle traveling direction,
As a result, the necessity of route guidance is determined, so that, for example, when the road is complicated as in an urban area or when there is a branch road ahead in the traveling direction,
Only when the route guidance is based on the detailed map information, the display can be effectively set to the full screen state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an instrument panel unit incorporating a vehicle display operation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an essential part showing an enlarged central part of an instrument panel part shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the pop-up structure of the switch support and the slide structure of the display according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front configuration diagram showing a slide structure of the display according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block configuration diagram of a vehicle accessory device incorporated as an embodiment device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a display in which the display effective area is controlled and its display content.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a processing procedure for determining the necessity of route guidance.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Instrument panel 2 center console 3 combination meters 4 display 6 switch support 7 operation switch 11 Slide mechanism 12 motors 18 link mechanism 31 Navigation Unit 36 Arithmetic processing unit 37 Map display guidance voice section

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-63522 (JP, A) JP-A-8-11639 (JP, A) JP-A-6-117867 (JP, A) JP-A-8-175225 (JP , A) German patent application publication 4128663 (DE, A 1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 B60K 37/02 B60R 11/02 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29 / Ten

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A navigation device body for obtaining navigation information for a vehicle according to current position information of the vehicle, a display provided on an upper surface of an instrument panel of the vehicle so as to project freely, and the display is moved up and down. Let the display of the
Adjust the protrusion height to the top of the instrument panel before
The above visible on the upper surface of the instrument panel
A slide mechanism that changes the display screen area of the display, a determination unit that determines the necessity of route guidance for the vehicle based on the current position information and the navigation information, and route determination by this determination unit Table of the display when it is determined, by driving the slide mechanism and
And displays the navigation information all示画surface area is projected to the instrument panel upper surface,
If there is no need for route guidance, see the table on the above display.
Only part of the screen shown on the top of the instrument panel
A navigation device comprising: a display control unit that projects and displays predetermined information . 2. The necessity of route guidance by checking whether the current position of the vehicle is an urban area or whether there is a branch road ahead of the vehicle traveling direction from the map information given as the navigation information. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device determines.