JP3444961B2 - Vehicle navigation system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation system for displaying road network data and character data on a road map on a display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a vehicular navigation device which constantly displays a road map around the present position of the vehicle on a display according to the traveling of the vehicle. However, when the vehicle travels through a complicated road network such as in the center of the city, the number of character data to be displayed is large.
As shown in FIG. 12, they may be displayed in an overlapping manner, which is very difficult to see. Therefore, in JP-A-1-219516, when the display positions of the character data overlap, the display positions of the character data to be displayed later are shifted as shown in FIG. 13 to prevent the character data from overlapping. There is.

[0003]

However, if the display position is shifted as in the above publication, the character data may be displayed at a position considerably distant from the original display position. In such a case, Cannot recognize where the displayed character data points on the road map. Further, the operator does not need all of the displayed character data, but often requires only specific character data. Therefore, when the display positions of the character data overlap, it is desirable to preferentially display the character data required by the operator among them. Furthermore, when the display positions of multiple character data with different number of characters overlap, for character data with many characters, the content of the character data can be inferred from the part where characters do not overlap, but for character data with few characters, all characters Since the characters are often displayed in an overlapping manner, the content of the character data may not be guessed at all. Therefore, it is desirable to preferentially display character data having a small number of characters. Furthermore, even if the last character of the character data overlaps, the content of the character data can be roughly guessed, whereas if the first character of the character data overlaps, the content of the character data cannot be guessed in many cases. Therefore, it is desirable to preferentially display the character data in which the first character overlaps.

The present invention provides a display method for easily displaying overlapping character data.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a character display method of a vehicle navigation device for displaying road network data and character data on a display, one of at least two character data overlapping on the display (hereinafter, A display frame is displayed around (display character data), the display character data is displayed in the display frame, and other character data (hereinafter, non-display character data) that overlaps with the display character data is hidden and outside the display frame. In (1), the non-display character data is displayed. The invention of claim 2 is the character display method of claim 1, wherein the color in the display frame is a color for hiding all the non-display characters. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the character display method according to the first aspect, the display character data surrounded by the display frame is displayed after the display processing of the non-display character data. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the character display method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the character data is given a priority for display, and the display character data is compared with the non-display character data. And is given a high priority. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the character display method according to any of the first to fourth aspects, any one of a plurality of display modes preset for displaying the character data on the display is displayed. It is characterized in that a mode is selected and whether to use the display character data or the non-display character data is performed according to the selected display mode.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a character display method for a vehicle navigation device for displaying road network data and character data on a display, one of character data of at least two character data overlapping on the display is first. The other character data is displayed in the second color.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a character display method for a vehicle navigation device that displays road network data and character data on a display, a plurality of preset characters are displayed for displaying the character data on the display. One of the modes is selected from among the modes, and in each of the plurality of modes, different priorities are given to the character data for each mode, and the priority is set according to the selected mode. It is characterized by deciding whether to display or hide the character data.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the character display method according to the seventh aspect, each of the character data is a plurality of character types used for determining whether to display or hide the character data. And the plurality of character types are respectively stored in a plurality of priority tables in which the character types are arranged in order of priority, and one of the priority tables is stored according to the selected mode. Is selected to determine which character data is displayed and which is not displayed.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a display frame is displayed around one character data (hereinafter, display character data) of at least two character data which overlap each other on the display. The display character data is displayed in the display frame, and other character data (hereinafter, non-display character data) overlapping with the display character data is hidden. Non-display character data is displayed outside the display frame. -Claim 2-All the non-display characters are hidden by the color in the display frame. -Claim 3-The display character data surrounded by the display frame is displayed after the display processing of the non-display character data. -Claim 4-The display character data is given a higher priority than the non-display character data. -Claim 5-Selecting a display mode for displaying character data on the display. Whether to use display character data or non-display character data depends on the selected display mode.

-Claim 6- One of the overlapping at least two character data is displayed in the first color, and the other character data is displayed in the second color.

-Claim 7- Any one of a plurality of modes is selected,
Characters are displayed according to the display mode. Different priorities are given to the character data for each mode. The display / non-display of the character data is controlled with the priority according to the selected mode.

-Claim 8- Each of the character data is stored in the arrangement table together with a plurality of character types used for determining whether to display or hide the character data. The plurality of character types are stored in a plurality of priority tables in which the character types are arranged in order of priority. One of the priority tables is selected according to the selected mode, and it is determined which character data is to be displayed or hidden.

Incidentally, in the section of means and action for solving the above problems for explaining the constitution of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used for making the present invention easy to understand. It is not limited to.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle navigation device according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1
Is an azimuth sensor, which detects the traveling azimuth of the vehicle by detecting the geomagnetism at the position where the vehicle exists. Reference numeral 2 denotes a vehicle speed sensor, which is attached to, for example, a transmission of the vehicle and outputs a predetermined number of pulse signals according to the vehicle speed. Reference numeral 3 is a map storage memory for storing road network data and character data relating to a road map, and 4 is a control circuit for performing the processing of FIGS. Reference numeral 5 is a ROM that stores the control program of the control circuit 4 and the like, and 6 is a RAM that the control circuit 4 uses as a work area. A V-RAM 7 stores the image data generated by the control circuit 4, and the data stored in the V-RAM 7 is displayed on the display 8. The display 8 has a display range of 640 dots in the X direction and 480 dots in the Y direction, for example, as shown in FIG. 9 is an input device, and a display 8
In addition to selecting the map range and map scale to be displayed on the screen, the display order and display mode of character data are selected as described later.

In the vehicular navigation device configured as shown in FIG. 1, when the vehicle starts traveling, the control circuit 4 starts the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. Figure 3
In step S1, the traveling speed of the vehicle is detected by measuring the number of pulses per unit time or the pulse period output from the vehicle speed sensor 2, and the traveling distance of the vehicle is detected by measuring the number of pulses. Next, the control circuit 4 calculates the traveling locus of the vehicle based on the detected vehicle traveling distance and the traveling azimuth of the vehicle detected by the azimuth sensor 1, and the road map data and the map stored in the map storage memory 3 are calculated. Matches to identify the vehicle's current location. In step S2, road network data and character data are read from the map storage memory 3. In step S3, information relevant to the current location of the vehicle and the traveling direction of the vehicle is extracted from the data read in step S2. In step S4, the information extracted in step S3 is coordinate-converted into data to be displayed on the display 8. In step S5, the character selection / arrangement process described later is performed, and the display position of the character data on the display 8 is RA.
Store in M6. In step S6, the map storage memory 3
The map data including the road network data and the background data read from is displayed on the display 8. Step S
In step 7, the character data is displayed on the display 8 according to the contents stored in the RAM 6 in step S5, and the process ends.

4 to 7 are flow charts showing the details of the character selecting and arranging process in step S5 of FIG. There are the following four types of character selection and placement processing, and one of them is selected by the input device 9. (1) The priority order display process shown in FIG. 4 for displaying character data according to the priority order of each display mode. (2) The uppermost character priority display process shown in FIG. 5 for preferentially displaying the character data to be overwritten on the top. (3) The shortest number-of-characters priority display process shown in FIG. 6 in which character data having a small number of characters is preferentially displayed. (4) First character priority display processing shown in FIG. 7 in which the character data in which the first character is overwritten is displayed with priority.

Step S1 of the priority display processing shown in FIG.
In 1, the priority table is created according to the display mode selected by the input device 9. The display mode includes, for example, a running mode, a stop mode, a guidance mode, and a search mode, and the priority of the character data displayed is different for each mode. Of these, the driving mode is selected when the vehicle is running, the stop mode is selected when the vehicle is stopped, the guidance mode is selected during route guidance of the vehicle, and the search mode is selected during search of road map information. This is the mode that is used.

When, for example, a traveling mode is selected from among the modes, as shown in FIG. 8A, the road name → railroad name → administrative division name → water system, in descending order of priority. A priority table is created in which the name → Hamana is created. On the other hand, when the guidance mode is selected, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), a priority table in which the railroad name → administrative division name → water system name → hama name → road name is assigned from the higher priority to the lower priority. Is created. In step S12, of the character data displayed on the display 8, one of the character data for which the character arrangement table shown in FIG. 9 has not been created is selected, and the character arrangement table is created and stored in the RAM 6. As shown in the figure, the character arrangement table includes a character type code, arrangement coordinates X, arrangement coordinates Y, the number of characters L, and character data. Here, the character type code indicates a type of character data such as a road name and a railroad name, and the coordinate values of the upper left corner of the character data displayed on the display 8 are stored in the arrangement coordinates X and the arrangement coordinates Y. The total number of characters of character data is stored in the number of characters L.

The coordinates on the display 8 are, as shown in FIG. 2, at the lower left corner of the display screen (0,0),
The upper right corner is (639, 479), and the character data displayed on the display screen is configured in units of 8 dots for both the X and Y coordinates. The above-mentioned arrangement coordinates X and Y store the coordinate values (X0, Y0) at positions where the X coordinate is 8 dots less and the Y coordinate is 16 dots more than the coordinate value of the lower left corner of the actual character data (Fig. 2). Figure 2
As described above, when the character data "Shonan Junior High School" is stored in the character arrangement table, the coordinate value of the coordinates (X0, Y0) of the upper left corner of the thick frame shown in the figure is stored in the arrangement coordinates X, Y.

In step S13, a duplicate display character determination process is performed to determine whether or not other character data is already stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position of the character data selected in step S12. In this duplicate display character detection processing, as will be described later, when another character data is already stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position of the selected character data, the flag F is set to "1". Set. In step S14, it is determined whether the flag F is "1". If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S15, the character data selected in step S12 is stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display screen, and the process proceeds to step S18. Step S14
If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S16 and the RAM 6
It is determined whether or not the priority order of the character data already stored in the same area above is higher than the priority order of the character data selected in step S12. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S17, and the character data selected in step S12 and the background data is stored in the RAM 6. That is, a display frame is set around the display position of the character data, and the image data in which the range of the display frame is colored differently from the character data is stored in the RAM 6. As a result, other character data that overlaps the character data is hidden from the display screen. For example, when the data to be displayed is as shown in FIG. 12 (a), the character data with the highest priority is "Higashi Ginza Lamp".
Is displayed, it is displayed as shown in FIG.

If the determination in step S16 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S15, and the character data selected in step S12 is stored in the corresponding area on the RAM 6. Step S
When the processing of 15 or S17 is completed, the process proceeds to step S18, and it is determined whether all the character data to be displayed on the display 8 are stored in the RAM 6. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step S12, and if the determination is affirmative, the process returns.

Thus, in the flow chart of FIG.
Prioritize multiple character data whose display positions overlap,
A display frame is attached to the character data with the highest priority, and other character data in the display frame is hidden so that even if the display positions of the character data overlap, the character data with a high priority can be read accurately. Like Further, since the operator is made to select the display mode in advance and the priority order is decided according to the display mode,
The character data most needed by the operator can be displayed preferentially.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the details of the overlapping display character determination processing in step S13 of FIG. When the process of the flowchart of FIG. 11 is executed for the first time, the flag F and the variable value f (X1, Y1) (however, 0
.Ltoreq.X1.ltoreq.79, 0.ltoreq.Y1.ltoreq.59, and X1 and Y1 both represent coordinates in character units, and both are initialized to "0". The flag F changes to "1" when the character data is already stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position of the character data to be displayed. The variable value f (X1, Y1) is the display character coordinate (X1, Y1).
When the character data is stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to, it changes to "1". Step S10 of FIG.
In 1, the arrangement coordinates (X0, Y0) stored in the character arrangement table are converted into 8-bit unit coordinates, that is, character unit coordinates (X1, Y1) according to the equations (1) and (2).

## EQU1 ## X1 = X0 / 8 (1) Y1 = Y0 / 8 (2)

In step S102, the final character coordinates (X2, Y2) of the character data (see FIG. 2) are set to (3) and (4).
Calculate according to the formula. In addition, L represents the number of characters.

## EQU2 ## X2 = X1 + L + 2 (3) Y2 = Y1-3 (4) In step S103, it is determined whether the variable value f (X1, Y1) is "1". If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S104, the flag F is set to "1", and the process proceeds to step S106. If the determination in step S103 is negative, the process proceeds to step S105 and the variable value f (X1, Y
Substitute "1" for 1) and proceed to step S106.

In step S106, the X coordinate variable value X1
Is equal to X2. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S107, X1 is added by "1", and the process returns to step S103. If the determination in step S106 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S108, and the Y coordinate variable value Y1 is Y2.
It is determined whether or not If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S109, Y1 is subtracted by "1", and the process proceeds to step S1.
Return to 03. On the other hand, if the determination in step S108 is positive, the process returns. As described above, in the overlapping display character determination process of FIG. 11, it is searched whether or not character data is already stored in the corresponding area of the RAM 6 on a character-by-character basis.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the uppermost character priority display processing by the control circuit 4. Illustrated step S
At 31, the character arrangement table shown in FIG. 9 is selected from the character data displayed on the display 8 and the character arrangement table is created and stored in the RAM 6. In step S32, the overlapping display character determination process shown in FIG. 11 is performed to determine whether or not the character data is already stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position of the selected character data. Step S
In 33, it is determined whether or not the flag F is "1". If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S34 and step S31.
The character data selected in step S36 is stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display screen, and the process proceeds to step S36. On the other hand, if the determination in step S33 is affirmative, step S3
5, the data in which the background is added to the character data selected in step S31 is stored in the RAM 6, and the process proceeds to step S36. As a result, the other character data displayed within the display frame is hidden from the display screen. In step S36, it is determined whether or not all the character data to be displayed on the display 8 has been stored in the RAM 6. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step S31, and if the determination is affirmative, the process returns.

Thus, in the flow chart of FIG.
For multiple character data with overlapping display positions, a display frame is attached to the character data that is displayed later, and other character data in that display frame is hidden from the display screen. Character data other than the character data overwritten on is hidden from the display screen. Therefore, even if the display positions of a plurality of character data overlap, the character data displayed at the end can be accurately read.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the shortest character number priority display processing by the control circuit 4. Step S of FIG.
At 51, of the character data displayed on the display 8, one of the character data for which the character arrangement table shown in FIG. 9 has not yet been created is selected to create the character arrangement table and store it in the RAM 6. In step S52, the duplicate display character determination process shown in FIG. 11 is performed to determine whether or not the character data is already stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position of the selected character data. Step S
In 53, it is determined whether or not the flag F is "1". If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S54, the selected character data is stored in the corresponding area on the RAM 6, and the process proceeds to step S58.

If the determination in step S53 is affirmative, the flow advances to step S55 to determine whether the number of characters of the character data selected in step S51 is smaller than the number of characters of the character data already stored in the same position. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S56, the data in which the background is added to the selected character data is stored in the RAM 6, and the step S56 is performed.
Proceed to 57. As a result, for example, when the data to be displayed is as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the character data with the smallest number of characters is "Yokohama Station".
Is displayed. If the determination in step S55 is negative, the process proceeds to step S54, the character data selected in step S51 is stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position, and the process proceeds to step S57. In step S57,
It is determined whether or not all the character data to be displayed is stored in the RAM 6. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step S51, and if the determination is affirmative, the process returns.

As described above, in the processing of FIG. 6, since the display frame is attached to the character data having a small number of characters, the character data can be recognized even if the number of characters is short. on the other hand,
Even in this case, with respect to character data having a large number of characters, there is no particular inconvenience because the character data can be inferred from the portions where the characters do not overlap.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the leading character priority display processing by the control circuit 4. Step S7 in FIG.
In 1, the character arrangement table shown in FIG. 9 is selected from the character data displayed on the display 8 to create a character arrangement table, and the character arrangement table is stored in the RAM 6. In step S72, the overlapping display character determination process shown in FIG. 11 for determining whether or not the character data is already stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position of the selected character data is performed. In step S73, it is determined whether the flag F is "1",
When the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S74, the selected character data is stored in the corresponding area on the RAM 6, and the process proceeds to step S77.

On the other hand, if the determination in step S73 is affirmative, the flow advances to step S75 to determine whether the display position of the first character of the character data selected in step S71 overlaps the display position of the character data already stored in RAM 6. To determine. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S76, the data in which the background is added to the selected character data is stored in the RAM 6, and the process proceeds to step S77. As a result, for example, when the data to be displayed is as shown in FIG. 12 (c), "Tomei Expressway" having the same leading character is displayed with a display frame as shown in FIG. 10 (c). When the determination in step S75 is negative, the process proceeds to step S74, the character data selected in step S71 is stored in the area on the RAM 6 corresponding to the display position, and the process proceeds to step S77. In step S77, it is determined whether or not all the character data to be displayed has been stored in the RAM 6. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step S71,
If the determination is affirmative, the process returns.

As described above, in the processing of FIG. 7, when the display positions of a plurality of character data overlap, the display of the character data in which the first character overlaps is prioritized, so that the characters overlap because the first character overlaps. The problem of being unrecognizable is solved.

The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows an example in which the character data is displayed after the map data is displayed, but the display order is not limited to this. In the priority order display processing shown in FIG. 4, an example of displaying according to the priority order shown in FIG. 8 has been shown, but the priority order is not limited to FIG.
The operator may be allowed to freely set the priority order. Further, it may be possible to arbitrarily change and set which information of the road map information is displayed with priority. In the examples of FIGS. 4 to 7, one of the character data displayed in an overlapping manner is displayed with a display frame with priority, but the size of the display frame is not limited to that in the above embodiment. Further, instead of the display frame, the character data to be preferentially displayed may be displayed in a color different from that of other character data.
When performing the character selection / arrangement processing in step S5 of FIG. 3, the operator may be asked to confirm, and the character selection / arrangement processing shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 may be performed only when the operator's permission is obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, when displaying the highest priority character data, etc., a display frame is set around the highest priority character data, and the background color in the display frame causes the other priority characters to overlap. I try to hide the character data from the display screen, but before displaying the highest priority character data, first display a display frame around it, then erase other character data in that display frame, and then You may display priority character data etc. Alternatively, the display frame may be displayed after deleting the character data that overlaps the surrounding display frame of the highest priority character data and the like and displaying the highest priority character data and the like. In any case,
Character data other than the highest-priority character data may not be displayed within the range of the display frame.

[0036]

According to the invention of claim 1, the display character can be accurately recognized by displaying the display frame around the display character data and displaying only the display character data in the display frame.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, by displaying the two overlapping character data in different colors, the displayed character can be accurately recognized. According to the invention of claim 7, character display control is performed according to the selected display mode.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle navigation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating coordinates on a display.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main process of a control circuit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing priority order display processing of a control circuit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a top character priority display process of the control circuit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a shortest character number priority display process of the control circuit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a leading character priority display process of the control circuit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a priority table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a character arrangement table.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of character data display according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a duplicate display character determination process of the control circuit.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of conventional character data display.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of character data display according to the publication.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Direction sensor 2 vehicle speed sensor 3 map memory 4 control circuit 5 ROM 6 RAM 7 V-RAM 8 display 9 Input device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-56988 (JP, A) JP-A-4-204589 (JP, A) JP-A-3-229288 (JP, A) JP-A-3- 84416 (JP, A) JP-A-2-3084 (JP, A) JP-A-5-113751 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1 / 0969 G09B 29/10

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A character display method for a vehicle navigation device for displaying road network data and character data on a display, comprising one of character data (hereinafter, display character data) of at least two character data overlapping on the display. A display frame is displayed around the display character data, the display character data is displayed in the display frame, other character data (hereinafter, non-display character data) overlapping the display character data is hidden, and the non-display character is displayed outside the display frame. A character display method for a vehicle navigation device, which is characterized by displaying data. 2. The character display method according to claim 1, wherein the color in the display frame is a color that hides all the non-display characters. 3. The character display method according to claim 1, wherein the display character data surrounded by the display frame is displayed after the display processing of the non-display character data. . 4. The character display method according to claim 1, wherein the character data is given a priority for display, and the display character data is higher than the non-display character data. A character display method for a vehicular navigation device, characterized in that priority is given. 5. The character display method according to claim 1, wherein any one of a plurality of display modes preset for displaying the character data on the display is selected. A character display method for a vehicular navigation device, comprising selecting and displaying the display character data or non-display character data according to a selected display mode. 6. A character display method of a vehicle navigation device for displaying road network data and character data on a display, wherein one of at least two character data that overlaps on the display is displayed in a first color. And displaying other character data in the second color. 7. A character display method for a vehicle navigation device for displaying road network data and character data on a display, which is selected from a plurality of modes preset for displaying the character data on the display. One of the modes is selected, and in each of the plurality of modes, different priorities are given to the character data for each mode, and the character data is displayed with a priority according to the selected mode. A method for displaying characters in a vehicle navigation device, characterized by deciding whether to display or not. 8. The character display method according to claim 7, wherein each of the character data is stored in a layout table together with a plurality of character types used for determining whether to display or hide the character data. The plurality of character types are stored respectively in a plurality of priority tables in which the character types are arranged in order of priority, and by selecting one of the priority tables according to the selected mode, A method for displaying characters in a vehicle navigation device, comprising determining which character data is displayed and which is not displayed.