JP3560719B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a navigation device that displays guidance such as a traveling route of a vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the navigation device, the current position of the vehicle is calculated using a radio wave from an artificial satellite (a position detection system using GPS), and map information corresponding to the position is read from a CD-ROM and is displayed on a display such as a liquid crystal display. The map is displayed at the scale of. At the same time, information such as a place name and an intersection name is displayed in superimposed characters on the map in characters of a predetermined size.
[0003]
The driver operates a changeover switch or the like in accordance with the situation, and displays a map so as to cover a wide area during high-speed running, and also displays characters in a large size for easy viewing. Conversely, when a vehicle arrives near a destination or a junction and a detailed map is needed, a changeover switch or the like is operated to display a detailed map.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described method, the driver must operate the switch for selecting the enlarged or reduced display of the map or the enlarged display of the characters according to the situation during traveling, which is troublesome.
Normally, when the vehicle is traveling on an expressway, it is not necessary to display a detailed portion because the road has few branches and the route is simple. Rather, since the vehicle is running at high speed, a wide range of display is often required. Furthermore, since it is difficult to change the line of sight during high-speed running, character recognition becomes more difficult than during low-speed running. Therefore, it is necessary to enlarge and display the characters so that the characters can be easily recognized. Conversely, there are many road branches near the intersection of general roads, and it is often desired to know the detailed road conditions. In such places, generally low-speed traveling due to traffic congestion, signal waiting, and the like is common, and it is possible to enlarge the details and see the display in detail. Also, it is not necessary to display the characters in a particularly large size, and it is desirable to display the characters in a size that does not hinder the recognition of the map such as a road branch. As described above, since there is a rough correlation between the traveling speed of the vehicle and the optimal size of the map and the character display, if the size of the display can be changed in conjunction with the speed of the vehicle, the burden on the driver can be reduced.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that can automatically adjust the size of characters displayed on a display in conjunction with the traveling speed of a vehicle.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a navigation device for displaying a position of a vehicle on a map displayed on a display means, wherein the vehicle speed sensor detects a speed of the vehicle, and the vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the vehicle. When the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed, the map displayed on the display means is changed to a reduced scale for displaying a wide range, and a change means for enlarging the size of characters displayed on the display means is provided. It is characterized by the following.
[0007]
Further, the changing means is controlled in accordance with a speed classification based on an average speed of the vehicle during a predetermined period.
Further, the changing unit does not change the scale and the character size of the map displayed on the display unit for a predetermined time when the scale and the size of the character displayed on the display unit are changed. It is characterized by the following.
[0008]
【Example】
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to one embodiment of the present invention. This will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle, which comprises, for example, a magnet that rotates in synchronization with the axle and a reed switch that performs a disconnection operation in response to a change in magnetic force, and outputs a pulse number corresponding to the speed. 12 calculates an average traveling speed for a predetermined time based on the speed information from the vehicle speed sensor 11 and divides the average traveling speed into multiple stages (for example, three stages in the present embodiment) according to the average speed to reduce the scale of the map and the characters. This is an enlargement / reduction determination unit that determines the size. Reference numeral 21 denotes a display control unit for controlling display on a display 26 of the navigation main unit 2, a screen scale display control unit 22 for controlling the scale of a map to be displayed, and a screen character display control for controlling the size of characters to be displayed. It comprises a unit 23 and a display control unit (not shown) for controlling map display as normal navigation. Reference numeral 24 denotes a position detection system including a global positioning system (GPS) for detecting the current position of the vehicle using radio waves from artificial satellites. Reference numeral 25 denotes a map memory for reading and outputting map data from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM on which map information is recorded. Various maps of various regions can be used by changing the CD-ROM or the like. A display 26 such as a liquid crystal displays a map, the current position of the vehicle, and characters. Reference numeral 27 denotes a changeover switch for switching whether or not a passenger manually performs map enlargement / reduction and character size change. The map enlargement / reduction and character size change commands are transmitted from the enlargement / reduction determination unit 12 to the navigation main unit 2.
[0009]
In normal navigation, the current position of the vehicle is detected by the position detection system 24, and corresponding map information is read from the map memory 25 and displayed on the display 26. At the same time, the intersection name and the like are also displayed in characters of a predetermined size. FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart performed by the display control unit of the navigation device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, a process of enlarging and reducing a map and enlarging and displaying characters will be described with reference to a flowchart. In this example, the normal display of the map and the normal size of the characters refer to the scale of the standard map and the size of the characters performed by the display control unit of the navigation device.
[0010]
In step S1, it is determined whether or not to perform the automatic display. If the automatic display is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S2. If the automatic display is not performed, the process proceeds to step S7. That is, it is determined whether the size of the characters displayed on the display 26 is automatically changed in accordance with the vehicle speed or the size of the characters is changed manually. Has been instructed.
[0011]
In step S2, it is determined whether the vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined speed V1 (V1> V2 in the following description). If the vehicle speed is higher than V1, the process proceeds to step S6. . That is, in order to determine the scale of the map display and the size of the displayed characters in accordance with the speed of the vehicle, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is running at high speed (vehicle speed> V1) based on the output of the vehicle speed sensor 11.
[0012]
In step S3, it is determined whether the vehicle speed is lower than V2. If the vehicle speed is lower than V2, the process proceeds to step S5, and if not, the process proceeds to step S4. That is, in order to determine the scale of the map display and the size of the displayed characters in accordance with the speed of the vehicle, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is running at a low speed (vehicle speed <V2) based on the output of the vehicle speed sensor 11. The case where the vehicle speed is between V2 and V1 is referred to as normal traveling.
[0013]
In step S4, the scale of the map and the size of the characters are displayed in the conventional size, and the process returns to step S1.
In step S5, the map is displayed up to the detailed portion, the character size is set to the normal size, and the process returns to step S1. In other words, in this speed division, it is assumed that the vehicle is traveling at low speed around the city, near the intersection, and near the destination. In such places, the roads are complicated and there are many branches, so it is necessary to display the map to the detailed part as a navigation function. it can. The screen scale display control unit 22 instructs to increase the scale of the screen, enlarge the target area, and display the detailed area.
[0014]
In step S6, the map is displayed over a wide area, the characters are displayed in an enlarged size, and the process returns to step S1. In other words, in this speed division, it is assumed that the vehicle travels on a suburb, a highway, or the like, and has a sufficient distance to the destination. In such a place, it is not necessary to see a detailed portion of the map with few branches of the road, and it is desirable that a wide range is displayed so that the outline of the process can be grasped. Rather, it is more important to recognize the display of place names, intersection names, and the like. In high-speed driving, it is difficult to turn the line of sight during driving, and the displayed characters are difficult to recognize. Therefore, by enlarging and displaying the characters, the burden on the driver can be reduced. The screen scale display control unit 22 instructs to reduce the scale of the screen and display the target area in a wide range. Further, the screen character display control unit 23 instructs to increase the size of the character and display the character at a predetermined position.
[0015]
In step S7, the map is manually enlarged / reduced and displayed in character size, and the process returns to step S1. In other words, when the automatic display is not performed in step S1, this is a function corresponding to the same manual setting as in the conventional case, and the driver adjusts the scale of the map by manual operation as necessary to display the detailed portion, the normal display, A wide range display or the like can be selected. In addition, a normal size display, an enlarged size display, and the like of the character size can be selected by manual operation.
[0016]
In addition, when the display speed on the display is controlled by judging the vehicle speed division such as high-speed driving, normal driving, low-speed driving, etc. based on the instantaneous speed, the scale and character of the map displayed on the display in a short time near the boundary of the division are displayed. The size of the image changes and it becomes difficult to see. Therefore, it is preferable to determine the vehicle speed category using the average speed during a certain period as the vehicle speed. Further, once the vehicle speed division is determined and the map and characters are displayed in a predetermined size on the display, the display size may not be changed for a certain period of time.
[0017]
Further, in this example, the vehicle speed is classified into three stages of high-speed traveling, normal traveling, and low-speed traveling, and the display of the map and the characters is changed according to the speed division. It is also possible to finely change the display size of characters. Furthermore, the display range of the map and the character size according to the driving section may be changed in conjunction with each other, or may be changed individually.
[0018]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the size of the characters displayed on the display can be automatically adjusted in accordance with the traveling speed of the vehicle, so that the driver does not need to perform a troublesome operation and always has the optimal size. Is easily displayed.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a navigation device that can automatically adjust the size of the characters displayed on the display in conjunction with the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the driver is bothered by the operation and the burden is reduced. It is reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart performed by a display control unit of the navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
11 vehicle speed sensor 24 position detection system 12 enlargement / reduction determination unit 25 map memory 22 screen scale display control unit 26 display 23 ... Screen character display control unit 27 ... Switch

Claims (3)

In a navigation device that displays a position of a vehicle on a map displayed on a display unit,
A vehicle speed sensor for detecting a speed of the vehicle;
When the speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor exceeds a predetermined speed, the map displayed on the display means is changed to a reduced scale for displaying a wide range, and the size of the characters displayed on the display means is changed. A navigation device comprising a changing means for enlarging. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the change unit is controlled in accordance with a speed division based on an average speed of the vehicle during a predetermined period. The changing unit may be configured not to change the scale and the character size of the map displayed on the display unit for a predetermined time when the scale and the character size of the map displayed on the display unit are changed. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

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