JP3575445B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a navigation device for searching a registered place.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, navigation devices provide route guidance so that they can visit their first destination by car with peace of mind. In recent years, navigation devices have been used to improve performance, functions such as navigation accuracy, operability, and visibility. Technology is being actively developed, and various types are proposed. This navigation device includes a place name search screen and a destination setting screen used when setting a route, a route guidance screen which is opened automatically at the time of guidance, or in response to a driver's request. With these screens, information such as remaining distance, name, right / left turn and registered place information is provided for intersections that should be turned so that the route can be traveled without fail, and the route during traveling can be confirmed. There are those that teach features and the like, and those that provide voice guidance as well as display.
[0003]
In such a navigation device, it is necessary to input a departure place, a current location, and a destination in order to set a route. When the departure place, the current location, and the destination are determined by this input, the departure place, the current location, and the destination are determined. A route search process is performed from road information data around the ground and between the roads, and an optimum route is set from a plurality of routes. For example, the registered locations, such as departure points and destinations, are classified into genres such as sightseeing, parking lots, restaurants, etc. The method of inputting, the method of displaying a menu and selecting and inputting sequentially from the menu, having node data, connecting the node data to define a road network, and determining the position by the coordinate values of east longitude, north latitude. A method of inputting, a method of inputting a telephone number, and the like have been proposed.
[0004]
Also, in a device having a function of searching for a registered place by inputting a character, a registered place including the input character in a name is searched, and one of the searched registered places is selected. A map around the registered location can be displayed. Navigation devices having this type of function are disclosed in, for example, JP-A-1-136014 and JP-A-1-149200.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional navigation device, a character such as a hiragana character or a Roman character is input, a registered place including the character in a name is searched, and a list of search results is displayed. Therefore, if there are a large number of registered locations that include the input characters in the name, the number of registered locations displayed in the list increases, and for example, a screen is switched in order to select a desired registered location from the list. It is necessary to frequently perform operations such as scrolling.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a navigation device capable of reducing an operation load for selecting a desired registered place.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, in the navigation device of the present invention includes a storage unit for storing the registered place, and a character input means for inputting characters, a search means for searching said registered place containing the inputted character name is retrieved and a display means for displaying the name of the registered place, the display unit, when the number of found the registered place a number of displays a refinement condition to narrow down the search by said registered place, If the number of the registered places searched is not large, the name of the registered place is displayed.
[0010]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0011]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration for realizing a registered place name search function of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of the navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention. .
[0012]
The navigation device includes an input / output unit 1 for inputting and outputting information relating to route guidance, a current position detection device 2 for detecting information relating to the current position of the vehicle, navigation data required for calculating a route, and display guidance required for guidance. It comprises an external storage device 3 in which data and the like are recorded, a central processing unit 4 for executing route guidance processing and display guidance processing necessary for route guidance, and for controlling the entire system.
[0013]
The input / output unit 1 instructs the central processing unit 4 to perform a navigation process by a user's will so that the destination can be input and the driver can display guidance information by voice and / or on a screen when necessary. It has a function of printing out processed data, communication data, and the like, outputting sound from a speaker, and displaying and outputting it on a display. As an input means for realizing the function, a touch switch for inputting a destination by an address, a telephone number, coordinates, or the like, or requesting route guidance is configured by a touch panel 11 incorporated in a display 12. I have. The output means also displays the input data on the screen, displays the driver's request or automatically displays the route guidance on the display 12, prints out the data processed by the central processing unit 4 and the data stored in the external storage device 3. And a speaker 16 for outputting route guidance by voice.
[0014]
Here, a voice recognition device for enabling voice input and a recording card reader for reading data recorded on an IC card or a magnetic card can also be added. In addition, it stores data necessary for navigation and communicates with an information center such as an information center provided through a communication line at the request of the user or an electronic notebook in which user-specific data such as map data and destination data are stored in advance. A data communication device for exchanging data between devices can be added.
[0015]
The display 12 constitutes display means by a color CRT or a color liquid crystal display, and has a destination setting screen based on map data and guidance data processed by the central processing unit 4, a route guidance screen, a section map screen, and an intersection map screen. In addition to outputting all screens necessary for navigation in color display, button switches for setting route guidance, performing guidance during route guidance, and performing screen switching operations are displayed on this screen. The route guidance screen includes a screen that displays at least a whole route map, route information, and a surrounding map. The display 12 is provided with a touch panel 11 corresponding to the display of the function buttons, and is configured to execute the above-described operation based on a signal input by touching the button. The buttons and the touch panel 11 constitute an input unit, but detailed description thereof is omitted here.
[0016]
The current position detecting device 2 includes a GPS receiving device 21 and a beacon receiving device 22 using a satellite navigation system (GPS), for example, a data transmitting and receiving device 23 for receiving a GPS correction signal using a cellular phone or an FM multiplex signal, for example, And a steering angle sensor 24 composed of a wheel sensor and a steering sensor, for example, an azimuth sensor 25 composed of a geomagnetic sensor and the like, and a distance sensor 26 for detecting the traveling distance from the number of rotations of the wheels.
[0017]
The external storage device 3 records all data necessary for route guidance such as maps, intersections, nodes, roads, photographs, destinations, guidance points, detailed destinations, road names, junctions, display guidance, voice guidance, and the like. Database. In particular, a destination data file and a destination reading data file associated with a map data file are stored as place name search / setting information necessary for implementing the present invention.
[0018]
The central processing unit 4 includes a CPU 40 for executing arithmetic processing, a program for performing processing such as route search, a program for performing display control required for route guidance, and voice output control required for voice guidance, and data necessary for the program. , A RAM 42 for temporarily storing searched route guidance information and data being processed, a second ROM 43 for storing display information data necessary for route guidance and map display, and screen display on a display. An image processor 45 for extracting image data from the image memory based on a display control signal from the CPU, performing image processing and outputting the image data to a display, an audio output control signal from the CPU Voice, phrase read out from the external storage device 3 based on the , A sound processor 46 for synthesizing sound and the like and converting it into an analog signal and outputting the analog signal to a speaker, a communication interface 47 for exchanging input / output data by communication, and a sensor input interface for receiving a sensor signal of the current position detecting device 2. It comprises a face 48 and a clock 49 for writing the date and time in the internal diag information.
[0019]
The navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured such that the route guidance can be selected by the driver either by screen display or voice output. The navigation device calculates an estimated position based on various sensor signals from the current position detection device 2 and GPS data, and determines a position on the road by correlating the estimated position with a road on the map and GPS data. To obtain the current position. Further, the navigation device has a function of illuminating the current position with a route to a destination and determining whether or not the vehicle is approaching a predetermined guide point with respect to the position on the lane of the vehicle. That is, the above function determines a predetermined distance before the intersection on the guide route, an automatic voice output after the intersection is determined, and a timing of displaying the intersection information such as the name of the passing intersection. A guidance command is issued to the image processor 45 and the audio processor 46 based on the result of this determination. When the request signal is input, the voice processor 46 is instructed to provide voice guidance of the current location.
[0020]
Next, a search for a registered place name will be described.
[0021]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for searching for a registered place name in the case where data has a plurality of readings applied by the navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 3, the data structure is converted into data so that a part having a common reading in the destination name can be listed. For example, in the case of Shin-Nagoya Station (Meitetsu) and Nagoya Station (JR), the reading is common to "Nagoya Eki". Also, for the “Na” line, “New Nagoya Station” and “Nagoya Station” whose reading is “Nagoyaeki” are converted to data. By converting the destination names into data in this way, a plurality of destination names can be searched by inputting "Nagoyaeki" as a keyword.
[0023]
When searching for the above destination name, select “Registered place name search” from the menu screen to open the registered place name search screen described below. Enter the registered place name from this search screen and start searching. Search the reading data to detect the destination name. For example, when "Nagoya Eki" is input, the destination name reading data search searches for readings beginning with "Nagoya Eki". Here, when Shingo Nagoya Station (Meitetsu) for Nagoya Eki and Nagoya Station (JR) for Nagoya Eki are registered as the destination name for the destination name reading data, these two destination names are searched. Is done. A destination can be specified from these search results.
[0024]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing a search by adding a character string for each genre according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 4, the data structure is converted into data so that the destination name can be listed in a part having a common reading for each genre. For example, in the data of the destination name whose reading starts with "Aichi", "Aichi Prefectural Office", "Aichi ***", "Aichi ****", etc. In the data of the hotel name whose reading starts with "Hotel", " Convert data such as "Hotel Aichi", "Hotel **" and "Hotel ***".
[0026]
By converting the destination names into data in this way, by specifying the genre and inputting a part of the destination, it is possible to search for all the destination names satisfying the conditions. For example, to search for a hotel that has "Aichi" as part of the nickname, enter "Aichi" to search for readings beginning with "Aichi" in the destination name reading data search, and "Hotel" in the hotel name reading data search. Search for readings beginning with. As a result, "Aichi Prefectural Office", "Aichi **", "Aichi ***", and "Hotel Aichi" are searched as destination names. From these, "Hotel Aichi" can be designated as the destination.
[0027]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a registration place name input screen in the embodiment of the present invention.
[0028]
The screen shown in FIG. 5A includes a name display unit 51 for displaying the input registered place name and a character type designation unit 52.
[0029]
The screen of the character type designation section 52 is configured to be switched to an individual character input screen 6 to be opened according to the designated character type. In the character type specification section 52 on the input screen, a line specification button 530 for kana input for opening the character input screen 6 by character type specification, a symbol specification button 531 for symbol input, a number specification button 532 for numeric input, and an English character input A character type designation button 53 for inputting a registered place such as an alphabetic character designation button 533 is provided, and function keys necessary for input character operations such as correction, erasure, and completion of input characters are provided. The function keys include an erase button 55 for erasing a part of the input character where the cursor 510 is displayed, and a cursor movement key 56 for moving the cursor 510 of the name display section 51 for displaying the input character. And a completion button 54 for fixing the input registered place name.
[0030]
For example, when the A-line button is selected, the A-line character input screen 6 of FIG. 5B is opened. On the line A character input screen 6, there are provided a character button 61 for inputting upper and lower case characters of the line A, and a cancel key 62 for closing the character input screen. The screen configuration of this kana character input is the same for other lines.
[0031]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a symbol input screen and a number input screen according to the embodiment of the present invention. When a symbol designation button 531 and a numeral designation button 532 shown in FIG. 5 are pressed, a character input screen as shown in FIG. 6 is opened. The operation on this screen is basically the same as the Kana input.
[0032]
FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of an alphabet input screen in the embodiment of the present invention.
[0033]
The screen shown in FIG. 7 is an alphabet input screen opened when the alphabet designation button 533 is pressed, and the first screen shown in FIG. 7A has A to M character buttons and a next page for opening the next page. The second screen shown in FIG. 7B, which is opened by pressing the next page key, has NZ character buttons and a previous page key for returning to the previous page screen. The screen is provided with a cancel key for returning to the character type designation screen of FIG.
[0034]
Next, a description will be given of a forward match search using an input character string.
[0035]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example for explaining a forward match search using an input character string in the embodiment of the present invention.
[0036]
In this example, the search is performed in all genres nationwide, and the genre of “station” and “hotel” is searched for the one including the input character string. In the figure, a mark indicates that detection is possible, and a mark indicates that detection is not possible. For example, if a search is made for a character string including the character strings input for the genres of "station" and "hotel", "Higashi Sakurai Park" is not searched.
[0037]
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a registered place name display screen and a transition screen of a search procedure for each genre according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0038]
When "Sakurai" is input from the registered place name input screen, registered places having "Sakurai" in the registered place name are listed up from all genres, and displayed on the registered place list display screen shown in FIG. The registered place list display screen includes a first display unit for displaying the number of searched registered places (the number of lists), a section to which the registered place selected by the cursor belongs, and a second list for displaying registered place names from the search result. Display section. In the second display unit, the searched registered location is scroll-displayed by operating a scroll key, and a cursor button is operated to select the scrolled registered location by operating a cursor button. For example, the first display unit indicates that there are 100 registered locations that read "Sakurai", and that "Sakurai Station" selected by the cursor on the second display unit is located on "Nagoya Railway". ing.
[0039]
On this screen, there are provided a genre-specific key for specifying a genre for narrowing down the registered locations and a prefectural-specific key for specifying in a range of prefectures from all over Japan. When the genre key is pressed, a genre designation screen is opened, and genre names provided for each registered place name are displayed in advance. By specifying a genre from these, a genre is selected from among the searched registered place names. A narrowed registration place can be extracted. Furthermore, it is configured so that a search can be narrowed down to prefectures as regions. That is, when a genre is specified, a genre-specific list display screen is opened. This genre list display screen has basically the same configuration as the registered place list display screen, and has a prefecture-specific key for narrowing down the registered places by prefecture. Pressing a prefecture-specific key opens a prefecture designation screen that displays a list of prefecture names. When one of the prefecture names is designated on this screen, a regional list display screen in which only registered locations existing in the prefecture are listed is opened.
[0040]
In the example shown in FIG. 9, on the genre designation screen, it is possible to narrow down the search for registered places having "Sakurai" to three genres of "park", "station", and "hotel". Here, when the station key is pressed, the registered places having the reading of "Sakurai" in the railway section are displayed in a list on the genre list display screen. Since this list display includes stations in railway divisions nationwide, the number of lists is large, and if it is difficult to find the target registered place from this list, the search is limited to prefectures. In this case, by specifying, for example, "Aichi Prefecture" on the prefecture designation screen, only registered locations having "Sakurai" as a reading in the railway division of Aichi Prefecture can be displayed on the regional list display screen.
[0041]
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation when a prefectural key is pressed in the embodiment of the present invention. Since the search target is the same as that shown in FIG. 9, the description is omitted here.
[0042]
First, a prefecture name to be searched is selected on the prefecture designation screen. The registered location list display screen for each selected prefecture opens, and on this screen, the desired registered location is searched. If found, the registered location is set by moving the cursor to the desired registered location and touching the cursor. You. If the number of lists is too large to find, press the genre key to open the genre designation screen. Here, when a genre is designated, a regional list display screen is opened, and registered locations in the genre are displayed in a list.
[0043]
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered place list display screen and a transition screen of a search procedure for each genre when the number of lists is large in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a case where the number of lists is large in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered place list display screen of the present invention and a transition screen of a search procedure for each prefecture.
[0044]
If the number of lists is large, that is, if the number of registered locations is large, the message "Cannot be displayed because there is too much data. Please specify" genre "or" prefecture "instead of list display. That is, the name of the registered place is not displayed, and the conditions for narrowing down the registered place are displayed instead of the name of the registered place. Here, when "genre" or "prefecture" is designated, the screen shown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12 is opened, and a search can be performed by narrowing down registered locations from this screen. Note that the narrowing down of the registered locations is the same as the screen operation shown in FIG. 9 or 10 described above, and thus the description is omitted here. In the present embodiment, the genre for searching for a character string including the input character string is limited to “station” and “hotel”. However, the search may be performed for all genres without such restriction. .
[0045]
Next, another example of the registration place name input screen will be described.
[0046]
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a registered place name input screen and a transition screen according to an operation procedure in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a first diagram showing an example of a layout of a character input screen in the embodiment of the present invention. 15 is a second diagram showing an example of a layout of a character input screen according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16 is a third diagram showing an example of a layout of a character input screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0047]
In FIG. 13 (a), on the registered place name input screen, a registered place name display area for displaying the inputted registered place name, a character type selection key for designating a character type such as kana characters, alphabets, and numerals, and a cursor are operated. There are provided a clear key for erasing input characters which are highlighted and a completion key for validating input characters. Character input screens shown in FIGS. 14 to 16 are prepared for inputting respective character types corresponding to the character type selection keys.
[0048]
For example, when the "A" key is pressed from among the character type selection keys, an "A" character input screen 6 shown in FIG. 13B is opened, and the upper and lower case characters of the "A" line can be input using this screen. The screen operation of each character type is basically the same as the operation of the screen shown in FIG. 4, and thus the description is omitted here. In this embodiment, in the selected character input screen, when there is no operation for a predetermined time, the screen (on-screen) is automatically erased. For example, after a short time after the input of “o”, the screen moves to the screen of FIG.
[0049]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the navigation device of the present invention, even in many retrieved registered place, it is possible to reduce the operation burden for selecting the Nozomu Tokoro registration areas.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration for realizing a registered place name search function of a navigation device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a navigation device according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a structure of destination data having a plurality of readings and a search procedure of a registered place name.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a data structure and a procedure when a search is performed by adding a character string for each genre.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a registration place name input screen and a screen transition at the time of screen operation.
6 shows an example of a layout of a character input screen which is opened when a symbol designation button and a number designation button are pressed from the registered place name input screen of FIG. 5, and FIG. 6 (a) shows a symbol input screen, FIG. b) is a diagram of a numeral input screen.
7 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a character input screen which is opened when an English character designation button is pressed from the registered place name input screen of FIG. 5, and a screen transition when a next page key or a previous page key is operated. .
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example for describing a forward match search using an input character string.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a registered place name display screen and a transition screen of a search procedure for each genre.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a registered place name display screen and a transition screen of a search procedure for each prefecture.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered place list display screen when the number of lists is large, and a transition screen of a search procedure for each genre.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered place list display screen when the number of lists is large, and a transition screen of a search procedure for each prefecture.
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a registered place name input screen and a transition screen according to an operation procedure according to another embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a character input screen for inputting character types such as a-line, ka-line, c-line, ma-line, symbols, numbers, and alphabets (MNOPQ, QRST).
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a character input screen for inputting character types of a line, a line, a line, and alphabetic characters (ABCD, EFGH, UVWX, YZ).
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layout of a character input screen for inputting character types of a line, a word, and an alphabetic character (IJKL).
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 1 input / output unit 2 current position detection device 3 external storage device 4 central processing unit 5 registration place name input screen 6 character input screen

Claims (1)

(A) storage means for storing a registered place;
(B) character input means for inputting characters;
(C) a search means for searching said registered place containing the inputted character name,
(D) a display means for displaying the retrieved the registered place name,
(E) The display means displays a narrowing-down condition for narrowing down the searched registered locations when the number of searched registered locations is large, and displays the narrowing conditions when the number of searched registered locations is not large. Is a navigation device for displaying the name of a registered place .

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