JP4444002B2 - Navigation device and navigation method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device and a navigation method, and more particularly to a navigation device and a navigation method that are suitable for mounting on a vehicle equipped with an ETC card system.

  In recent years, navigation devices that can not only guide route guidance but also present various types of information to drivers such as service stations (SS) and convenience stores (CS) existing on or near the route have become mainstream. It has become.

  However, landmarks such as stores are crowded on main roads and downtown areas. For this reason, there is a problem that displaying all of these may confuse the driver.

As a technique for solving such a problem, for example, in Patent Document 1 shown below, an operator registers a desired specific brand and its priority from a plurality of previously registered brands. A configuration for presenting information in an organized manner is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-89992

  However, in the technique according to Patent Document 1 described above, information that an operator such as a driver wants to prioritize must be registered in advance, and there is a problem that it takes time for the operator.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a navigation device and a navigation method capable of displaying information according to the needs of the operator in an easy-to-understand manner without taking the trouble of the operator. For the purpose.

  To achieve this object, the present invention provides a navigation device for drawing and displaying a store icon on a map, a card number acquisition means for acquiring a card number from a card with a credit function, and the card number Priority or emphasis is given to the store identification unit with a privilege that identifies a store where the card can receive a privilege based on the card number acquired by the acquisition unit, and the store icon identified by the store identification unit with the privilege. And an emphasized icon drawing means for drawing. By acquiring a card number from a card with a credit function, it is possible to specify which card company affiliated card the card belongs to. Moreover, if the card company can be specified, the privilege provided for each store or card company that has a partnership with the card company can be specified. Based on such a configuration, as in the present invention, information according to the needs of an operator such as a store where a privilege can be received, that is, a driver can be automatically derived from the card number. Further, by displaying the store, which is the information derived in this way, with priority or emphasis, this information can be provided to the operator in an easy-to-understand manner.

  In addition to the configuration described above, the present invention provides, for example, privilege content acquisition means for acquiring the content of the privilege provided by the store specified by the store with privilege specification, and the icon of the store that is preferentially displayed or highlighted. It may be configured to include an icon selection unit that selects the item and a privilege content display unit that displays the content of the privilege provided by the store corresponding to the icon selected by the icon selection unit. By configuring so that the contents of the privilege can be displayed, the operator can know what kind of privilege can be received at which store.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the present invention provides, for example, a card number correspondence acquisition unit that acquires a card number management table in which a card number and a card company are associated from a predetermined server via a network, And a partner relationship management table for acquiring a partner relationship management table in which a store in a partner relationship with the card company is associated from a predetermined server via the network, and the store specifying unit with a privilege acquires Identify the card company of the card by referring to the card number management table based on the card number, and identify the store where the privilege can be received by referring to the partnership management table based on the identified card company It may be configured to. By using the table in which the card number and the card company, and the card company and the affiliated store are associated with each other, it is possible to specify a store from which the privilege can be easily received. Also, by managing these correspondences with a predetermined server, this relationship can be easily kept up-to-date.

  In the above-described configuration, the present invention may be configured such that the card is an ETC card and the card number acquisition unit is an ETC card reader. The versatility of the present invention can be expanded by using an ETC card system that has become widespread in recent years, that is, by using an existing application.

  The present invention is also a navigation method for drawing a store icon on a map, the first step of acquiring a card number from a card with a credit function, and the card number acquired in the first step based on the card number A second step of specifying a store where a privilege can be received with a card and a third step of drawing so that the store icon specified in the second step is prioritized or emphasized are configured. By acquiring a card number from a card with a credit function, it is possible to specify which card company affiliated card the card belongs to. Moreover, if the card company can be specified, the privilege provided for each store or card company that has a partnership with the card company can be specified. Based on such a configuration, as in the present invention, information according to the needs of an operator such as a store where a privilege can be received, that is, a driver can be automatically derived from the card number. Further, by displaying the store, which is the information derived in this way, with priority or emphasis, this information can be provided to the operator in an easy-to-understand manner.

  In addition to the configuration described above, the present invention provides, for example, a fourth step of acquiring the content of the privilege provided by the store specified in the second step, and the store preferentially displayed or highlighted in the third step. And a sixth step of displaying the content of the privilege provided by the store corresponding to the icon selected in the fifth step. By configuring so that the contents of the privilege can be displayed, the operator can know what kind of privilege can be received at which store.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the navigation apparatus and navigation method which can display the information according to an operator's needs in an easy-to-understand manner can be implement | achieved, without taking an operator's effort.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  In describing the first embodiment of the present invention, an outline of the first embodiment will be described. The present embodiment is a navigation device (especially an in-vehicle navigation device) that uses an ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) card system that has become popular in recent years. The navigation apparatus according to the present embodiment obtains a card number from an ETC card, and based on this, a user such as a driver (hereinafter referred to as a driver) obtains information, that is, specifies information that meets the needs.

  The ETC card is generally treated as one of credit cards possessed by the driver. Many credit cards are often affiliated with dealers and companies (hereinafter referred to as companies), and card users are credit cards at companies affiliated with the card companies (also referred to as credit card companies). Benefits (such as discounts depending on usage points) can be received.

  In particular, an ETC card of a gasoline sales series is often a credit card issued by a gasoline sales series that the driver is jealous of. In other words, it is considered that a user (= owner) of an ETC card belonging to a gasoline sales line is particular about the gasoline dealer line to be used, and uses this line gasoline dealer unless there are circumstances. However, when a service station (SS) is searched using a conventional navigation device, not all driver preferences as described above are displayed, but all service stations are displayed, resulting in confusion for the driver.

  Therefore, the navigation apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires a card number from the ETC card inserted into the ETC card reader, and identifies which series of credit cards is based on the number. In addition, the navigation device according to the present embodiment calculates a point that matches the driver's preference, a point where the driver can benefit from the benefit, and the like from the specified series, and displays these information (hereinafter referred to as service information) on the display. Display with priority or emphasis.

  In this embodiment, it is preferable that the latest service information is always held via the network. This makes it possible to provide accurate service information to the driver.

  Next, Example 1 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, a reading mechanism 1 is configured to read a recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) -ROM (Read Only Memory) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) -ROM storing map data and other guidance data. . However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a storage device such as a hard disk drive can also be applied.

  The operation unit 2 is configured for a driver to input various operations and settings to the in-vehicle navigation device 10. This may be configured individually such as a remote controller device or a control panel, or may be configured as a touch panel type input device formed integrally with a display unit 7 to be described later. Furthermore, it may be constituted by a microphone for voice input. The transmission / reception unit 3 is configured by an in-vehicle telephone for communicating with various service centers. The VICS (road traffic information communication system) receiving unit 4 is configured to receive VICS information transmitted from a radio wave beacon or an optical beacon. The GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit 5 is configured to receive a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite and detect the latitude and longitude of the current position of the vehicle. The self-contained navigation sensor 6 includes an angle sensor 6a including a gyro for detecting the vehicle direction, and a distance sensor 6b that generates a pulse for every predetermined travel distance. Detect speed.

  The display unit 7 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display type display device or the like, and displays various information such as a map, a guidance route, a current position of the vehicle, and other landmarks input from the in-vehicle navigation device 10 on the screen. It is the structure for. Similarly, the speaker 8 is configured to output voice guidance information and the like input from the in-vehicle navigation device 10. In addition, the speaker 8 can also output music input from an audio device or the like.

  In the in-vehicle navigation device 10, the buffer memory 11 is configured to temporarily store map data and the like input from the reading mechanism 1 under the control of the control unit 17 described later. The I / Fs (interfaces) 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are respectively an operation unit 2, a transmission / reception unit 3, a VICS reception unit 4, a GPS reception unit 5, a self-contained navigation sensor 6, and an internal bus in the in-vehicle navigation device 10. It is the structure for connecting.

  The control part 17 is comprised by arithmetic processing apparatuses, such as a microcomputer and CPU (central processing unit), for example. The control unit 17 has a built-in navigation program (a program for performing a route search process to be described later and display output control necessary for route guidance based on the program). According to this program, the GPS receiving unit 5 and Based on the signal output from the self-contained navigation sensor 6, the current position of the vehicle is detected, map data to be displayed is read out from the reading mechanism 1 to the buffer memory 11, and is derived from the map data read out to the buffer memory 11. Various processes related to navigation such as searching for a route are executed. However, for example, the above program can be stored in a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or the like. In this case, the control unit 17 reads and executes it as necessary.

  The map drawing unit 18 is configured to perform a map image drawing process using the map data read to the buffer memory 11. The display information generation unit 19 is configured to generate various menu screens (operation screens) and various marks such as a vehicle position mark and a cursor according to the operation status. The guide route storage unit 20 stores data on all nodes of the guide route searched for in the control unit 17 based on the starting point, destination and other search conditions, and data of guide routes changed during the search (hereinafter referred to as these Is referred to as guidance route data). The guide route drawing unit 21 is configured to read the guide route data from the guide route storage unit 20 and draw the guide route in a display mode (highlighted display using colors and line widths) different from other roads. . The icon drawing unit 22 is configured to perform an icon drawing process for instructing each landmark corresponding to each landmark data (also referred to as property data) included in the map data. The audio output unit 23 includes, for example, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) and the like, and outputs an audio signal to the speaker 8 based on a signal from the control unit 17.

  The image synthesizing unit 24 includes a guide route drawn by the guide route drawing unit 21 on the map image drawn by the map drawing unit 18, an operation screen and various marks drawn by the display information generating unit 19, and an icon drawing unit. In this configuration, icons or the like indicating each landmark drawn in 22 are appropriately overlapped and displayed on the display unit 7.

  In addition, the ETC card reader 25 is connected to the control unit 17 according to the present embodiment via the I / F 26, and information read by the ETC card reader 25 is input. That is, the ETC card reader 25 functions as card number acquisition means. In the present embodiment, the card number of the ETC card inserted into the ETC card reader 25 is input to the control unit 17. A typical ETC card has around 19 digits and has a management individual table that associates an ETC card number with an ETC card issuer, and is provided from, for example, a server.

  The control unit 17 to which such an ETC card number is input refers to which card company the ETC card inserted in the ETC card reader 25 is based on various tables to be described later stored in the buffer memory 11. Recognize

  Next, various tables held in the buffer memory 11 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a card number management table according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, in the card number management table, the ETC card issuing company that issued the ETC card, the card company that is affiliated with the ETC card issuing company (that is, the credit function added to the ETC card), The card number of the ETC card is related. The card number is displayed with a predetermined number of digits. By using such a card number management table, the control unit 17 can identify the issuing company of the ETC card and the card company that adds the credit function to the ETC card from the input card number.

  FIG. 3 is a partnership relationship management table according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, in the partnership management table, the card company described above is associated with a store or the like (hereinafter referred to as a partner company or simply a company) that has a partnership relationship with the card company. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the affiliated companies may be classified according to genres such as service stations and convenience stores. By using such an affiliated relationship management table, the control unit 17 can identify an affiliated company that can receive a privilege with the ETC card from the card company identified in the card number management table. That is, the control part 17 can function as a store specification means with a privilege by using a card number management table and a partnership relation management table.

  FIG. 4 is a service information management table according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, in the service information management table, a partner company is associated with the card company described above. Each partner company is associated with a privilege (service information) for the card user. By using such a service information management table, the control unit 17 can specify what privilege can be received by which partner company from the card company specified above. That is, the control part 17 can function as a privilege content acquisition means by using a service information management table.

  Next, the operation when the control unit 17 specifies information according to the driver's needs, that is, information such as a store where the driver can receive a privilege, and displays the information will be described with reference to the drawings. Prior to this operation, it is assumed that the various tables described above are input from the reading mechanism 1 or the transmission / reception unit 3 and held in the buffer memory 11. Of the above-mentioned tables, the latest information is always maintained in the service information management table for each card company by downloading the latest information periodically (for example, every day) from a predetermined server via the transmission / reception unit. It is preferable that it is comprised so that.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation when the navigation apparatus 10 displays service information on the driver. In FIG. 5, the control unit 17 will be mainly described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the navigation device 10 is activated, the control unit 17 first accesses a predetermined server from the transmission / reception unit 3 via a network such as the Internet or a dedicated line (step S101), and manages the latest card number management. A table, a partner company management table, and a service information table are acquired (step S102). The predetermined server is, for example, a server managed by a manufacturer / sales maker of a navigation device or a service vendor affiliated with the navigation device, and always has the latest card number management table, affiliated company management table, and service information table. Maintained automatically or by operator work. In this way, the control unit 17 communicates via the transmission / reception unit 3 to obtain a card number management table in which a card number and a card company are associated from a predetermined server via a network. It is possible to function as a relationship acquisition means and a partnership relationship table acquisition means for acquiring a partnership relationship management table in which a card company and a store that has a partnership relationship with the card company are associated from a predetermined server via a network. .

  When the latest various tables are acquired as described above, the control unit 17 expands these tables in the buffer memory 11 (step S103).

  Next, the control unit 17 accesses the ETC card reader 25 and detects whether or not an ETC card is inserted into the ETC card reader (step S104). If the ETC card is not inserted as a result of this detection (step S104), the subsequent processing is waited until the ETC card is inserted. On the other hand, when the ETC card is inserted in the ETC card reader 25 (Yes in step S104), the control unit 17 acquires the card number of the ETC card inserted from the ETC card reader 25 (step S105).

  Next, the control unit 17 refers to the card number management table based on the acquired card number to identify the card company affiliated with the ETC card issuing company (step S105), and further identifies the card company from the identified card company. A company (partner company) that is affiliated with the card company is identified (step S106).

  Thereafter, the control unit 17 shifts to a navigation operation. In the navigation operation, the control unit 17 controls the map drawing unit 18, the display information generation unit 19, the guidance route storage unit 20, the guidance route drawing unit 21, the icon drawing unit 22, and the image composition unit 24, so The guidance route is displayed on the display unit 7. At this time, the control unit 17 executes a process for displaying the icon of the partner company's store specified above with priority or emphasis. This operation is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 17 that has shifted to the navigation operation determines whether or not it is necessary to draw a store or the like (for example, a service station or a convenience store) of the partner company specified in step S106 of FIG. Then, it is constantly monitored whether or not the specified partner company store is included on the drawn map (step S111). When it is necessary to draw an icon of the specified partner company store or the like (Yes in step S111), the control unit 17 instructs the icon drawing unit 22 to highlight or preferentially display the corresponding icon, Control (step S112). As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the stores (service stations (SS), convenience stores (CS), etc.) of the companies that are affiliated with the card company are highlighted.

  Thereafter, as long as the navigation operation continues, the control unit 17 repeatedly executes this operation. Note that this operation is terminated by an interrupt end signal.

  In addition, when the highlighted icon is selected from the driver during the navigation operation, the control unit 17 presents information (service information) of the privilege provided by the partner company (store) corresponding to the icon to the driver. A process as shown in FIG. 8 is always started up. This operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 17 always monitors whether or not the highlighted icon is selected (step S121). That is, it is determined whether or not the highlighted icon is selected on the display screen shown in FIG. The display unit 7 is a touch panel display. That is, the display unit 7 can function as an icon selection unit that selects a store icon.

  When the icon is selected from the driver (Yes in step S121), the control unit 17 refers to the service information management table based on the partner company associated with the selected icon, and the partner company provides The content (service information) of the present privilege is acquired (step S112).

  Next, the control unit 17 inputs the specified service information to the display information generation unit 19 so as to pop up the display on the display unit 7 (step S123). FIG. 9 shows an example of a display screen when the service information is displayed in a pop-up manner.

  Such a pop-up window is continuously displayed for a predetermined time, for example. Thereafter, when a predetermined time has elapsed (step S124), the control unit 17 deletes the pop-up window (step S125), returns to step S121, and waits for the next icon to be selected. Thereafter, as long as the navigation operation continues, the control unit 17 repeatedly executes this operation. Note that this operation is terminated by an interrupt end signal.

  With the configuration and operation as described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to display information according to the needs of the operator in an easy-to-understand manner without taking the trouble of the operator (for example, a driver).

  However, in this embodiment, an ETC card reader is provided and the card number of an ETC card with a credit function inserted into the ETC card reader is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a credit function is provided. Any card and card number can be applied as long as it is the card number of the card and the card company of the card can be identified from the card number.

  In addition, the above-described Example 1 is only an example for carrying out the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications of these Examples are within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, it is obvious from the above description that various other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus 10 by Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the card number management table by Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the affiliated relationship management table by Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the service information management table by Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement at the time of the navigation apparatus 10 displaying service information to a driver. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part 17 at the time of displaying the icon of the specified partner company store etc. preferentially or emphasized. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen where the icon was highlighted. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part 17 when the service information of the affiliated company corresponding to the said icon is shown to a driver, when the highlighted icon is selected from a driver. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen on which the service information was pop-up displayed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reading mechanism 2 Operation part 3 Transmission / reception part 4 VICS reception part 5 GPS reception part 6 Autonomous navigation sensor 6a Angle sensor 6b Distance sensor 7 Display part 8 Speaker 10 Navigation apparatus 11 Buffer memory 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 26 I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 Control part 18 Map drawing part 19 Display information generation part 20 Guidance route memory | storage part 21 Guidance route drawing part 22 Icon drawing part 23 Audio | voice output part 24 Image composition part 25 ETC card reader

Claims (6)

A navigation device that draws and displays store icons on a map,
A card number obtaining means for obtaining a card number from a card with a credit function;
A store identifying unit with a privilege for identifying a store that can receive a privilege with the card based on the card number acquired by the card number acquiring unit;
A navigation apparatus comprising: an emphasized icon drawing means for drawing so that the store icon specified by the privileged store specifying means is prioritized or emphasized. Privilege content acquisition means for acquiring the content of the privilege provided by the store specified by the store specification means with privilege,
Icon selection means for selecting the icon of the store that is preferentially displayed or highlighted;
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising privilege content display means for displaying the content of the privilege provided by the store corresponding to the icon selected by the icon selection means. A card number correspondence acquisition means for acquiring a card number management table in which a card number and a card company are associated from a predetermined server via a network;
A partner relationship table acquisition means for acquiring a partner relationship management table associated with a card company and a store in a partner relationship with the card company from a predetermined server via a network;
The store with privilege specifying means specifies the card company of the card by referring to the card number management table based on the acquired card number, and refers to the partnership management table based on the specified card company. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a store that can receive the privilege is specified. The card is an ETC card,
2. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the card number acquisition means is an ETC card reader. A navigation method for drawing store icons on a map,
A first step of obtaining a card number from a card with a credit function by a card number obtaining means ;
A second step of specifying a store where a privilege can be received with the card based on the card number acquired in the first step by a store specifying unit with a privilege ;
A navigation method comprising: a third step of drawing the icon by the highlighted icon drawing means so that the store icon specified in the second step is prioritized or emphasized. A fourth step of acquiring the content of the privilege provided by the store specified in the second step by a privilege content acquisition means ;
A fifth step of causing the icon selection means to select the store icon preferentially displayed or highlighted in the third step;
The navigation method according to claim 5, further comprising a sixth step of displaying the content of the privilege provided by the store corresponding to the icon selected in the fifth step by a privilege content display unit .

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