JPH032617A - Vehicle mounted navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an apparatus easy to be observed by displaying a destination direction mark in preference, and displaying other marks at separated positions when the destination direction mark is displayed in the vicinities of other marks such as a north direction mark. CONSTITUTION:A control circuit 7 controls the entire apparatus with a computer based on the outputs of a distance sensor 1 and a bearing sensor 3. Data required for controlling are temporarily stored in a RAM 9. Various kinds of programs are stored in a ROM 11. The control means 7 contains means for present position operation, display control, mark display control, preferential display control for a destination direction mark and the like. A CD-ROM driver 13 houses a CD-ROM panel 14 and stores map data. The present position of the vehicle, the starting point, the destination and the direction which are obtained by the control circuit 7 are displayed on a CRT 15. For example, when an N mark B is located at the upper left corner of the screen and a destination direction mark A is overlapped on the N mark B, the N mark B is moved to the right corner so that both marks are readily identified. Thus, the map in the destination direction becomes easy to observe.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention provides a map that shows the current position of a vehicle, the destination to be reached, etc., which is calculated based on vehicle position information such as travel distance and travel direction. The present invention relates to an in-vehicle navigation device that can display marks on a screen.

(Prior Art) In recent years, various so-called in-vehicle navigation devices have been developed that display the current position of the vehicle on a map based on distance information from a mileage sensor and direction information from a travel direction sensor. has been done.

An example of such an in-vehicle navigation device is the one disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 196617/1983. This device detects the distance traveled and the direction the vehicle is traveling, and uses these information to determine the vehicle's direction. On the other hand, when the place name of each place and its geographical coordinates are stored in the storage device, and the place name of the departure point and destination is specified using the input device, the control device calculates the place name of each place from the storage device. and the coordinates thereof are read out, and marks indicating the departure point and destination are displayed on the display device at an appropriate scale, and a mark indicating the calculated current position of the vehicle is displayed accordingly.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Incidentally, in such an in-vehicle navigation device, the current position of the vehicle is displayed on the display screen.

In addition to displaying marks for the departure point and destination, there is also a destination direction mark that indicates the direction of the destination.

Some maps display a north direction mark indicating the north direction, a scale mark indicating the scale of the map, etc. at the same time.

The above north direction mark and scale mark are normally displayed at the edge of the screen, but since the destination direction mark can be moved on the screen as the vehicle moves, other north direction marks and scale marks are displayed. They may be displayed overlappingly, and if they are displayed overlappingly, it will be difficult to distinguish between the two.

For this reason, conventionally, for example, when a destination direction mark is displayed overlapping a north direction mark, the current location mark C is positioned in relation to the destination direction mark A relative to the north direction mark B, as shown in Figure 6. They are displayed closer to the center of the screen to make it easier to distinguish between the two.

However, in this case, there is a problem that the display area of the map in the destination direction is hidden by the north direction mark B and is reduced, making the map in the destination direction difficult to see.

Therefore, this invention avoids overlapping display of a destination direction mark and, for example, a north direction mark on a pond, and also prevents the map around the destination direction mark from being obstructed by other, for example, north direction marks. The purpose is to prevent this from becoming difficult.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention, as shown in FIG. The traveling direction detection means 3 detects the traveling direction, the point setting input means 5 inputs the current location of the vehicle or an unreached destination, etc., and the traveling distance detected by the traveling distance detecting means 1 and the traveling direction detected by the traveling direction detecting means 3. A current location calculation means 17 that updates and calculates the current location inputted by the point setting input means 5 based on the travel direction determined, a map data storage means 14 that stores map data, etc., and information stored in the map data storage means 14. a display means 15 for displaying a map display on a screen via a display control means 19 based on the map;
A destination direction mark indicating the direction of the destination determined from the current location determined by the current location calculation means 17 and the destination set by the point setting input means 5, and a north direction mark indicating the north direction on the map or the scale of the map. The mark display control means 21 displays other marks such as scale marks on the map of the display means 15, and when the destination mark is located near other marks, the pond mark is separated from the destination direction mark. This configuration includes a destination mark priority display control means 23 that moves the destination mark to a certain position and displays it.

(Function) Displays the destination direction mark on the display screen where the north direction mark or scale mark is displayed at the edge of the screen,
When the destination direction mark is located near the pond mark, the destination direction mark is displayed preferentially and other marks are moved and displayed at a position away from it.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 indicates a distance sensor that generates a signal according to the distance traveled by the vehicle, such as a photoelectric sensor that outputs a pulse signal proportional to the number of rotations of the tires. Mechanical contact type etc. are used. Also,
3 is a direction sensor such as a toroidal core fluxgate geomagnetic sensor that outputs the vehicle's running direction; 5 is a direction sensor used to operate the device, for example, when setting the vehicle's current location or desired destination; This is a keyboard used as a point setting input means.

The above distance sensor 1. Each output signal from the direction sensor 3 and the keyboard 5 is input to a control circuit 7. The control circuit 7 has arithmetic processing means such as a microcomputer to control the entire device, and has a built-in RAM 9° ROM II. The RAM 9 temporarily stores necessary information when the control circuit 7 executes various arithmetic processing or control processing.

The ROM 11 stores various control programs such as a calculation program for calculating the current position of the vehicle and a processing program for changing the display screen according to the traveling direction of the vehicle.

The control circuit 7 is a current location calculation means 1 display control means.

It includes a mark display control means and a destination direction mark priority display control means.

13 is a CD-ROM having a built-in CD-ROMff114 as a map data storage means for storing map data;
It is an M driver. Reference numeral 15 is a display means on which a wide area map or a detailed map is displayed, and on this map, the current position of the vehicle, which is determined by the control circuit 7, and which changes from moment to moment, as well as the departure point, destination, destination direction, etc. It is a CRT.

Next, the control operation of the control circuit 7 will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG.

First, initial settings are performed to start up the control operation (step 301), and in the next step 303, it is determined whether the current location is stored. If the current location is stored, it is determined in the next step 305 whether or not to modify the current location, and if the current location is to be modified, the process proceeds to step 307 where the current location is modified. If the current location is not stored in step 303, the current location is set in step 307. After correcting or setting the current location in this way,
If you do not need to modify your current location in step 05, proceed to step 3.
Proceeding to step 09, the current location is updated as the vehicle moves.

Once the current location has been updated, the process proceeds to step 311, where it is determined whether a destination has been set. If a destination has been set, it is determined whether or not to modify the destination in the next step 313. If the destination is to be modified here, that process is performed (step 315), and the direction of the destination is determined. (step 317), step 31
If the destination is not set in step 1, it is determined in step 31 whether or not to set the destination. If the destination is to be set here, the destination setting process is performed in step 315. If the destination is not set, it is displayed and output as is (step 321), and if the destination is not modified in step 313, the direction of the set destination is calculated as is (step 317).

Next, when the direction of the destination is calculated, a destination direction mark is displayed on the CRT 15 screen.
It is determined whether the mark is displayed overlapping other marks on the RT screen, such as the north direction mark or the scale mark indicating the scale of the map (step 32B).
, Here, if the destination direction mark is displayed overlapping other marks, move the other marks to the edge of the screen away from the destination direction mark (step 325).
For example, when north direction mark B is displayed in the upper left corner of 9 screens as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 6, destination direction mark A is displayed and output (step 321). If they are displayed in the overlapping upper left corner, the north direction mark B is moved and displayed in the upper left corner of the screen, away from the destination direction mark A, as shown in FIG. As a result, the destination direction mark and the north direction mark will not be displayed overlapping each other, making it possible to distinguish between them, and the map display area in the destination direction will not be obstructed by the north direction mark. The map in the direction of the destination becomes easier to see.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control operation of another embodiment. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, when both the current location mark C and the destination mark A are displayed on the same screen, the process of erasing the destination direction mark A is performed as shown in FIG. This is in addition to the control operation shown in . That is, the direction of the destination is calculated (step 317), the destination direction mark is displayed, and it is determined whether the current location mark is displayed on the displayed screen (step 60).
1) If both are displayed on the same screen, arithmetic processing is performed to erase the destination direction mark in the next step 603. This prevents more marks on the screen from being displayed than necessary, reducing the display area and making the screen easier to see as a whole.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, when the destination direction mark is displayed near other marks such as the north direction mark, the destination direction mark is given priority. Since the other marks are displayed in a position separate from the destination direction mark, it is possible to distinguish between the two, and the display area of the map around the destination direction on the displayed map screen is expanded. The marks no longer get in the way, and the map in the direction of the destination becomes easier to see.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a claim correspondence diagram of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the control operation of the control circuit in the block diagram, and Fig. 4 is FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control operation of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional display screen. 1... Traveling distance detection means (distance sensor) 3... Traveling direction detection means (azimuth sensor) 5... Point setting input means (keyboard) 14... Map data storage means (CD-
ROM! >15...Display means (CRT) 17...Current location calculation means 1...Display control means 2
1...Mark display control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] A traveling distance detecting means for detecting the traveling distance of the vehicle, a traveling direction detecting means for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle, a point setting input means for setting and inputting the current location of the vehicle or a desired destination, and a traveling distance detecting means. a current location calculation means for updating and calculating the current location inputted by the point setting input means based on the detected travel distance and the travel direction detected by the travel direction detection means; a map data storage means for storing map data etc.; A display means for displaying a map on a screen via a display control means based on the information stored in the data storage means, and a display means for displaying the direction of the destination determined from the current location determined by the current location calculation means and the destination set by the point setting input means. a mark display control means for displaying a local direction mark and other marks such as a north direction mark indicating a north direction on a map or a scale mark indicating a scale of a map on a map of a display means; 1. A vehicle-mounted navigation device comprising: destination mark priority display control means for moving and displaying other marks away from the destination direction mark when the destination mark is located near the destination direction mark.