JPH05142994A - On-vehicle navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the on-vehicle navigation device which adequately detect a refueling point without checking the rest of fuel by a driver and prevents an inconvenience such as a shortage of gasoline. CONSTITUTION:A fuel sensor 4 which detects the rest of fuel is mounted on the on-vehicle navigation device which provides information on a course to a destination and the detected value of the fuel sensor 4 is monitored; when the rest of fuel decreases below a constant value, it is indicated that a refueling point is reached, the nearest gas station is extracted by retrieving data in a data file 5 attached to the device, and the information on the course to the nearest gas station.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted navigation device mounted on a vehicle and guiding a route to a driver or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, research and development of an on-vehicle navigation device mounted on a vehicle and guiding a route to a driver have become popular.

Hitherto, as the on-vehicle navigation device, a road map is displayed on a display based on map data stored in a data file, and the current position is shown on the displayed road map, or a destination is displayed. When is input, a device that displays the positional relationship between the destination and the current position on the display has been developed.

Since the map data stored in the above-mentioned data file also stores gas stations and the like as target features, it is possible to input a gas station as a destination and check the nearest gas station.

However, the conventional vehicle-mounted navigation devices provide route information regarding the input destination, and do not have a function of checking the remaining fuel amount of the vehicle.

[0006]

Therefore, until now,
If the driver himself / herself checks the amount of fuel remaining with a fuel gauge etc. to determine if refueling is necessary, and if it is determined that refueling is necessary, the in-vehicle navigation system will be used to check the nearest refueling station. The usage of the device was proposed.

However, when the driver himself / herself checks the remaining amount of fuel to determine the refueling timing, the driver may forget to check the remaining amount of fuel, or may make a mistake in the judgment. There was a risk of a shortage of gas and the inconvenient situation of running out of gas while the vehicle-mounted navigation device capable of searching the gas station was installed later.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and prevents the inconvenient situation of running out of gas by accurately detecting the refueling timing even if the driver does not check the remaining amount of fuel. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle-mounted navigation device that can be used.

[0009]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an in-vehicle navigation device, which includes map data stored in a data file, current position data detected by a current position detection device, and input from an attached input means. It is an improved device that provides route information to a destination from data such as the destination data.

Specifically, a fuel sensor for detecting the remaining amount of fuel is installed, and the data file is used to identify a target feature such as a gas station or other facility displayed on a road map. Destination identification data of is stored.

Then, when the detection value of the fuel sensor is monitored and it is detected that the remaining amount of fuel is below a certain value,
Notifying that the refueling time has come, searching for the destination identification data to extract the nearest gas station, and providing route information to the nearest gas station.

A vehicle-mounted navigation device according to a second aspect is a further improvement of the device according to the first aspect, in which a voice synthesizer for outputting information by voice is added to notify that the refueling time has come. The route information to the nearest gas station is provided by voice output from the voice synthesizer.

[0013]

The vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the present invention monitors the fuel remaining amount of the vehicle using the fuel sensor, and when the fuel remaining amount becomes less than the reference amount, the vehicle-mounted navigation device notifies the driver. Therefore, the driver himself / herself can accurately detect the refueling time without checking the remaining amount of fuel, and can prevent the occurrence of the inconvenient situation of running out of gas. Further, since the driver does not need to check the remaining amount of fuel while traveling, the burden on the driver can be reduced.

Further, as described in claim 2, if a voice synthesizing device is provided to notify the refueling time by voice and guide the route to the nearest refueling station, the driver himself / herself Does not get distracted by the information on the in-vehicle navigation device while traveling to detect the refueling time and find the nearest refueling station, without interrupting the visibility of the front, etc.
Can reach the gas station.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an in-vehicle navigation device according to the present invention.

As shown in this figure, an in-vehicle navigation system of one embodiment is a processor 1 which is a central processing unit.
In addition, the input means 2, the display 3, the fuel sensor 4, the data file 5, the voice synthesizer 6, and the current position detector 7 are connected.

The input means 2 is a so-called keyboard and is used for inputting a destination or the like. The display 3 is a liquid crystal display or a CRT, and is used for displaying a road map and checking input data. The fuel sensor 4
The remaining amount of fuel is detected and notified to the processor 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the data file 5 includes map data 5a for drawing a road map on the display 3 and target features such as gas stations and other facilities displayed on the road map. Stored are the destination identification data 5b for identifying the message, the data 5c for displaying the message, the image area control data 5d for setting the size and position of the window on the display screen of the display 3, and the like. Further, the destination identification data 5b includes the designation name of the target feature (for example, a gas station, XX building, etc.) 15b and the place name 2
5b, address 35b, coordinate data 45b, etc. on the road map, these call names 15b, place names 25b, address 35b, etc. are used to search for the destination, and the coordinate data 45b obtain the shortest route. Used for.

The voice synthesizer 6 generates an alarm sound,
It is used for voice output of messages. The current position detection device 7 is a so-called location device and detects the current position of the vehicle and notifies the processor 1 of the current position. As the current position detection device 7, various existing ones, such as a system that detects the current position by using a road-to-vehicle information system and a system that calculates the current position by using an azimuth sensor and a travel distance sensor, are used. Things are applicable.

In the vehicle-mounted navigation device of one embodiment, the processor 1 processes displaying a road map on the display 3, displaying a current position on the road map, displaying route information to a destination, and the like. However, specifically, FIG.
As shown in, the current position setting function 1a, the display control function 1
b, destination display function 1c, fuel management function 1d and the like.

Each function will be specifically described as follows. The current position setting function 1a recognizes and sets the current position based on the information from the current position detection device 7. The display control function 1b is the current position setting function 1
The current position set by a is recognized, the road map including the current position is extracted from the map data 5a and displayed on the display 3, or the image area control data 5d is displayed.
Based on, the display area of the data on the display 3 is set.

When the destination data is input from the input means 2, the destination display function 1c obtains the position of the destination on the road map based on the destination identification data 5b, and the destination is displayed. Is displayed on the road map. Further, depending on the instruction from the input means 2, the shortest route to the destination is calculated and displayed on the display 3. In the search for the shortest route, when there are a plurality of routes to the nearest gas station, the coordinate data of the destination identification data 5b is used to calculate the route for each route, and the route with the smallest route is selected. select.

The fuel management function 1d performs a fuel management process as shown in FIG. That is, the remaining fuel amount is checked by comparing the detection value of the fuel sensor 4 with a preset reference amount (step 101). If the remaining amount of fuel is equal to or greater than the reference amount, the process returns to step 101, When the remaining amount of fuel becomes less than the reference amount, the voice synthesizer 6
A warning to that effect is issued (steps 102, 10).
3).

Subsequently, the nearest gas station is searched from the destination identification data registered in the data file 5, and when the nearest gas station is extracted, the nearest gas station is displayed on the road map of the display 3. An appropriate display such as blinking is used for identification display (step 104). In the case of this embodiment, the gas station searched in step 104 is limited to the gas station existing in the forward direction of the vehicle, and the search area is the range of the road map currently displayed on the display. Limited to. However, the gas station closest to the current position may be searched regardless of the traveling direction of the vehicle, or the search area may be expanded to an area adjacent to the road map currently displayed on the display.

Then, further, the shortest route from the current position to the nearest gas station is obtained (step 105),
Based on the calculated shortest route, the existence of a right / left turning position on the traveling road is confirmed, and if there is a right / left turning position, the voice synthesizer 6 gives a voice notification (step 106).

Then, it is checked whether or not the subsequent traveling of the vehicle is carried out as informed by voice, and if the vehicle has accidentally passed the road on which the vehicle should turn, the process returns to step 104 to find the nearest vehicle. The process starts again from the search for the gas station (step 107).

In the step 107, when the vehicle turns at the place where it should turn as informed, the existence of the place to turn next is checked (step 108), and if there is the place to turn, the process returns to step 106 and the notice is given. I do. If it is determined in step 108 that there is no place to turn, the distance to the nearest gas station is notified and the process ends (step 109).
The content displayed on the display 3 in step 109 is retained until refueling is performed or the driver releases the display.

FIG. 4 shows the display contents of the display 3 and the output contents of the voice synthesizer 6 step by step during the fuel management process of the above embodiment. Reference numeral 1 in FIG.
0 is an image (image) displayed on the display 3, 11 is a speaker of the speech synthesizer 6, T1
And T2 and T3 are the contents of the notification from the speaker 11, G is the current position of the vehicle, and K is the gas station.

FIG. 4A shows the case where the remaining fuel amount is equal to or larger than the reference amount, and at this time, nothing is notified from the speaker 11. FIG. 4B shows a case where it is detected that the remaining amount of fuel is less than the reference amount, and the speaker 11 gives a notification T1 to that effect in step 103 described above. FIG. 4C is the process in step 106 described above, and the speaker 11 gives a notification T2 indicating the bending point and the direction. FIG. 4D shows the process in step 109 described above.
Notification T3 of the distance to the gas station is given.

As described above in detail, the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the embodiment monitors the remaining fuel amount of the vehicle by using the fuel sensor 4, and when the remaining fuel amount becomes less than the reference amount, the in-vehicle navigation device is operated. Notify the driver. Therefore,
The driver himself / herself can detect the refueling timing accurately without checking the remaining amount of fuel by himself, and can prevent the occurrence of an inconvenient situation of running out of gas. Also, since the driver does not need to check the remaining amount of fuel while traveling,
It also reduces the burden on the driver.

In addition, the vehicle-mounted navigation device of the above-described embodiment is equipped with the voice synthesizer 6, which notifies the refueling time by voice and guides the route to the nearest refueling station. To reach the gas station without interrupting the visibility of the front, etc. without being distracted by the display 3 of the vehicle-mounted navigation device while traveling to detect the fueling time and find the nearest gas station. You can

In the above-described embodiment, the notification of the refueling time and the route guidance to the nearest refueling station are displayed on the display 3
It is assumed that both of the above and the speech synthesizer 6 are used, but it is also possible to use only one of them.

It is also conceivable that the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the present invention is not equipped with a display. In this case, not only the notification of the refueling time and the guidance of the route to the nearest gas station but also the provision of the normal route information is performed by voice.

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the present invention monitors the fuel remaining amount of the vehicle by using the fuel sensor, and when the fuel remaining amount becomes less than the reference amount, the vehicle-mounted navigation device is mounted. The navigation device notifies the driver. Therefore, the driver himself / herself can accurately detect the refueling time without checking the remaining amount of fuel, and can prevent the occurrence of the inconvenient situation of running out of gas. Also,
Since it is not necessary for the driver to check the remaining amount of fuel while traveling, the burden on the driver can be reduced.

If the vehicle is equipped with a voice synthesizer to notify the refueling time and guide the route to the nearest gas station, the driver himself / herself Does not get distracted by the information on the in-vehicle navigation device while traveling to detect the refueling time and find the nearest refueling station, without interrupting the visibility of the front, etc.
Can reach the gas station.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a fuel management process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 processor 2 input means 3 display 4 fuel sensor 5 data file 6 voice synthesizer 7 current position detector

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Route information to a destination from map data stored in a data file, current position data detected by a current position detection device, destination data input from an attached input means, and the like. An on-vehicle navigation device provided, which is equipped with a fuel sensor for detecting the remaining amount of fuel, and specifies a target feature such as a gas station or other facility displayed on the road map in the data file. Destination identification data is stored for monitoring the detection value of the fuel sensor and detecting that the remaining amount of fuel has become a certain value or less, and notifies that the refueling time has come, and the destination An in-vehicle navigation device characterized by searching identification data to extract a nearest gas station and providing route information to the nearest gas station. 2. A voice synthesizing device for outputting information by voice is provided, wherein the notification that the refueling time has come and the provision of route information to the nearest gas station are performed by voice output from the voice synthesizing device. The vehicle-mounted navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device is a vehicle-mounted navigation device.