JPH05231871A - Portable position measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce futile current consumption so as to prolong the service life of a battery by providing an internal clock which manages time data and discriminating means which controls a lighting means through a control means by discriminating the turning on/off of the lighting means. CONSTITUTION:A lighting means 107 is composed of LEDs and positioned so that the means 107 can back-light a displaying means 104 and operating means 105 by taking into consideration whether the title instrument is used at night or dark place. When a power supplying means 108 is turned on and position measurement is started, a discriminating means 110 in a control means 106 discriminates whether the time is day time or night time, from the local time information (date and time) of an internal clock 109 set by a user and, when it is night time, the control means 106 turns on the back-light illumination of the lighting means 107. When it is day time, the means 106 turns off the illumination. Therefore, futile current consumption can be reduced and the service life of a battery can be prolonged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention mainly uses GPS,
The present invention relates to a portable positioning device that uses a battery to measure its position outdoors, in a car, or in a ship.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, GPS (Global Posi)
A small portable positioning device using a system for measuring its own position by using data from a satellite called "ioning system" has come into practical use.

A conventional portable positioning device will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional portable positioning device. 201 in FIG.
Is an antenna for receiving radio waves from GPS satellites, 202 is a receiving means for detecting the received radio waves and extracting an information signal,
Reference numeral 203 is a positioning means for measuring its own position by calculating the information extracted by the receiving means, 204 is a display means for displaying the positioning result and other information and an operation message, and 205 is required as a positioning device. An operation means 206 having a plurality of operation keys, a control means 207 that controls the positioning means 203 in accordance with the operation of the operation means 205 to perform positioning and display the result on the display means 204, etc. Is a display means 2 for use at night or in dark conditions
Lighting means for illuminating 04 and the operating means 205, 20
Reference numeral 8 is a power supply means composed of a primary or secondary battery.

The illumination means 207 is composed of an LED and is arranged so as to illuminate the display means 204 and the operation means 205 with a backlight in consideration of use at night or in a dark place. When using backlight illumination for night use,
The power is turned on and a specific operation is performed on the operation unit 205, and the control unit 206 controls the illumination unit 207 by the operation to turn on / off the backlight illumination. Once the power is turned off, the same operation is required each time the backlight is turned on again for the next use.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional portable positioning device, the operation keys of the operation means 205 are small in order to be small and lightweight and easy to carry, and it is difficult to operate the operation keys in nighttime use. In addition, once the power was turned off, the backlight had to be turned on again by pressing the operation key when using it again. In addition, because of its small size and light weight, it is not possible to use a battery with a large capacity, and since it consumes a considerable amount of current for lighting, the battery life is short, and LED-based backlight lighting is bright in daytime outdoors. Since it is not so conspicuous in a place, there is a problem that even if it is erroneously turned on, the current may be wasted and the usable time may be further shortened without realizing it.

The present invention solves the above problems by automating the turning on and off of a light, saving the trouble of operating the operating means each time it is used, and reducing the wasteful current consumption due to an erroneous operation, thereby reducing the battery. It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable positioning device that can prolong the usable time of the device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a clock inside a portable positioning device, and according to the date and time data of the local time set by the user,
The portable positioning device is provided with a determination means for determining whether it is used during the day or at night, and the backlight illumination is turned on at night and turned off at daytime.

[0008]

With the above-described structure, the present invention automatically turns on the backlight illumination when the portable positioning device is used at night to save the labor of operation, and is automatically performed during the day when the backlight is not required. It works to turn off.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, 101 is an antenna for receiving radio waves from GPS satellites, 102 is a receiving means for detecting the received radio waves and extracting an information signal, and 103 is a calculation processing of the information extracted by the receiving means. Positioning means for measuring its own position, 104 is a display means for displaying positioning results and other information and operation messages, 105 is an operation means having a plurality of operation keys required as a positioning device, 1
Reference numeral 06 denotes the positioning means 10 corresponding to the operation of the operation means 105.
The control means 107 controls the position 3 and performs overall control such as displaying the result on the display means 104. Reference numeral 107 denotes the display means 104 and the operation means 105 for use at night or in dark conditions.
Illuminating means for illuminating the device, 108 is a power source means composed of a primary or secondary battery, 109 is an internal clock having information such as date and time, 110 is the control means 106, and date and time of the internal clock 109 It is a judging means for judging whether the backlight illumination is on or off based on the data.

Explaining the relationship and operation of each of the above-mentioned components, the illuminating means 107 is composed of LEDs, and the display means 104 and the operating means 105 are taken into consideration for use at night or in a dark place.
Is arranged to illuminate the backlight. The time data used for the positioning calculation of one's own position by GPS is coordinated universal time (Coordinated Universal Time).
me, UTC), or GPS time with a difference of several seconds from the Coordinated Universal Time, but normally the time displayed by the display unit 104 is the local time used as the standard time in the area where the user is. The local time differs depending on each region and is set by inputting the time difference from the Coordinated Universal Time.
For example, in Japan, local time = Coordinated Universal Time + 9 hours, and in New York, local time = Coordinated Universal Time-5
It will be time. Although the power is turned on and positioning is started, the local time information (date, time) of the internal clock set by the user
From the determination means 110 in the control means 106, it is determined whether the portable positioning device is used in the daytime or nighttime, and if it is nighttime, the control means 106 causes the illumination means 107.
Turn on the backlight illumination of and turn it off during the day.

As an example of the determination method of the determination means 110, the determination means 1 is used when the time of the internal clock 109 is local time in a specific time zone, for example, after 6 pm to 5 am.
10 determines that it is nighttime, and in response thereto, the control means 106 controls the lighting means 107 to turn on, and from 5 am to 6 pm, the determination means 110 determines that it is daytime, and the control means 106 The lighting means 107 is controlled to be turned off.

As another example, the determination means 110 is provided for the data of the sunrise and sunset times throughout the year at the set reference point of the local time, and the internal clock 109 is provided.
If the local time is between sunset and sunrise, the determination means 110 determines that it is nighttime, and in response to the determination, the control means 106 controls the lighting means 107 to turn on, and the other times. , The determination means 110 determines that it is daytime, and the control means 106 controls the illumination means 107 to turn off.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the internal clock is provided and the judging means is arranged for judging whether or not the lighting is necessary and turning on and off the lighting, unnecessary power consumption is avoided and battery life is shortened. It can be postponed.

Since the backlight illumination may be used even during the daytime or the backlight illumination may not be used during the nighttime, the operation means 105 may be used in addition to the automatic lighting and extinguishing. The control means 106 can control lighting and extinguishing of the lighting means 107 by the operation of, and the automatic control and the manual control can be switched and used. Switching between automatic control and manual control is performed by the operating means 1.
The control means 106 operates by operating 05.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the backlight illumination can be turned on and off automatically as needed, so that at night, it is troublesome to turn on the illumination each time the user uses it. In addition, it is possible to reduce unnecessary power consumption by keeping the backlight illumination on without going unnoticed during daytime use. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portable positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional portable positioning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Antenna 102 Receiving Means 103 Positioning Means 104 Display Means 105 Operating Means 106 Control Means 107 Illuminating Means 108 Power Supply Means 109 Internal Clock 110 Judging Means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Power supply means for supplying power to the positioning device,
An internal clock that manages time data such as date and time, an antenna, a receiving unit that is connected to the antenna to receive positioning data, and a positioning unit that performs positioning by processing the data received by the receiving unit. , Display means,
Operation means having a plurality of operation keys, control means for controlling the positioning means by the operation of the operation means to perform positioning, and displaying the result on the display means, and the display means connected to the control means. And illumination means arranged to illuminate the operating means, and determination means for determining whether or not to use the illumination means, wherein the determination means determines whether the illumination means is used according to time data of the internal clock. A portable positioning device that determines whether or not it is necessary, and the control means controls the lighting means so that the lighting means is turned on when the use of the lighting means is necessary and is turned off when the use of the lighting means is not necessary. 2. The portable positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the lighting means in response to a specific operation including an automatic or manual switching operation of the operation means.