JPH06229769A - Map display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the display of current position on a highly precise map using an inexpensive system by superposing a translucent map sheet on a TV screen and displaying the current position while matching with a corresponding position on the map sheet. CONSTITUTION:Positional information is delivered from a GPS antenna 16 to the GPS signal processing section 32 in a control unit where the positional information is converted into a current position signal which is then delivered to a navigation processing section 34. A bar code reader 22 reads out information relevant to a map from bar code put on a translucent map sheet being inserted and then the information is converted 38 into an electric signal which is subsequently fed to the processing section 34. The processing section 34 displays positional information, e.g. current position, scheduled course, designated position, etc., at corresponding positions of the map sheet on the screen of an on-board TV 10 while superposing through a display control section 44 and an image signal converting section 46 based on data received from the processing section 32, a decoder 38, a scheduled course memory section 40, and a pointing device 42. This system allows display of current position on a highly precise map using arbitrary number of colors.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a map display device, and more particularly to a map display device capable of using a television receiver such as a vehicle-mounted television as a navigation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a map display device used in a navigation system, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-9828.
It is known that a desired map is searched from a map information storage medium according to information such as a place name input from an operation panel, which is disclosed in No. 7, and reads and displays the desired map.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional map display device, a CD is used as the map information storage medium.
-Because a ROM or IC card is used, the access time is short, but since the storage capacity is always restricted, the vividness of the displayed contents and the number of colors that can be used are limited. There is a problem that the price of the storage medium and the device itself is expensive.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is possible to display the current position and the like on a high-definition map using an arbitrary number of colors by using a television receiver. An object is to provide an inexpensive map display device that can be used.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a map display device using a map sheet in which map information is printed on a light-transmissive support, the map sheet is mounted and the map sheet is placed on the television screen. For mounting the map sheet, position measuring means for detecting the current position and generating position information, signal converting means for converting the position information from the position measuring means into a television signal, and signal converting means. The present invention is achieved by providing a display control means for displaying the current position on a television screen based on the position information and for matching the current position with the corresponding position on the map sheet. Is.

[0006]

In the present invention, the light transmission map sheet is superposed on the television screen, the current position is detected, the position information such as the current position is converted into a television signal, and the current position is displayed on the television based on the position information. By displaying it on the screen, the current position is made to match the corresponding position on the map sheet.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the television screen can be used as a backlight and the printed map information can be viewed by the illumination from the rear, a high-quality map can be obtained without being affected by the resolution of the monitor. Can be obtained.

Further, since the map sheet can be manufactured by printing, it is possible to obtain high-quality and high-definition map information without being restricted by the storage capacity.

Further, for example, a global positioning system (Glo
bal Positioning System (GPS) is used to detect the current position and display it on the TV screen, so that the current position can be displayed by superimposing it on the map information. It can be used as a system.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a usage state of a map display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The map display device of this embodiment is a vehicle-mounted television 1
Map sheet mounting frame 12 installed in front of 0 screen
And a control unit 14 for causing the vehicle-mounted television 10 to function as a navigation system. The control unit 14 is connected to a GPS antenna 16 and a vehicle-mounted television antenna 18, and receives received signals respectively. It has become so.

The map sheet 20 can be mounted on the map sheet mounting frame 12, and the map sheet 2 can be mounted by mounting the mounting frame 12 on the screen of the vehicle-mounted television 10.
It has a function of arranging 0 near a television screen. As shown in FIG. 2, an example of this map sheet 20 is a transparent support such as a polyester film on which map information is color-printed, and a map area 20A and a bar code 20 are provided.
B is printed. In addition, as this map sheet,
Those disclosed in JP-A-58-1178 can be used.

The map sheet 20 can be replaced from the top of the map sheet mounting frame 12, and when the map sheet 20 is inserted and mounted, it is positioned at a predetermined position and its end is A bar code reader 22 for reading the map-related information peculiar to the map from the bar code 20B printed on the copy, and a changeover switch 24 for switching between normal television broadcasting and navigation modes are provided.

Further, when the in-vehicle television 10 is switched to the television mode by the changeover switch 24, the television signal (NTSC signal) received by the television antenna 18 is directly input from the control unit 14 via the cable C1. It is like this. Further, the control unit 14 generates various control signals for displaying position information such as the current position on the television screen based on the current position information input as a satellite signal from the GPS antenna 16, and converts the control signals into NTSC signals. The data is converted and sent to the vehicle-mounted television 10 and the map sheet mounting frame 12 via the cable C2, and the information from both of them 10 and 12 is sent to the control unit 14.

Next, each functional unit included in the control unit 14 will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.

When position information is input as a satellite signal from the GPS antenna 16, the signal is amplified by the amplifier 30,
The GPS signal processing unit (position measuring means) 32 converts the data into current position data and outputs it to the navigation processing unit 34.

The GPS signal processing unit 32 has a function of receiving a radio wave emitted from the MAVSTAR satellite launched by the United States by the GPS antenna 16 and analyzing it to detect the current position.

The bar code reader 22 reads the bar code 20B of the inserted map sheet 20,
The decoder 38 converts it into an electric signal and outputs it to the navigation processing unit 34.

The navigation processing unit 34 also includes
The scheduled course data can be transmitted / received to / from the scheduled course storage unit 40, and the pointing device 42 inputs data for designating points on the map. Although not shown, when the information is read from a storage medium in which related information such as characters corresponding to a plurality of types of map sheets 20 is stored or when the navigation mode is set, the target for the planned course storage unit 40 is set. It also has a function to write the position and the route to it.

The navigation processing unit 34 uses the GPS
Signal processing unit 32, decoder 38, scheduled course storage unit 40
And position information such as a current position, a planned course, a designated position, etc. based on the information input from the pointing device 42, and outputs the position information to the display control unit 44. The signal is output to the video signal conversion unit 46.

When the position information is input as an RGB signal, the video signal conversion unit 46 converts the position information into an NTSC signal and outputs it to the television mode / navigation mode changeover switch 24. In the changeover switch 24,
The television broadcasting signal amplified by the amplifier 48 can be input from the television antenna 18, and the changeover switch 2
4 in the navigation mode, the video signal converter 4
Since information such as the current position is displayed on the television screen from 6, the serial television can be used as a navigation system, and in other cases, it can be used as a normal television by switching to the television mode.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 when the navigation mode is set.

When the navigation mode is set by the changeover switch 24, mode selection display data is generated (step 101), and when the data is converted into the NTSC signal and sent to the vehicle-mounted television 10, the mode is displayed on the screen. A display prompting selection is displayed (step 103).

When the initial setting mode is selected, data for displaying the cursor and data for moving the cursor are generated (step 104,
105), the data is converted into an NTSC signal (step 106) and sent to the television 10, a cursor is displayed on the screen. After matching the cursor and the origin (reference point) of the map on this screen (step 10)
7) Generate the data as a display origin data file and store it in a storage medium (step 1).
08).

By the operations in steps 104 to 108, the origin of the screen used for navigation and the origin of the map information printed on the map sheet are associated with each other, and the initial setting is completed. It should be noted that this initial setting need not be performed after the initial setting is performed once.

When the position display mode is selected in step 103, first, the display origin data file stored in the storage medium (not shown) is referred to, and the initial setting for automatically aligning the cursor with the origin of the map is automatically performed. It is performed (step 109). Next, the GPS signal processing unit 32 measures the current position (step 110) and refers to the map range table based on the obtained current position (step 1).
11), after searching the number of the corresponding map sheet 20,
The navigation processing unit 34 generates display data for displaying the map number (step 112), the video data converting unit 46 converts the display data into an NTSC signal (step 113), and the map is displayed on the screen of the television 10. Instruct to insert a sheet and display the map number that includes the current position.

When the designated map sheet 20 is inserted into the mounting frame 12 and mounted, the bar code 20B of the map sheet 20 is read by the bar code reader 22 (step 114). Position information (longitude, latitude) of two reference points (points A and B in FIG. 2), a map range, and a scale of the map are recorded in the barcode 20B.

Again, the GPS signal processing unit 32 measures the current position (step 115), and the display control unit 44 carries out an operation to make the current position on the designated map sheet 20 correspond to the coordinates on the screen of the television 10 ( (Step 116), the position display data for changing the brightness of the position and blinking the cursor (not shown) is generated (step 117), and the position display data is converted into an NTSC signal and displayed on the TV screen. The position is displayed (step 119).

When the display of the current position is repeated (step 120), the map sheet 20 with the designated number is displayed.
Is within the display range (step 12
1) If it is within the range, the GPS signal processing unit 32 measures the current position again, and steps 115 to 1 are performed.
The operation of 19 is repeated. Map sheet 2 with the specified number
If the display range is out of 0, the process returns to step 111, the map range table is referred to, the map sheet of the corresponding display range is searched, the map number is displayed on the screen, and the insertion of the map sheet 20 is prompted. And the like (step 111
~ 119) is performed.

Even if the map sheet 20 is out of the display range, if the map sheet 20 with the designated number is not replaced, the display changes to the route guidance mode or the traveling direction display, and the map sheet 20 cannot be replaced while driving. It's also ready to handle cases.

When the route guidance mode is selected in step 103, as shown in FIG. 5, first, mode selection display data is generated (step 131), which is converted into an NTSC signal to execute the setting mode on the screen. A display prompting the user to select a mode is displayed (step 132).

At step 133, the setting mode is selected,
When the map sheet is inserted into the mounting frame 12, the barcode 20B is read, and when the map range is read (step 134), data for displaying the cursor is generated (step 135), and the data is NTS.
The conversion to the C signal causes a cursor to appear on the screen corresponding to the map area 20A of the map sheet 20 and starts blinking (step 136).

Next, when the cursor is moved to the target position in the map area 20A of the inserted map sheet 20 to set the target position and the route (step 121), the setting information such as the target position corresponds to the map number. This is stored in the storage medium as the target position file (step 138).

When the mode setting is continued, the process returns to step 135 and the same operation is repeated. on the other hand,
When the mode is changed (step 140), the process returns to step 131.

When the execution mode is selected in 133, the target position is read from the scheduled course storage unit 40 (step 141) and data for displaying the target position is generated (step 142), which is the NTSC signal. And is displayed on the screen (step 14
3), the GPS signal processing unit 32 measures the current position (step 144), and the navigation processing unit 34 calculates the deviation between the target position and the current position (step 145).
Data for displaying the deviation information is displayed by the display control unit 44.
Is generated by the video signal conversion unit 46 and converted into an NTSC signal and displayed on the screen (step 14).
7).

According to this embodiment described in detail above, the on-vehicle television can be used as a navigation system by using the screen of the on-vehicle television 10 as a backlight and a current position display means.

Therefore, in recent years, the use of in-vehicle televisions has been increasing because the color liquid crystal has become more sophisticated and has become lower in price. Therefore, it is cheaper for users who already have in-vehicle televisions. Further, it is possible to provide a map display device with a navigation function that is excellent in map reproducibility.

Although the present invention has been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the television receiver to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to an in-vehicle television, and may be, for example, any portable television receiver, the screen of which may be a cathode ray tube. It may also be composed of liquid crystal.

The television system is not limited to NTSC, but may be PAL or SECAM.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an inexpensive map display device capable of displaying a current position and the like on a highly vivid map using a television receiver. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a usage state of a map display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a map sheet used in a map display device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing each functional unit included in the map display device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is another flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... In-vehicle TV 12 ... Map sheet mounting frame 14 ... Control unit 16 ... GPS antenna 18 ... In-vehicle TV antenna 20 ... Map sheet 22 ... Bar code reader 24 ... Changeover switch 32 ... GPS signal processing unit 34 ... Navigation processing unit 40 ... Schedule Course storage unit 44 ... Display control unit 46 ... Video signal conversion unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A map display device using a map sheet having map information printed on a light-transmissive support, and a map sheet mounting frame for mounting the map sheet and arranging the map sheet on a television screen. , Position measuring means for detecting the current position and generating position information, signal converting means for converting the position information from the position measuring means into a television signal, and current position information based on the position information converted by the signal converting means A map display device comprising: a display control unit that displays the position on a television screen and matches the current position with a corresponding position on a map sheet.