JPH0669823A - Traffic information receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent traffic information from being missed and to reduce the number of times for a car driver to operate keys by arranging the automatic traffic information switching keys. CONSTITUTION:This traffic information receiver is provided with an automatic traffic information switching key 17, and CPU 18 to tune a tuner 12 to the frequency of the traffic information at every prescribed short time regardless of whether normal broadcasting is received or not when the automatic traffic information key 17 is turned on, to turn a normal broadcasting reception mode to a traffic information reception mode when the reception of the traffic information is enabled, to tune the tuner 12 to the frequency of normal broadcasting when the automatic traffic information switching key 17 is turned off, the reception of traffic information is disabled or the traffic information of the same content is received prescribed times, and to return the traffic information reception mode to the normal broadcasting reception mode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traffic information receiving apparatus, and more particularly to a traffic information receiving apparatus suitable for automatically switching to a traffic information receiving mode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-253723, an on-vehicle radio receiver has been developed which can receive traffic information for informing a vehicle driver of traffic conditions on a highway. However, in this type of on-vehicle radio receiver, when the driver operates the traffic information station selection key, the traffic information station is selected, and as a result, traffic information can be received.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, a receiver equipped with a traffic information dedicated tuner for selecting a traffic information station separately from a tuner for selecting a normal broadcast, that is, a receiving antenna 1, a normal broadcast. Tuner 2, traffic information tuner 3, audio signal selector switch 4, volume 5,
Mute circuit 6, power amplifier 7, speaker 8, CPU
It is also conceivable to configure a receiving device composed of 9 or the like, and always confirm whether or not the traffic information can be received by the traffic information tuner 3.

[0004]

However, in the radio receiver with the traffic information receiving function which has been conventionally developed including the technique described in the above publication, when the vehicle driver listens to the traffic information, the traffic information selecting station is selected. It is necessary to operate the key each time to switch to the traffic information reception mode, but currently the area where traffic information can be received is limited to a narrow range, so when the vehicle enters the traffic information reception area Need to switch to the traffic information reception mode within a short time. Therefore, if the operation of the traffic information tuning key is delayed, the traffic information may be missed. Also, when moving from the normal reception mode to the traffic information reception mode, or when returning from the traffic reception mode to the original normal reception mode, it is necessary to perform a key operation each time, and the key operation becomes complicated. There is a problem that the number of times of key operation is increased and it is not possible to concentrate on driving. Further, in the case of the receiving device of FIG. 4, it is necessary to separately provide a traffic information tuner, which causes a problem of complicated operation and control.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems.
When traffic information can be received, by automatically switching to traffic information reception mode, it is possible to prevent missing of traffic information and to reduce the number of key operations by the vehicle driver. For the purpose of provision.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a traffic information receiving apparatus comprising an antenna for normal broadcast or traffic information reception, a tuner, and a speaker for voice output. Equipped with traffic information automatic switching means for setting the reception mode, when the traffic information automatic switching means is turned on, the tuner is set to the frequency of the traffic information at every predetermined minute time regardless of the reception of normal broadcast. When it becomes possible to synchronize and receive traffic information, the normal broadcast reception mode is changed to the traffic information reception mode.
When the traffic information automatic switching means is turned off, when the traffic information cannot be received, or when the traffic information having the same content is listened to for a predetermined number of times, the tuner is tuned to the frequency of the normal broadcasting to obtain the traffic information. The control means for returning from the reception mode to the normal broadcast reception mode is provided.

[0007]

According to the traffic information receiving apparatus of the present invention, when the vehicle driver turns on the automatic traffic information switching means, the control means keeps the tuner at a predetermined level even when the vehicle driver is listening to a normal broadcast. It tunes to the frequency of traffic information every minute time. When the vehicle enters the traffic information receivable area, the normal broadcast reception mode is switched to the traffic information reception mode. On the other hand, if the vehicle driver turns off the automatic traffic information switching means, or if the vehicle leaves the traffic information receivable area, or if the vehicle driver listens to the same traffic information for a predetermined number of times, the tuner The traffic information reception mode is returned to the original normal broadcast reception mode while being tuned to the frequency of the normal broadcast. As described above, it is possible to prevent the problem that the vehicle driver delays the operation of the traffic information channel selection key and misses the traffic information as in the related art. Further, since the vehicle driver can receive the traffic information only by turning on the traffic information automatic switching means, it is possible to solve the problem that the traffic information reception key is operated many times and becomes complicated as in the conventional case. . In addition, since it is not necessary to separately provide a traffic information dedicated tuner as in the conventional case, the device configuration, control, and the like can be simplified.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a traffic information receiving apparatus of this embodiment, which is mounted on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat of a vehicle. The traffic information receiving device includes a receiving antenna 11 for receiving a normal radio broadcast or traffic information.
And a tuner 12 for tuning and tuning, and a volume 1
3, a mute circuit 14 for connecting a power amplifier output and a speaker after a predetermined time has passed, and a power amplifier 15
A speaker 16, a traffic information automatic switching key 17 which is a traffic information automatic switching means, a display section (not shown) for displaying a radio broadcast reception mode or a traffic information reception mode, and a CPU 18 which is a control means for controlling each section. It is configured to have. A feature of the traffic information receiving apparatus of the present embodiment is that the vehicle is provided with an automatic traffic information switching key 17 instead of separately providing a traffic information dedicated tuner and a traffic information receiving key as in the conventional case. When entering the information receivable area, the mode is automatically switched to the traffic information receiving mode.

The traffic information receiving apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail. After the radio broadcast or traffic information received by the receiving antenna 11 is input to the tuner 11, the volume 1 is adjusted.
3. The speaker 1 is supplied to the power amplifier 15 through the mute circuit 14 and amplified by the power amplifier 15.
The audio is output from 6. CPU18
Checks the output of the station detector signal from the tuner 11 and determines whether traffic information can be received (station detector signal is Hi) or not, and if it can, put the tuner 11 into traffic information reception mode. While the setting is made and a message indicating the traffic information reception mode is displayed on the display, the tuner 11 is tuned to the frequency of the original radio broadcast when the reception is impossible. Further, when the vehicle driver turns on the traffic information automatic switching key 17, the tuner 11 is adapted to tune to the frequency of the traffic information every predetermined time (for example, several seconds) even when listening to a radio broadcast. The mute circuit 14 performs a mute operation when listening to a radio broadcast.

Further, the CP of the traffic information receiving apparatus of this embodiment
U18 is a traffic information mode when the vehicle driver turns off the traffic information automatic switching key 17, when the traffic information cannot be received, and when the same traffic information is broadcast twice. It is supposed to return to the original radio broadcasting mode from. In this case, the traffic information is 2
Regarding the judgment as to whether or not it was broadcast as usual, the traffic information is 1
Focusing on the point that the traffic information of the same content is repeatedly broadcast after a predetermined minute time (for example, several seconds) after being broadcasted, the determination is made by detecting the interval. .

Next, the control operation of the traffic information receiving apparatus of this embodiment constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The CPU 18 of the traffic information receiving device determines whether the vehicle driver has turned on the traffic information automatic switching key 17 (step S1).
When the N operation is performed, it is determined whether the radio broadcast is in the listening state (step S2). When the radio broadcast is in the listening state, the mute circuit 14 performs the mute operation to connect the output of the power amplifier 15 and the speaker 16 after a lapse of a predetermined time, and the display section continuously displays that the radio broadcast reception mode is in effect. Then, the tuner 12 is tuned to the frequency of the traffic information (step S3), and if the radio broadcast is not in the listening state, the process of step S4 is directly performed. In this case, with the ON operation of the traffic information automatic switching key 17, the frequency of the traffic information is tuned every few seconds even when listening to the radio broadcast.

Next, the CPU 18 of the traffic information receiving device
Based on whether the station detector signal output from the tuner 12 is Hi or not, it is determined whether or not the traffic information can be received (step S5). If the traffic information cannot be received, the tuner 12 is set to the frequency of the original radio broadcast. Synchronize (step S6). In this case, the determination as to whether or not the traffic information can be received is made in an extremely short time (for example, in milliseconds). Further, it is determined whether or not the radio broadcast is in the listening state (step S7), and if it is in the listening state, the mute circuit 14
The mute operation by is canceled (step S8), and the control operation is ended. On the other hand, the CPU 18 of the traffic information receiving device
If the traffic information is receivable in the determination in step S5, that is, if the vehicle enters the traffic information receivable area, the tuner 12 is changed from the radio broadcast reception mode to the traffic information reception mode (step S9). , Mute circuit 1
It is determined whether or not the mute operation is being performed according to step 4 (step S10), and in the case of the mute state, the mute operation is canceled (step S11).

Next, the CPU 18 of the traffic information receiving device
Whether the vehicle driver has turned off the traffic information automatic switching key 17 (step S12), and whether the traffic information can be received (the station detector signal is Hi) (step S).
13) Then, the determination is made for each case of whether or not the traffic information having the same content was broadcast twice (step S14). Based on the judgment, when the traffic information automatic switching key 17 is turned off, or when the traffic information cannot be received (when the vehicle goes out of the traffic information receivable area), or the traffic information having the same content When the broadcast is broadcast twice, the tuner 12 is tuned to the frequency of the original radio broadcast (step S15), the traffic information reception mode is returned to the original radio broadcast reception mode (step S16), and The control operation ends.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the traffic information automatic switching key 17 is provided in the traffic information receiving device and the vehicle driver turns on the traffic information automatic switching key 17, the radio broadcasting Even when listening, the tuner 12 is tuned to the frequency of the traffic information every few seconds, and when the traffic information can be received, the vehicle driver controls to automatically switch to the traffic information reception mode. It becomes possible to listen to accurately. As a result, it is possible to prevent the problem that the operation of the traffic information tuning key is delayed and misses the traffic information as in the conventional case.

Further, according to this embodiment, the vehicle driver can receive the traffic information only by turning on the traffic information automatic switching key 17, so that the number of times of operation of the traffic information receiving key can be reduced as in the conventional case. Many complicated troubles can be solved. Further, since it is not necessary to separately provide a traffic information dedicated tuner as in the conventional case, the device configuration and control can be simplified. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the time required to determine whether the traffic information can be received / not to be received is extremely short (for example, in milliseconds), but the frequency of determination is relatively long (for example, in several seconds). It is possible to listen to the output sound from the speaker without a sense of discomfort without noticing the interruption of the speaker sound due to the determination as to whether or not the information can be received.

[0018]

As described above, according to the traffic information receiving apparatus of the present invention, when the traffic information automatic switching means is turned on, the tuner is operated at every predetermined minute time regardless of whether or not the normal broadcast is received. When the traffic information can be received by tuning to the traffic information frequency, the normal broadcast reception mode is changed to the traffic information reception mode, while the traffic information automatic switching means is turned off or the traffic information reception is not performed. When it becomes possible or when the same content of traffic information is heard a predetermined number of times, the tuner is tuned to the frequency of normal broadcasting and the control for returning from the traffic information receiving mode to the normal broadcasting receiving mode is performed. It becomes possible for a person to listen to the traffic information accurately, and as a result, it is possible to prevent the problem that the operation of the traffic information tuning key is delayed and misses the traffic information as in the past. Further, since the vehicle driver can receive the traffic information only by turning on the traffic information automatic switching means, it is possible to solve the problem that the number of times the traffic information reception key is operated becomes complicated as in the conventional case. Further, since it is not necessary to separately provide a traffic information dedicated tuner as in the conventional case, various remarkable effects can be achieved such as simplification of the device configuration and control.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a traffic information receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of traffic information reception control according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of traffic information reception control of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional receiving device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Receiving Antenna 12 Tuner 13 Volume 14 Mute Circuit 15 Power Amplifier 16 Speaker 17 Traffic Information Automatic Switching Key 18 CPU

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A traffic information receiving device comprising an antenna for normal broadcast or traffic information reception, a tuner, and a speaker for audio output, equipped with traffic information automatic switching means for setting a traffic information reception mode, When the traffic information automatic switching means is turned on, the tuner is tuned to the frequency of the traffic information at every predetermined minute time regardless of whether or not the normal broadcasting is received, and normally when the traffic information can be received. While changing from the broadcast reception mode to the traffic information reception mode,
When the traffic information automatic switching means is turned off, when the traffic information cannot be received, or when the traffic information having the same content is listened to for a predetermined number of times, the tuner is tuned to the frequency of the normal broadcasting to obtain the traffic information. A traffic information receiving apparatus comprising a control means for returning from a receiving mode to a normal broadcast receiving mode.