JPH09237039A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily recognize a display by display characters by always optimum size without troublesome operation and to make easy recognizing it by varying the size of the character displayed on a display means based on the detection result of a vehicle speed sensor. SOLUTION: The vehicle speed sensor 11 consists of a magnet rotating synchronized with e.g. an axle and a reed switch performing open/close operation according to magnetic force change to output the number of pulses answering to the speed. An expansion/reduction decision part 12 calculates an average traveling speed for a prescribed time based on speed information from the vehicle speed sensor 11, and divides it into multistage according to the average speed to decide a reduced scale of a map and the size of the character. Then, whether the size of the character displayed on a display 26 is changed automatically answering to the vehicle speed or the size of the character is changed manually is judged. That is instructed beforehand with a changeover switch 27 by a driver. Then, commands of map reduced scale and character size revision are transmitted from the expansion/reduction decision part 12 to a navigation main body part 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for displaying guidance such as a traveling route of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a navigation device, the current position of a vehicle is calculated by using radio waves from an artificial satellite (position detection system by GPS), map information corresponding to the position is read from a CD-ROM, a liquid crystal or the like is read out. The map is displayed on the display at a predetermined scale. At the same time, information such as a place name and an intersection name is displayed in a character of a predetermined size in a superimposed manner on the map.

The driver operates a changeover switch or the like according to the situation to display a map so as to cover a wide range during high-speed traveling, and also displays characters in a large size for easy viewing. On the contrary, when the vehicle reaches the destination or the vicinity of the branch point and a detailed map is needed, the changeover switch or the like is operated so that the detailed part of the map can be displayed.

[0004]

The above-mentioned method is troublesome because the driver must operate a switch for selecting the enlarged / reduced display of the map or the enlarged display of the characters according to the situation while driving. Normally, when the vehicle is traveling on an expressway, the number of road branches is small and the route is simple. Therefore, it is not necessary to display the details. Rather, since it is traveling at high speed, it is often necessary to display a wide range. Further, since it is difficult to change the line of sight during high speed traveling, it becomes more difficult to recognize characters than during low speed traveling. Therefore, it becomes necessary to enlarge and display the character so that the character can be easily recognized. On the contrary, there are many road branches near the intersection of general roads, and it is often desired to know the detailed road condition. In such a place, generally, there are many low-speed running due to traffic congestion, waiting for a signal, etc., and it is possible to enlarge the details and see the display in detail. In addition, it is not necessary to display the characters particularly large, and it is desirable that the characters are displayed in a size that does not interfere with the recognition of the map such as a road branch. In this way, since there is a general correlation between the traveling speed of the vehicle and the optimum size of the map and character display, if the size of the display can be changed in association with the speed of the vehicle, the burden on the driver can be reduced.

An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device capable of automatically adjusting the size of characters displayed on a display in association with the traveling speed of a vehicle.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a navigation device for displaying the position of a vehicle on a map displayed on a display means, and a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle. A character size changing unit for changing the size of the character displayed on the display unit based on the detection result of the vehicle speed sensor is provided.

Further, the character size changing means is controlled according to a speed division based on an average speed of the vehicle for a predetermined period.

[0008]

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the drawings.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a vehicle speed sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle, and includes, for example, a magnet that rotates in synchronization with the axle and a reed switch that makes a connection / disconnection operation according to a change in magnetic force, and outputs a pulse number corresponding to the speed. Reference numeral 12 calculates an average traveling speed for a predetermined time based on the speed information from the vehicle speed sensor 11, and divides the average traveling speed into multiple stages (for example, three stages in this embodiment) according to the average velocity to reduce the map scale and characters. It is an enlargement / reduction determining unit that determines the size. Reference numeral 21 is a display control unit for controlling the display on the display 26 of the navigation main body unit 2, a screen scale display control unit 22 for controlling the scale of the map to be displayed, and a screen character display control for controlling the size of the character to be displayed. Part 23
And a display control unit (not shown) for controlling map display as normal navigation. Reference numeral 24 is a position detection system including a global positioning system (GPS) that detects the current position of the vehicle using radio waves from an artificial satellite. 25 is a CD on which map information is recorded
-A map memory that reads and outputs map data from a recording medium such as a ROM, and various maps of each region can be used by changing the CD-ROM or the like. A display 26 such as a liquid crystal display displays a map, the current position of the vehicle and characters. Reference numeral 27 denotes a changeover switch for changing whether or not the passenger manually performs map enlargement / reduction and character size change.
The map enlargement / reduction and character size change commands are transmitted from the enlargement / reduction determining unit 12 to the navigation main body 2.

In ordinary navigation, the current position of the vehicle is detected by the position detection system 24, and the corresponding map information is read from the map memory 25 and displayed on the display 26. At the same time, names of intersections and the like are displayed in characters of a predetermined size. FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart executed by the display control unit of the navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the process of map expansion / contraction and character expansion display will be described using a flowchart. In this example, the normal display of the map and the normal size of the characters are the standard map scale performed by the display control unit of the navigation device,
Say the size of the letters.

In step S1, it is determined whether or not the automatic display is performed. If the automatic display is performed, the process proceeds to step S2.
If automatic display is not performed, the process proceeds to step S7. That is, it is determined whether the size of the characters displayed on the display 26 is automatically changed according to the vehicle speed or the size of the characters is changed manually. Being directed.

In step S2, the vehicle speed is the predetermined speed V1.
(However, it is assumed that V1> V2 in the following description) It is determined whether or not the vehicle speed is higher than V1, the process proceeds to step S6, and if not, the process proceeds to step S3.
That is, in order to determine the scale of the map display and the size of the displayed characters in correspondence with the speed of the vehicle, it is determined from the output of the vehicle speed sensor 11 whether the vehicle is traveling at high speed (vehicle speed> V1).

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed is lower than V2. If the vehicle speed is lower than V2, the process proceeds to step S5, and if not, the process proceeds to step S4. That is, in order to determine the scale of the map display and the size of the characters to be displayed according to the speed of the vehicle, it is determined from the output of the vehicle speed sensor 11 whether the vehicle is traveling at low speed (vehicle speed <V2). The case where the vehicle speed is between V2 and V1 is referred to as normal traveling.

In step S4, the scale of the map and the size of the characters are displayed in the conventional size, and the process returns to step S1. In step S5, the map is displayed up to the detailed portion, the size of the character is set to the normal size, and the process returns to step S1. In other words, in this speed category, the vehicles are
It is presumed that the vehicle is traveling at low speed near the destination. In such places, the roads are complicated and there are many branches, so it is necessary to display the map up to the detailed part as a navigation function.Since the letters are slow, it is relatively easy to move the line of sight, so even the normal size can be recognized sufficiently. it can. The screen scale display control unit 22 gives an instruction to increase the screen scale to enlarge the target area and display the detailed portion.

In step S6, the map is displayed over a wide range, the characters are displayed in an enlarged size, and the process returns to step S1.
In other words, it is assumed that the vehicle travels in the suburbs, highways, etc. and has a sufficient distance to the destination in this speed classification. In such places, there are few road branches and it is not necessary to look at the detailed parts of the map. It is desirable that a wide area is displayed and an overview of the journey can be grasped. Rather, it is more important to recognize the display of place names, intersection names, etc. In high-speed traveling, it is difficult to deflect the line of sight during driving, and it becomes difficult to recognize the displayed characters. Therefore, enlarging and displaying the characters can reduce the burden on the driver. The screen scale display control unit 22 gives an instruction to reduce the screen scale and display the target area in a wide range. Further, the screen character display control unit 23 gives an instruction to increase the size of the character and display it at a predetermined position.

In step S7, the map is manually scaled and displayed in the size of the character, and the map is displayed in step S1.
Return to That is, when the automatic display is not performed in step S1, the function corresponds to the same manual setting as in the conventional case, and the driver manually adjusts the scale of the map as necessary to display the detailed portion, normal display, Wide range display can be selected. In addition, the size of characters can be selected from normal size display and enlarged size display by manual operation.

In addition, when the display on the display is controlled by judging the vehicle speed division such as high speed traveling, normal traveling, low speed traveling, etc. by the instantaneous speed, the map displayed on the display can be displayed in a short time near the boundary of the division. The scale and size of the characters may change, making it difficult to see. Therefore, it is advisable to determine the vehicle speed classification by using the vehicle speed as the average speed for a certain period of time. Alternatively, once the vehicle speed category is determined and the map and characters are displayed in a predetermined size on the display, the display size may not change for a certain period of time.

Further, in this example, the vehicle speed is classified into three stages of high speed traveling, normal traveling and low speed traveling, and the display of the map and characters is changed according to the speed division, but the number of traveling divisions is increased. It is also possible to finely change the display size of maps and characters. Further, the display range of the map and the size of the character depending on the traveling section may be changed in conjunction with each other, or may be changed individually.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the size of the characters displayed on the display can be automatically adjusted in association with the traveling speed of the vehicle, so that the driver does not need to perform any troublesome operation and is always optimal. It is easy to recognize because it is displayed in various size characters.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a navigation device capable of automatically adjusting the size of the characters displayed on the display in association with the traveling speed of the vehicle, which is troublesome for the driver to operate. The burden is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart performed by a display control unit of the navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Vehicle speed sensor 24 ... Position detection system 12 ... Enlargement / reduction determination unit 25 ... Map memory 22 ... Screen scale display control unit 26 ... Display 23. ... Screen character display control unit 27 ... Changeover switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A navigation device for displaying the position of a vehicle on a map displayed on the display means, wherein a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle, and a display means for displaying the vehicle speed sensor based on a detection result of the vehicle speed sensor. A navigation device comprising a character size changing means for changing the size of displayed characters. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the character size changing unit is controlled according to a speed division based on an average speed of the vehicle for a predetermined period.