Method and apparatus for the display of detailed map information

• US 20050024238A1
• Filed: 07/20/2004
• Published: 02/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tsuyoshi Kimura
• Original Assignee: Tsuyoshi Kimura
• Inventors: Kimura, Tsuyoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,106,218 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/995.100
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3676 Overview of the route on the road map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map

Abstract

In a separate-window-display map search-and-display unit, where a current position or a cursor position arrives at a predetermined area near the outer circumference of a screen image during cursor-moving map scroll display is performed, a map-display-scale calculation unit calculates a wide-area map on a predetermined scale for displaying the current position and the cursor position on the same screen and a two-point-display map-search display searches for and displays a predetermined map. A separate-frame-window-display detailed-map search-and-display unit displays a current-position-centered detailed map and a cursor-position-centered detailed map in separate-frame windows

Claims

1. A map search-and-display method comprising the acts of:

displaying a two-point display map showing a first point and a second point at a distance from each other; and

displaying a detailed map for the first point in a separate-frame window at a position on the two-point display map corresponding to the location of the first point.

2. The map search-and-display method of claim 1, wherein the first point indicates a current position and the second point indicates a cursor position provided for scrolling the two-point display map.

3. The map search-and-display method of claim 1, wherein the first point indicates a cursor position provided for scrolling the two-point display map and the second point indicates a current position.

4. The map search-and-display method of claim 1, wherein the first point indicates an interchange shown on a highway-route map and the second point indicates another interchange on the highway-route map.

5. The map search-and-display method of claim 1, wherein the first point indicates a current position and the second point indicates the position of a facility searched through facility search.

6. The map search-and-display method of claim 1, wherein the first point indicates the position of a facility searched through facility search and the second point indicates a current position.

7. A map search-and-display apparatus comprising:

a two-point-display map search-and-display device operable to display a two-point display map showing a first point and a second point at a distance from each other; and

a separate-frame-window-display detailed-map search-and-display device operable to display a detailed map for at least one of the two points in a frame separated from the two-point display map located on the two-point display map at a position proximate to said at least one of two points.

8. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first point indicates a current position and the second position indicates a cursor position provided for scrolling the two-point display map.

9. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first point indicates a first interchange shown on a highway-route map and the second point indicates a second interchange on the highway-route map.

10. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first point indicates a current position and the second point indicates the position of a facility searched through facility search.

11. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

an outer circumference of a screen image;

a limitation-outer-circumference arrival determination device operable to determine if current position or the cursor position exists in the outer circumference of a screen image;

a map search-and-display device operable to increase the distance shown on the map when the limitation-outer-circumference arrival determination device determines that the current position or the cursor position exists in the outer circumference.

12. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 11, wherein the outer circumference is an outer-most circumference of the screen image.

13. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 11, wherein the outer circumference is at a predetermined distance inside from the outer-most circumference.

14. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a current-position-centered predetermined-area arrival determination device operable to determine whether the cursor position arrives at a predetermined area centered on the current position; and

a map search-and-display device operable to increase the detail of a map a showing the first and second points if the current-position-centered predetermined-area arrival determination device determines that the cursor position arrives at the predetermined area.

15. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 8, wherein the two-point-display map search-and-display device comprises a first current-position-centered map search-and-display unit operable to display a map centered on the current position;

a second current-position-centered map search-and-display unit operable to display a map centered on the current position;

a search-center-point selection unit operable to select from the first and second current-position-centered map search-and-display devices and display a map centered on the cursor position; and

a midpoint-centered map search-and-display unit operable to display a map centered on a midpoint between the current position and the cursor position.

16. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a search-method selection device operable to select between the separate-frame-window-display detailed-map search-and-display device and another map search-and-display device.

17. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a display switch device operable to switch from separate-frame display to two-point display after the map search-and-display is finished.

18. A map search-and-display apparatus comprising:

a two-point-display map search-and-display device operable to display a two-point display map showing a first point and a second point at a distance from each other; and

a separate-frame-window-display detailed-map search-and-display device operable to display a detailed map in a separate frame for the first point and a detailed map in another separate frame for the second point.

19. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first point indicates a current position and the second position indicates a cursor position provided for scrolling the two-point display map.

20. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first point indicates a first interchange shown on a highway-route map and the second point indicates a second interchange on the highway-route map.

21. The map search-and-display apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first point indicates a current position and the second point indicates the position of a facility searched through facility search.