Car Navigation Apparatus

• US 20090018764A1
• Filed: 06/13/2005
• Published: 01/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Machino, Hiroshi, Ishibashi, Masaki
• Granted Patent: US 8,676,496 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096894 where input is assisted by the navigation device, i.e. the user does not type the complete name of the destination, e.g. using zip codes, telephone numbers, progressively selecting from initial letters

Abstract

A car navigation apparatus includes an intersection searching means 14 for searching for intersections in a vicinity of the current position of a vehicle from intersections which exist on a searched route and which exist between the current position and a destination, an intersection name outputting means 15 for outputting the names of the searched intersections, an intersection selecting means 17 for selecting an intersection from the intersection names outputted, an facility searching means 18 for searching for facilities which exist in a vicinity of the intersection selected through the map data, a facility name outputting means 19 for outputting the names of the searched facilities, a facility selecting means 20 for selecting a facility from the facility names outputted, and a facility information outputting means 21 for extracting facility information about the selected facility from the map data, and for outputting the facility information.

Claims

1. A car navigation apparatus comprising:

a map data acquiring means for acquiring map data including road data, intersection information, and facility information;

a current position detecting means for detecting a current position of a car;

a route searching means for searching for a route to a destination based on the map data acquired by said map data acquiring means;

an intersection searching means for searching intersections in a vicinity of the current position from among intersections which exist on the route searched by said route searching means and which exists between the current position detected by said current position detecting means and the destination;

an intersection name outputting means for outputting intersection names given to the intersections searched by said intersection searching means;

an intersection selecting means for selecting an intersection by specifying an intersection name outputted by said intersection name outputting means;

a facility searching means for searching for facilities which exist in a vicinity of the intersection selected by said intersection selecting means through the map data acquired by said map data acquiring means;

a facility name outputting means for outputting facility names given to the facilities searched by said facility searching means;

a facility selecting means for selecting a facility by specifying a facility name outputted by said facility name outputting means; and

a facility information outputting means for extracting facility information about the facility selected by said facility selecting means from the map data acquired by said map data acquiring means, and for outputting the facility information.

2. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said apparatus includes a facility searching condition setting means for setting facility searching conditions for specifying facilities which are a target to be searched, and the facility searching means searches for facilities which exist in a vicinity of the intersection selected by the intersection selecting means from the map data acquired by said map data acquiring means according to the facility searching conditions set by said facility searching condition setting means.

3. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the facility searching conditions set by the searching condition setting means include a distance from the intersection selected by the intersection selecting means or a traveling time required to travel from the intersection.

4. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the facility searching conditions set by the searching condition setting means include a restriction imposed on directions in which the car can go out of the intersection selected by the intersection selecting means.

5. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the facility searching conditions set by the searching condition setting means include types of facilities or functions provided by facilities.

6. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the intersection selecting means and the facility selecting means are provided with a key, a remote controller, a touch panel, or a voice recognition means for specifying an intersection name outputted by the facility name outputting means and a facility name outputted by the facility name outputting means.

7. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said apparatus has an intersection searching condition setting means for setting intersection search conditions for specifying intersections which are a target to be searched, and the intersection searching means searches for intersections in a vicinity of the current position through intersections which exists on the route searched by the route searching means and which exists between the current position detected by the current position detecting and the destination according to the intersection searching conditions set by said intersection searching condition setting means.

8. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said apparatus includes an angle sensor for detecting a traveling direction of the car, and an expected-route-to-be-followed determining means for determining an expected route to be followed based on the traveling direction detected by said angle sensor and the map data acquired by the map data acquiring means, and the intersection searching means searches for intersections in a vicinity of the current position through intersections which exist on the expected route to be followed determined by said expected-route-to-be-followed determining means when no route is searched for by the route searching means.