Vehicle-mounted navigator

• US 4,513,377 A
• Filed: 06/08/1982
• Issued: 04/23/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/1981
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd. (DENSO Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd. (DENSO Corporation)
• Inventors: Hasebe, Koshi, Ono, Takashi, Miura, Kunio, Minami, Kazuaki, Akutsu, Kazushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Gary
• Application Number:
  US06/386,267
• Time in Patent Office: 1,050 Days
• Field of Search: 364/424, 364/443, 364/444, 364/449, 364/521, 364/571, 353/11, 353/12, 343/450-453, 73/178 R, 340/988-990, 340/992, 340/995, 340/996, 340/709
• US Class Current: 701/208
• 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

Abstract

In a vehicle-mounted navigator, a control unit reads map data from a memory unit and displays a corresponding road map on a CRT display unit. In response to signals from a distance sensor and a direction sensor, the present position in relation to the running of the automotive vehicle is computed to display by superimposition the present position on the road map display of the display unit. When the computed present position has reached to a predetermined portion of an adjacent area, the map data of the road map adjacent to the road map on display is read from the memory unit and a corresponding road map is displayed on the display unit manually or automatically. In accordance with this updated display, the present position display is moved to a corresponding position on the updated road map display.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mounted navigator comprising:

distance sensor means for detecting the running distance of the vehicle;

direction sensor means for detecting the travelling direction of the vehicle;

calculation means responsive to detection signals from said distance sensor means and said direction sensor means for calculating a present position of the vehicle;

memory means for storing map data including a plurality of road maps corresponding to the vehicle'"'"'s travelling regions;

display means for electronically displaying a road map corresponding to one of said plurality of travelling regions on a display surface thereof;

present position display control means for allowing said display means to display the present position of the vehicle calculated by said calculation means on the road map displayed on the display surface thereof;

decision means for deciding whether the present position of the vehicle displayed on said display surface exists in one of a plurality of adjacent regions located in the periphery of said display surface;

road map display control means for reading the map data of the adjacent region corresponding to the decided adjacent region from said memory means and for allowing said display means to display the road map of the adjacent region adjacent to the presently displayed vehicle travelling region instead of the display of the present road map, when said decision means decides that the displayed present position exists in one of said adjacent regions; and

correction means for automatically correcting said displayed present position in accordance with the positional relation between the presently displayed region and the adjacent region which is to be displayed, when said road map display control means changes the display of the presently displayed road map to the adjacent region.

2. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 1, wherein:

said memory means stores the map data corresponding to the plurality of vehicle travelling regions and stores position data indicative of the positional relation among respective travelling regions; and

said correction means corrects said displayed present position on the basis of said position data indicating the positional relation between the presently displayed region and the adjacent region which is to be displayed.

3. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 2, wherein:

said position data includes coordinate data indicating a coordinate between a given position and a predetermined specific point at the respective travelling regions; and

said correction means decides a coordinate conversion value on the basis of respective coordinate data of the presently displayed region and the adjacent region which is to be displayed and corrects said displayed present position on the basis of said coordinate conversion value.

4. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 1, wherein:

said memory means stores, in addition to the map data corresponding to a plurality of the vehicle travelling regions, a map numeral of the present travelling region and a map numeral for each one of the plurality of travelling regions adjacent to the present travelling region; and

said road map display control means reads the map data of the adjacent region from the map numeral corresponding to the adjacent region at which the displayed present position exists.

5. A vehicle-mounted navigator comprising:

distance detection means for detecting a running distance of the vehicle;

direction detection means for detecting a travelling direction of the vehicle;

calculation means responsive to detection signals from said distance detection means and said direction detection means for calculating the present position of the vehicle;

memory means for storing map data including a plurality of road map corresponding to the vehicle travelling regions;

display means for electronically displaying a road map corresponding to one of said plurality of vehicle travelling regions on a display surface thereof;

present position display control means for allowing said display means to display the present position calculated by said calculation means on the road map displayed on the display surface;

alternation command means for generating a command for map alternation;

road map display control means responsive to the alternation command of said alternation command means for selecting one adjacent region to be displayed from a plurality of adjacent regions adjacent to the presently displayed vehicle travelling region in accordance with the positional relation between the displayed present position of the vehicle and the periphery of said display surface, for reading the map data of the adjacent region from said memory means, and for allowing said display means to display the road map of the adjacent region instead of the presently displayed road map; and

correction means for automatically correcting the displayed present position of the vehicle in accordance with the positional relation between the presently displayed region and the adjacent region which is to be displayed, when road map display control means changes the display of the said road map from the presently displayed region to that of the adjacent region.

6. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 5, further comprising:

decision means for deciding whether the present position of the vehicle displayed on said display surface exists in one of a plurality of adjacent regions located in the periphery of said display surface; and

wherein said road map display control means selects the adjacent region which is to be displayed in accordance with the decided adjacent region, when said alternation command means generates the alternation command and said decision means decides that said displayed present position exists on any one of said adjacent regions.

7. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 5 wherein:

said memory menas stores the map data corresponding to the plurality of vehicle travelling regions and further stores position data indicating the positional relation among respective vehicle travelling regions; and

said correction means corrects said displayed present position on the basis of said position data indicating the positional relation between the presently displayed vehicle travelling region and the adjacent vehicle travelling region which is to be displayed.

8. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 7, wherein:

said position data includes coordinate data indicating a coordinate between a given position and a predetermined specific point at the respective vehicle travelling regions; and

said correction means decides a coordinate conversion value on the basis of respective coordinate data of the presently displayed region and the adjacent region which is to be displayed and corrects said displayed present position on the basis of said coordinate conversion value.

9. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 5, wherein:

memory means stores, in addition to the data map corresponding to the plurality of vehicle travelling regions, a map number for the vehicle'"'"'s present travelling region and a map numeral for each one of a plurality of travelling regions adjacent to the vehicle present travelling region; and

said road map display control means reads the map data of the adjacent section from the map numeral corresponding to the adjacent region where the displayed present portion exists.

10. A vehicle-mounted navigator according to claim 6 wherein:

said memory means stores the map data corresponding to the plurality of vehicle travelling regions and further stores position data indicating the positional relation among respective vehicle travelling regions; and

said correction means corrects said displayed present position on the basis of said position data indicating the positional relation between the presently displayed vehicle travelling region and the adjacent vehicle travelling region which is to be displayed.