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Portable electronic navigation aid

  • US 5,067,081 A
  • Filed: 08/30/1989
  • Issued: 11/19/1991
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/30/1989
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A portable electronic navigation apparatus utilizing universal latitude and longitude coordinates for determining current location or a specific destination and the distance and bearing thereof relative to landmark data input by a user comprising:

  • a portable housing;

    a microcomputer contained within said housing including;

    a first memory having stored navigational data representing the identity and latitude and longitude coordinates for the approximate physical center of various points or landmarks in a geographical area to be navigated, a second memory having stored calculation programs to calculate differences in latitude and longitude coordinates, convert the calculated differences to mileage and determine the bearing or direction between the latitude and longitude coordinates, a temporary memory for temporarily storing data in the course of computation, a video display controller, input and output ports, and a central processing unit responsive to user input to control the operation of said memories, said input and output ports, and said video display controller;

    a video display screen operatively connected to said microcomputer video display controller;

    a keyboard operatively connected to said microcomputer and having user input keys for inputting data and operation control keys for controlling the operation of said microcomputer;

    power connection means operatively connected to said microcomputer for connecting said microcomputer to a source of electrical power,external memory receiving means operatively connected to said microcomputer for removably receiving external memory means,external memory means removably received within said external memory receiving means and having additional stored navigation data representing the identity and latitude and longitude coordinates for the approximate physical center of various points or landmarks in a geographical area to be navigated,said navigational data being read from said first memory said external memory means into said temporary memory and processed by said central processing unit responsive to user input from said keyboard and calculated by said programs in said second memory relative to other data inputted by the user and the results of the calculations displayed on said video display screen by said video controller, wherebyupon the user typing in a destination location said microcomputer records the destination location in said temporary memory and retrieves from said first memory or said external memory means the identity of the destination location and its latitude and longitude coordinates and displays the retrieved information on said video display screen or indicates that the destination location does not exist in said first memory or said external memory means, and the user can selectively edit the retrieved information or add the destination location data by typing in the identity or latitude and longitude coordinates for the destination location and record the edited data in said temporary memory, andupon the user typing in a starting location or a current location said microcomputer records the starting location or current location in said temporary memory and retrieves from said first memory or said external memory means the identity of the starting location or current location and its latitude and longitude coordinates and displays the retrieved information on said video display screen or indicates that the starting or current location does not exist in said first memory or said external memory means, and the user can selectively edit the retrieved information or add the starting location or current location data by typing in the identity or latitude and longitude coordinates for the starting location or current location and record the edited data in said temporary memory, andafter the destination location and starting location or current location data have been entered into said temporary memory, the user presses a key to cause one of said programs in said second memory to calculate the differences between the latitude and longitude coordinates of the destination location and the starting location or current location, convert the calculated differences to mileage, determine the bearing or direction from the starting location to the destination location, and display the mileage and bearing or direction from the starting location to the destination location on said video display screen.

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