Information retrieving apparatus

• US 7,581,179 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2005
• Issued: 08/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Kojima, Koichi, Kinoshita, Hirofumi, Shishido, Kan
• Primary Examiner(s): Campbell; Joshua D
• Application Number:
  US11/097,175
• Publication Number:
  US 20050219207A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,604 Days
• Field of Search: 715531-532, 715/773, 715/816, 715/828, 715255-257, 715/259, 715/261, 715/864, 715/865
• US Class Current: 715/256
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3611 using character input or menus, e.g. menus of POIs character input methods in general G06F3/0233
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An information retrieving apparatus for retrieving predetermined information according to an input of text information, including an input operation section which selects characters from a defined predetermined character list and performs input instructions, a display section which displays the character list, and input characters which have been instructed by the input operation section, a candidate definition processing section 10, and a candidate display processing section 10. The candidate definition processing section 10 retrieves input candidates containing the input instructed characters, and extracts candidate characters, and temporarily allocates the candidate characters to display areas 29 in the display section 15 of characters that do not match the candidate characters, so that they can be selected using the input operation section. The candidate display processing section 10 displays the characters in the display areas, allocated by the candidate definition processing section in the display section, differentiating selectable characters.

Claims

1. An information retrieving apparatus which retrieves predetermined information according to an input of text information, comprising:

an input operation section that selects characters from a character list that has a fixed predetermined number of character data areas for containing characters arranged in a fixed predetermined character sequence and performs input instructions of selected characters, wherein the input operation section is moved by an operator to select characters from the character list and a decision of a selected character is made by pressing on the input operation section;

a display section that displays said character list on a character list display section and input instructed characters on a selected character display section that are input according to the input instructions performed by said input operation section;

a succeeding input candidate character selection section that retrieves input candidate characters containing said input instructed characters and extracts a character immediately after said input instructed characters in the retrieved input candidate as a candidate character;

a candidate definition processing section that temporarily allocates said candidate character to a display area of the character list in said display section that contains non-selectable characters, so that they can be selected using said input operation section, wherein said non-selectable characters vary based on the extracted candidate character; and

a candidate display section that displays characters in said display area where the character data areas of said non-selectable characters are replaced temporarily by said candidate character by said candidate definition processing section, and differentiating said display area from a display area of the character list that contains selectable characters,

wherein the character list displayed in the display area by the candidate display section maintains the predetermined number of character data areas arranged in the predetermined character sequences including the selectable characters and non-selectable characters and the character data areas of non-selectable characters in the character list are temporarily defined as character data of selectable characters.

2. An information retrieving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said candidate definition processing section performs a character blank space process to temporarily transfer the display data areas of non-selectable characters into at least one blank space and temporarily defines the at least one blank space of non-selectable characters as character data of selectable characters.

3. An information retrieving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said candidate definition processing section, based on the number of the at least one blank space, sets either one or two candidate characters adjacent to said at least one blank space of non-selectable characters to be allocated to the at least one blank space.

4. An information retrieving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the succeeding input candidate character selection section retrieves input candidate characters containing said input instructed characters from place names and facility names stored in a map database.

5. An information retrieving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input operation section includes a dial.