Route searching device

• US 6,175,800 B1
• Filed: 04/21/1999
• Issued: 01/16/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd. (Faurecia SA)
• Original Assignee: Xanavi Informatics Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Maruyama, Hiroshi, Deshimaru, Masatsugu, Mori, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hernandez, Olga
• Application Number:
  US09/296,067
• Time in Patent Office: 636 Days
• Field of Search: 701/202, 701/209, 701/200, 701/208, 701/201, 701/211, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/202
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence

Abstract

A route along which a user can use facilities set as stopovers is searched; when the user sets facilities relevant to a toll road as a stopover of a route to a destination, only links of toll roads around the facilities are set as target links, and a route passing via nodes of links in the neighborhood of the facilities is searched by a processor.

Claims

1. A route searching device for searching a route from a departure place to a destination, comprising:

means for storing a list containing facilities each of which can be indicated as a stopover or destination on the route to be searched by a user, at least one of the facilities being associated with a predetermined road;

means for accepting a user'"'"'s indication of a facility as the stopover or destination on the route to be searched; and

search means for searching the route from the departure place to the destination in such a manner that when the facility indicated by the user is not associated with a predetermined road in the list, a place on a road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route, and when the facility indicated by the user is associated with the predetermined road in the list, a place on the predetermined road in the neighborhood of the facility indicted by the user, is set as a place on the route.

2. A route searching device for searching a route from a departure place to a destination, comprising:

means for storing a list containing facilities each of which can be indicated as a stopover or destination on the route to be searched by a user, and each of which is associated with a type of facility;

means for accepting a user'"'"'s indication of a facility as the stopover or destination on the route to be searched; and

search means for searching the route from the departure place to the destination in such a manner that when a type of the facility indicated by the user in the list is not relevant to a predetermined type of roads, a place on a road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route, and when the type of the facility indicated by the user in the list is relevant to the predetermined type of roads, a place on a road of the predetermined type of roads in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route.

3. A route searching device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said search means for searching the route from the departure place to the destination in such a manner that when the type of the facility indicated by the user in the list is not relevant to the toll roads, a place on a road other than the toll road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route, and when the type of the facility indicated by the user in the list is relevant to the toll road, a place on the toll road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route.

4. A method of searching a route from a departure place to a destination comprising:

a step of accepting a user'"'"'s indication of a facility as a stopover or destination on the route to be searched; and

a step of searching the route from the departure place to the destination in such a manner that when a type of the facility indicated by the user in the list is not relevant to the toll roads, a place on a road other than the toll road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route, and when the type of the facility indicated by the user in the list is relevant to the toll road, a place on the toll road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route.

5. A storage medium for storing a program which is read out and executed by a computer, wherein said program makes said computer execute a step of accepting a user'"'"'s indication of a facility as a stopover or destination on a route from a departure place to a destination, and a step of searching the route from the departure place to the destination in such a manner that when the type of the facility indicated by the user is not relevant to the toll roads, a place on a road other than the toll road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route, and when the type of the facility indicated by the user is relevant to the toll road, a place on the toll road in the neighborhood of the facility indicated by the user is set as a place on the route.