JP2001074487A - Navigation device and route guidance method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a navigation device capable of easily grasping both a course change direction and a distance to a course change point. SOLUTION: As route guidance by image display together with route guidance by voice, first, before reaching a route change point such as an intersection (within 300 m), an arrow 71 composed of a straight line portion 71b and an arrowhead 71a is used alone. Display larger (without displaying the map). At this time, by changing the size of the arrowhead 71a and the length of the linear portion 71b according to the distance to the intersection or the like (FIGS. 5A to 5C), the approximate distance to the intersection or the like and the course change are changed. It is possible to intuitively recognize the direction. Also, the distance 71 to the course change point is indicated by an arrow 71.
Large display below. Furthermore, near the course change point (30
When the distance reaches 0 m or less, an enlarged view of an intersection or the like and a course change direction indicated by an arrow are displayed (FIG. 5D).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device and a route guidance method, and more particularly to a navigation device and a route guidance method for performing route guidance by using an arrow displayed on an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Navigation devices for vehicles for guiding a traveling route to a destination are widely used. In this navigation device, as a method for guiding a driving route to a user such as a driver, a method of using a display device to display a map showing the current position of the vehicle and the driving route by image display, A method is widely used in which a voice guides the intersection at which the route is changed and the direction of the route change. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-303334 proposes a technique in which a display device is used to guide a route at an intersection on a route to a destination by displaying arrows.
In this technology, it has been proposed that a bar graph indicating the distance between the current position of the vehicle and the guidance target intersection is displayed together with the arrow so that the distance to the guidance target intersection can be visually grasped.

[0003]

When a user is to be informed of a course change at a course change point such as an intersection, two items of a course change direction and a course change point are required at a minimum. The route change point is generally guided by the distance to the route change point at a point before the route change point, because the user is not sure even if the user arrives at the point and gives guidance suddenly. However, in the technology described in the above publication, since these two items are separately displayed by two elements of an arrow and a bar graph, both the guidance direction of the course and the remaining distance to the guidance target intersection can be grasped at a glance. Because it was difficult, it took time to grasp both.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a navigation device capable of easily grasping both the course change direction and the distance to the course change point. Aim.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a display device for displaying an image, a map information storage device for storing map data, a current position recognition device for recognizing a current position of a vehicle, A travel route acquisition means for acquiring a travel route to a destination, and a distance from the travel route acquired by the travel route acquisition means and the current position recognized by the current position recognition means to a route change point to be rerouted next. Route information obtaining means for obtaining the route change direction, an arrow head having a size corresponding to the distance to the route change point in the direction of the route change direction obtained by the route information obtaining means, and an arrow having a linear portion following the arrow head The above object is achieved by providing a navigation device with an arrow display means for displaying on the display device. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, the arrow display means has a length of the linear portion of the arrow according to a distance to a route change point acquired by the route information acquisition means. Is displayed short, or the thickness of the straight line portion is displayed thick. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, when the distance to the route change point acquired by the route information acquisition unit is equal to or longer than a predetermined distance, the arrow display unit turns in the straight ahead direction. Displays the smallest arrowhead that was used. Claim 4
In the invention described in (1), the arrow display means displays the arrow such that the same location of the arrow shape is located at the same location of the display device. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation device having a mode for executing route guidance by displaying an arrow without displaying a map on an image display device, wherein the arrowhead portion of the arrow is moved from a course change point to a vehicle present position. Display means for displaying on the image display device a size corresponding to the distance to the position and displaying the linear portion of the arrow with a thickness or length corresponding to the distance from the course change point to the current position of the vehicle . According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle navigation device having a mode for executing route guidance by displaying an arrow without displaying a map on an image display device, and input means for inputting a destination, Setting means for setting a traveling route to the destination input by the input means; and when traveling on the traveling route set by the setting means, the arrowhead portion of the arrow indicates an arrow head portion from the course change point to the current position of the vehicle. Path display means for displaying on the image display device a size corresponding to the distance, and displaying the linear portion of the arrow with a thickness or length corresponding to the distance from the path change point to the current position of the vehicle, and the setting Map display means for displaying, on the image display device, a map of a region including the current position of the vehicle at a specific position in the traveling route set by the means, instead of displaying the arrow. In the invention according to claim 7, in the navigation device according to claim 6, when the distance from the course change point to the current position of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined threshold, instead of displaying the arrow,
An image representing a road connected to the course change point and an arrow for instructing a course change direction at the course change point are simultaneously displayed. In the invention according to claim 8, an arrow display mode for displaying an arrow for instructing a course change direction without displaying a map on the image display device, and a map of a region including the current vehicle position is displayed on the image display device. And a switching means for switching from the arrow display mode to the map display mode. According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, an arrow indicating a course change direction is displayed without displaying a map on the image display device, and the arrowhead portion of the arrow has a size corresponding to the distance from the turning point to the current position of the vehicle. In addition, the straight line portion of the arrow is changed to a thickness or a length corresponding to the distance from the course change point to the current position of the vehicle and displayed.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a navigation device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. (1) Overview of Embodiment In this embodiment, when a traveling route is guided by image display,
It is based on the finding that the following two points are more important than displaying a detailed map. That is, it is easy to recognize how to select and change the course, and the state of the road (intersection, five-junction, T And the course change direction can be recognized. Based on this knowledge, in the present embodiment, as route guidance by image display together with voice route guidance, first, before reaching a route change point such as an intersection (within 300 m), an arrow composed of a straight line portion and an arrowhead. By itself (without displaying the map)
Display larger. At this time, by changing the size of the arrowhead and the length of the straight line portion according to the distance to the intersection or the like, it is possible to intuitively recognize the approximate distance to the intersection or the like and the course change direction. Second, the distance to the course change point is displayed in a large size with an arrow. Third, when the vehicle reaches the vicinity of the course change point (within 300 m), an enlarged view of an intersection and the like, and the course change direction by an arrow are displayed.

[0007] Since the image display is displayed by such a simplified figure, in the present embodiment, 1DIN (approximately 5 cm × length)
Small size screen (approx.
A simple display device (m, 64 dots × width of about 7.5 cm, 128 dots) is used. Then, in order to assist traveling to the destination after the route guidance is completed, a specific position in the traveling route (a point immediately before arriving at the guidance end point, a predetermined distance before the guidance end point, or voice guidance is provided. A map of the area including the current position, specifically, a map containing a small-scale narrow street that can display both the current position and the destination point (hereinafter referred to as the map). Point display narrow street map) is displayed on the display device. And
After the two-point display narrow street map is displayed on the simplified display device, as the vehicle approaches the destination, the map is switched to the large-scale two-point display narrow street map and displayed. For example, the scale of the first narrow street map displaying both points is 1600 m (1/16).
800m) as you approach the destination
The map is switched to a map that can display both points, such as a reduced scale, a 400 m scale, a 200 m scale, and a 100 m scale. In addition to switching the scale step by step, between the 800 m scale and the 400 m scale, the map at the 800 m scale is appropriately enlarged or the map at the 400 m scale is reduced, so that the intermediate scale (eg, 700 m scale, 600 m scale, 500 m scale) is obtained. May be displayed.

(2) Details of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of the navigation device. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device includes a calculation unit 30. The calculation unit 30 includes a display 10, operation keys 12, 14, 1
6, a joystick 20, a touch panel 21, an audio output circuit 36, a GPS sensor 40, a distance sensor 42, a direction sensor 44, and a data storage unit 48 are connected.
The joystick 20 is wirelessly connected by infrared communication. As shown in FIG. 2, other than the joystick 20 and the GPS sensor 40, the distance sensor 42, and the azimuth sensor 44 that function as a part of the current position recognition unit, these units are integrated with one DIN. It is housed in a navigation device body 1 formed in a size.

The display 10 connected to the operation unit 30
Functions as a simple display device. As this display, a small display of about 4 cm in length and about 7.5 cm in width is used so that the entire navigation device can be accommodated in 1 DIN, and the number of display pixels is increased to speed up image display and reduce processing. A display with 40,000 pixels or less, preferably 10,000 pixels or less is used. In the display 10 of this embodiment, 64 pixels vertically × 128 pixels horizontally = 81
A 92 pixel display is used. The display 10 can display four gradations of white, black, and two intermediate colors.

The operation keys (the menu key 12, the current position key 14, the return key 16) and the joystick 20 are arranged near the display 10 on the front surface of the navigation device body 1. Further, the touch panel 21 is arranged on the surface of the display 10. These operation keys 12
To 16, the joystick 20, and the touch panel 21
Are recognized by the input management unit 34 included in the calculation unit 30, and various screens such as a menu screen and a destination setting screen corresponding to the operation contents are displayed on the display 10 by the overall management unit 60 and the screen management unit 32. It is displayed. The screen displayed on the display 10 has a hierarchical structure, and has a menu screen at the highest layer, which is displayed by operating the menu key 12. And the menu screen for navigation, for example, destination setting,
When a designation key for designating a place name search or the like is displayed, and a destination setting key is designated, a designation key for designating a ski resort, a golf course, etc. is displayed as a lower layer screen, By designating each designation key (pressing the corresponding portion of the touch panel 21 or operating with the joystick), the display is sequentially displayed up to the lowermost screen. Other images displayed on the display 10 include:
According to the present embodiment, a large arrow, which is an image during route guidance, which can intuitively recognize the approximate distance to the course change point and the course change direction, the road condition (shape) near the course change point, and a target object Is a deformed display of a route change point enlarged map, a two-point display narrow street map, a map that does not include a narrow street that can be displayed in the middle of route guidance, a travel route map image that displays the current position and a guide route, route guidance When the map is not displayed, a map that can be displayed (the display of the narrow street is specified by the user) and a location image that displays the current position are displayed. The travel route map image and the location image are not normally displayed, but are displayed by a user operation during traveling. As another input operation device (not shown), a microphone for inputting voice and a voice recognition device may be arranged and connected to the input management unit 34.

The calculation unit 30 includes a current position recognition unit 46. The current position recognition unit 46 recognizes the current position of the vehicle together with the GPS sensor 40, the distance sensor 42, the direction sensor 44, and other sensors (not shown) connected thereto. It functions as a means. GPS (Global Position S
The sensor 40 is a sensor that measures the position of the vehicle using an artificial satellite for GPS. The distance sensor 42 is
For example, various methods such as a method of detecting and counting the number of rotations of a wheel or a method of detecting and accelerating twice and integrating the acceleration twice are used. The azimuth sensor 44 is, for example, a terrestrial magnetism sensor that detects terrestrial magnetism to obtain the azimuth of the vehicle, a gyro such as a gas rate gyro or an optical fiber gyro that detects the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle and integrates the angular velocity to obtain the azimuth of the vehicle. A wheel sensor or the like is used which is arranged on the wheels of the vehicle and detects the turning of the vehicle based on the output pulse difference (difference in moving distance) to calculate the amount of displacement in the azimuth. As another sensor, a beacon receiver or the like that receives position information from a beacon placed on the road is used. The current position recognizing unit 46 recognizes the current position where the vehicle is currently running or stopped by recognizing the coordinate data based on the latitude and the longitude using the information from these sensors.

The data storage section 48 in the present embodiment comprises:
A large-capacity storage device including a flash memory, an EPROM, an EEPROM, an IC card, a small hard disk, and the like is used. The data storage unit 48 stores main road data and narrow street data, arrow data when guidance of route change is performed by an arrow, an enlarged view of a route change point on a main road, voice data for voice route guidance, and other data. Is stored.

Here, as main road data, wide main roads (roads wider than 5.0 m) such as an expressway, a main road, and the like, which are necessary for searching for a route to a destination, and a road width of 5.
Road data about roads to reach parking lots and entrances of specific facilities such as entrance to golf courses and shrines, and map data for displaying the searched route on the display 10; Various data necessary for the route search and the route guidance are stored. The road data includes the intersection number assigned to each intersection, the intersection name, the east longitude and north latitude of the intersection, the smallest road number among the roads starting from the intersection, and the road ending at the intersection. Among them, data on intersections such as the road number with the smallest number, the presence or absence of a signal, etc. are stored. In addition, the road data includes the road number assigned to each road, the intersection number serving as the starting point of the road, the intersection number of the ending point, the next number among the roads having the same starting point, and the number among the roads having the same ending point. It has the following data, road thickness, prohibition information, guidance unnecessary information, number of nodes, head address of node string data, road data such as road length, and other various detailed data.

On the other hand, as narrow street data, the road width is 3.3.
Data for displaying on the display 10 a narrow street consisting of a m-5.0 m living road and, if necessary, a narrower road which is not a target of the route search. The narrow street data, when performing thinned street thinning display in the embodiment described later, to narrow the narrow street, the intersection number of the narrow street, the east longitude, north latitude data of each intersection, and the data of the distance between each intersection Is stored. As for the distance between the intersections, the actual distance between the intersections is stored, but may be a straight line distance between the intersections.

As the arrow data, a total of seven types of arrow data of three patterns for leftward guidance, one pattern for straight traveling, and three patterns for rightward guidance are stored. The three patterns for both left and right directions have the same shape except that the direction of the arrow is reversed left and right.

FIG. 3 shows the display 1 according to the arrow data.
This represents the shape of the arrow displayed at 0. As shown in FIG. 3, the arrow 71 is displayed on an arrow screen 70 showing a part of the display 10. As the types of the arrows 71, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), a straight travel guide arrow 71 for guiding straight travel, and as shown in FIG. 3 (b), a course change guide arrow 71 for guiding route change. There is. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the double-headed arrow 71 indicates the traveling direction, and an arrowhead (arrowhead) 71a for intuitively informing the traveling direction to the user, and a degree of the distance to the course change point. Straight part (arrow pattern) for intuition
71b. In order to express a sense of distance (a sense of perspective), the straight line portion 71b has a trapezoidal shape in which the upper side (arrow head side) connected to the arrow head 71a is narrower than the arrow base 71e side (lower side).

An arrow 71 indicates a tip 71 facing the traveling direction.
c, and a side blade portion 71d extending from the tip portion 71c toward the intersection of the straight portion 71b. FIG.
As the straight guide arrow 71 shown in (a), a double edged arrow having side edge portions 71d, 71d on both sides of an arrowhead 71a is used. On the other hand, a course change guidance arrow 71 shown in FIG.
Is a single-edged arrow having a side edge 71d only on one side of the arrowhead 71a. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the single-edged arrow has a side blade portion 71d disposed on the side opposite to the straight portion 71b of the arrowhead 71b. The straight part 71b of the arrowhead 71b is substantially perpendicular to the straight part 71b (the straight part 71b).
(b is slightly more acute than a right angle because b has a trapezoidal shape). As described above, the straight line portion 71 of the arrow 71 for the course change guidance
By arranging the survey line portion 71f without arranging the side blade portion on the b side, the overall shape is simplified and the direction of the course change can be easily recognized. In addition, since the side blade portion is not disposed on the side of the straight portion 71b, a change in the length of the straight portion 71b can be easily recognized, so that the degree of the distance to the course change point can be easily intuitive. It is also possible to use a double-edged arrow having side edge portions 71d, 71d on both sides of the arrowhead 71a as the course change guide arrow.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the measuring line portion 71f arranged at the arrowhead 71a and the root portion 71e of the linear portion 71b have a constant width in the vertical direction (axial direction of the linear portion 71b). By having, the arrow 71 is made to have a three-dimensional shape having a thickness. However, the root part 71e is indicated by the full arrow 7
1, the middle line arrow and the maximum size arrow, which will be described later, have a width (see FIG. 3).
(B), FIG. 5 (b), (c)), the minimum size arrow has no width (see FIG. 5 (a)). In the present embodiment, the arrow 71 on the arrow screen 70 has a gray background with an intermediate color of gray, the measurement line portion 71f and the root portion 71e are displayed in white, and the other portions are displayed in black. In the case of the display 10, it can be displayed in different colors.

Arrow 7 for course change guidance shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes an arrow (for turning left) that guides a change of course in the left direction, and the tip 71c of the arrowhead 71a faces the left side. On the other hand, the arrow 71 for guiding the course in the right direction is indicated by an arrowhead 7.
An arrow in which the tip 71c of 1a is directed to the right and the arrow 71 of FIG. 3B is mirror-inverted laterally is used. Arrow 71 for route change guidance in the present embodiment
There are three types of minimum size arrow, medium size arrow, and maximum size arrow each for left and right, and arrow 71 in FIG. 3B represents an intermediate size arrow.

The arrow 71 of each size is selected according to the remaining distance L from the current position of the vehicle to the course change point. That is, for the first threshold L1 to the fourth threshold L4 (L1 <L2 <L3 <L4) representing the distance, L4
In the range of ≧ L> L3, the minimum size arrow is selected, and L3
In the range of ≧ L> L2, the medium-sized arrow is selected, and L2 ≧
The maximum size arrow is selected in the range of L> L1. In the present embodiment, 300 m is used as the first threshold,
700m is used as the second threshold and 2 as the third threshold.
km is used, and 5 km is used as the fourth threshold.
In the range of L> L4, the straight guide arrow shown in FIG. 3A is used and selected, and in the range of L1 ≧ L ≧ 0 m, an enlarged view of the course change point is displayed.

The shape of the minimum size arrow is indicated by an arrowhead 7 in order to intuitively recognize that the distance to the course change point is considerable.
1a is formed the smallest, and the straight portion 71b is formed the longest. However, the length of the straight portion 71b of the minimum size arrow is
A straight line portion 71b of an arrow 71 for straight ahead guidance shown in FIG.
The arrow head 71b of the minimum size arrow is shorter than the half of the arrow head 71a of the straight guide arrow 71.
The shape of the medium-sized arrow has an arrowhead 7 as shown in FIG.
1a has a medium size, and the straight portion 71b has a medium length shape. The shape of the maximum size arrow has the largest arrowhead 71a and the shortest straight part 7 so that the player can intuitively recognize that the course change point is near (the course change point is near).
1b. In the present embodiment, the distance of the straight line portion 71b is displayed so as to be shorter as the distance L to the course change point becomes shorter. Alternatively, or in addition to this, the straight line portion 71b may be displayed in accordance with the distance L. May be changed. That is, as the distance L is larger, the thickness of the linear portion 71b is displayed thinner, and as the distance L is smaller, the thickness of the linear portion 71b is displayed thicker.

The arrow 71 for the straight guide and the arrow 71 for the course change guide are the same on the arrow screen 71.
Are displayed at the same place (the same display position). In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the root 71e of the linear portion 71b is displayed at the same position on the arrow screen 70. The intersection point between the arrowhead 71a and the linear portion 71b may be displayed at the same position on the arrow screen 70, or the tip 71c of the arrowhead 71a in the course change guidance arrow 71 may be displayed at the same position. Good. In this manner, the same location of the arrow shape is displayed at the same position on the arrow screen 70,
A change in the length of the straight line portion 71b can be easily recognized, and it is possible to intuitively understand how the vehicle approaches the course change point.

An audio output circuit 36 outputs an audio as an electric signal, an audio output IC, a D / A converter for converting the output of the audio output IC from digital to analog, and an amplifier for amplifying the converted analog signal. And A speaker 18 is connected to the output terminal of the amplifier. The speaker 18 also has a sound output surface disposed on the front surface of the navigation device body 1 as shown in FIG. However, the speaker 18 may be additionally connected to an audio speaker mounted on the vehicle, or may be replaced with an audio speaker.

The operation unit 30 includes a CPU (central processing unit),
A ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like are provided, and the CPU executes various programs stored in the ROM using the RAM as a working area, thereby realizing each of the above configurations. Has become. That is, the calculation unit 30 includes a map data reading unit 50, a map drawing unit 54, a map management unit 52, a screen management unit 32, an input management unit 34, a voice output management unit 38, a route calculation unit 56, a route guidance unit 58, Is provided with an overall management unit 60 that manages each unit. And the calculation unit 3
0 manages these components to search for a traveling route from the current position to the destination, and performs voice guidance to the destination and guidance of a course change point using an arrow image according to the searched route. Further, the arithmetic unit 30 starts the display of a map including a narrow street such as a living road and a two-point display narrow street map displaying the current location and the destination from a time immediately before the end of the route guidance to the vicinity of the destination. Various processes are performed.

The data storage section 48 is connected to the map data reading section 50. The map drawing unit 54 includes a map,
Various image data such as roads, buildings, guide symbols, arrow images for route change point guidance, and enlarged views of route change points are drawn. The map management unit 52 manages the map data reading unit 50 and the map drawing unit 54. The display 10 is connected to the screen management unit 32, and manages the map drawing unit 54 and outputs drawn image data to the display 10. The input management unit 34 is connected with the operation keys 12 to 16, the joystick 20, and the touch panel 21,
It recognizes and manages input data. The audio output management unit 38 is an audio output IC of the audio output circuit 36.
, And outputs voice of route guidance while traveling on the travel route calculated and searched for by the route calculation unit 56 to the destination.

The arithmetic unit 30 includes, in addition to wireless telephone communication such as a car telephone and a portable telephone, multimedia communication such as facsimile communication and personal computer communication, communication using ATIS for obtaining road traffic information, electronic notebooks and the like. Infrared communication with portable electronic devices and various other communications allow transmission and reception of search routes from the current location to the destination, transmission and reception of destination data, maps, roads A communication management unit may be provided to enable transmission and reception of image data based on guidance information and the like, and transmission and reception of the data.

Next, a description will be given of a route guidance operation in the navigation device configured as described above. In addition,
For travel route data that is the subject of travel route guidance,
It is assumed that a travel route composed of main roads excluding narrow streets has been acquired in advance by the destination setting process and the route calculation process by the route calculation unit 56. Note that the current position and the destination may be transmitted to a predetermined center device, and the travel route searched in the center device may be acquired and used by the wireless communication unit. As the traveling route data, intersection sequence data (intersection name, intersection number, turning angle, distance, etc.) constituting the searched traveling route, node sequence data (east longitude, north latitude, etc. representing the position of the node) and the like are acquired. It is stored in the RAM of the overall management unit 60.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the traveling route guidance processing by the navigation device. When the traveling of the vehicle is started, the arithmetic unit 30 sets the overall management unit 60
Then, data of the next course change point is acquired from the traveling route data stored in the RAM (step 10). The acquired data includes the coordinates (East longitude, North latitude) of the course change point, node data up to the course change point, and the like.
Next, the operation unit 30 recognizes the current position of the vehicle by the current position recognition unit 46 (step 11), and calculates the distance L from the current position to the course change point and the direction to change the course (step 12).

Then, the distance to the course change point is 300
m (first threshold) or less (step 13),
If the distance is longer than 300 m, an arrow image corresponding to the distance L and the direction to change the course is selected from the arrow data stored in the data storage unit 48, and the display 10 functioning as a simple display device together with the auxiliary screen is selected. (Step 14).

FIG. 5 shows a transition state of an image displayed on the arrow guidance screen displayed on the display 10. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, an arrow guidance screen for performing route guidance with an arrow without displaying a map (arrow display mode) includes an arrow screen 70 and an auxiliary screen 75. ing. The arrow screen 70 shows an arrow image 71 for intuitively knowing the direction to be changed next and the approximate distance.
And a distance display 72 from the current position to the course change point. On the auxiliary screen 75, a clock 76 displaying the current time, a destination direction arrow 77, a remaining actual distance 78, and an estimated arrival time 79 are displayed.

The arrow image 71 has a total of seven types of arrows, in addition to the three patterns for leftward guidance shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, one pattern for straight traveling, and three patterns for rightward guidance. The data is selected from the data according to the direction of the course change and the distance L to the course change point. When the distance L to the course change point exceeds 5 km (fourth threshold) among these arrows, a straight arrow image in which the small arrowhead 71a points upward (in the direction indicating the traveling direction) is displayed. On the other hand, 5 km ≧ L
In the range of> 2 km (third threshold), as shown in FIG. 5A, an arrow image 71 of a minimum size arrow having a small arrow head 71a and a long linear portion 71b is selected and displayed. 2km ≧
In the range of L> 700 m (second threshold), as shown in FIG. 5B, the arrow image 71 of the medium-sized arrow with the middle arrowhead 71a and the middle straight line portion 71b is selected and displayed. . In the range of 700m ≧ L> 300m, as shown in FIG. 5C, an arrow image 71 of a maximum size arrow having a large arrowhead 71a and a short straight line portion 71b is selected and displayed.

In each of these arrow images 71, the same image continues to be displayed within the range of the specified distance L, and is 5 km,
The switching is performed when the distance reaches 2 km or 700 m. On the other hand, the distance display 72 from the current position to the course change point is displayed largely below the arrow image 71 and is changed in units of 100 m as the vehicle moves.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (c), the arrow guide screen does not display a complicated map image or the like, but displays only the minimum distance and direction necessary for the course change guidance. Is easy to recognize. In addition, since the arrowhead 71a increases in accordance with the distance L (as the vehicle approaches the course change point) and the linear portion 71b decreases, the approximate distance to the course change point can be intuitively intuitive. Furthermore, since the arrowhead 71a increases as approaching the course change point, the course change direction can be accurately and easily recognized.

On the other hand, a clock 76 displayed on the auxiliary screen 75
Displays the current time. On the destination direction arrow 77,
The direction of the destination from the current position is indicated by an arrow. The direction of the destination direction arrow 77 is calculated from the coordinates of both the current position and the destination, and is displayed in 16 directions every 22.5 degrees. This direction also changes with the movement of the vehicle. The remaining actual distance 78 indicates the remaining actual distance from the current position to the destination (actually, the route guidance end point). The estimated arrival time 79 indicates the estimated arrival time to the destination (actually, the route guidance end point). The calculation of the estimated arrival time is performed by calculating the average traveling speed so far,
It is determined by dividing the remaining actual distance 78 by this average traveling speed. Note that the estimated arrival time 79 may be calculated using the legal traveling speed or another reference vehicle speed in addition to the average traveling speed.

After displaying the arrow guidance screen (step 14), the arithmetic unit 30 determines whether or not the arrow image has been changed. If there has been a change (step 15; Y), voice guidance is provided. Perform (step 16). In other words, when the distance L to the course change point becomes 5 km, the voice is output as "approximately 5 km to the left (right) direction", and when the distance L becomes 2 km, "approximately 2 km to the left (right) direction". When L reaches 700 m, a voice is output as "Left (right) direction about 700 m ahead". FIG.
When the distance is changed from the route change point enlarged view shown in (d) and the distance L to the route change point is L> 5 km, a voice is output as “Lm is straight ahead, and L ≦ 5”.
If the distance is km, the voice is output as "Lkm (or Lm) is left (right) direction".

When there is no change in the arrow image (step 1)
5; N), and after the voice guidance (step 16), the calculation unit 30 determines whether the vehicle has reached the guidance end point,
If not reached (step 17; N), step 1
Returning to step 1, the processing is continued, and if the guidance end point has been reached (step 17; Y), the processing ends.

In step 13, when the distance L from the current position to the course change point is not more than 300 m (step 13; Y), the arithmetic unit 30 determines whether or not the current display on the display 10 is the arrow guidance screen. (Step 18), and if the screen is an arrow guidance screen (; Y), a voice plan such as "Left (right) direction about 300 m ahead" is performed to switch to the course change screen (Step 19).
On the other hand, if the screen is not the arrow guidance screen (step 18; N),
No voice guidance is provided because there is no change in the screen.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5D, the arithmetic unit 30 reads out an enlarged view of the corresponding course change point from the data storage unit 48 and displays it on the display 10 (step 20). In the enlarged view 80 of the course change point, the calculation unit 30 includes the own vehicle position mark 81 indicating the current position of the vehicle, the arrow 82 indicating the course change direction, the name of the course change point (intersection name) 83, and the course change. A remaining distance display 84 for displaying a bar graph of the remaining distance to the point is displayed. Then, the calculation unit 30 calculates the display position of the vehicle position mark 81,
The length of the graph of the remaining distance display 84 is changed as the vehicle moves.

Next, the arithmetic unit 30 determines whether or not the vehicle has passed the course change point (step 21). If the vehicle has not passed (step N), the process proceeds to step 17 and the guidance must be terminated. (Step 17; N) Return to Step 20 again, and change the position of the vehicle position mark 81 on the course change point enlargement screen to the graph length of the remaining distance display 84. On the other hand, when the vehicle has passed the course change point (step 21; Y), the calculation unit 30 returns to step 10 and continues the same processing for the next course change point.

As described above, in the case where the route is guided around the route change point by the arrow image 71, the distance to the route change point is long (L4 ≧ L> L).
3), the arrowhead 71a is displayed small and the straight line portion 71a is displayed.
By displaying a long minimum size arrow on b, the arrowhead 71a
Since the impression of the straight portion 71b remains stronger than the impression of, the driver can be made aware that preparation for a course change such as a lane change is unnecessary. Further, as the vehicle approaches the course change point to some extent, it changes to an intermediate size arrow (in the range of L3 ≧ L> L2) and further to a maximum size arrow (L2 ≧ L> L).
1), it is possible to make the driver aware that preparation for a course change is required soon. Therefore, the driver can make preparations for making a turn at an intersection to be turned with ample room, and can provide travel guidance without giving the driver a sense of restraint.

When the mode of the map guidance is selected by the user in the course of the traveling route guidance on the arrow guidance screen, the calculation unit 30 changes the display on the display to the state shown in FIG. (C) is changed to a map guidance screen (map display mode) shown in FIG. 5 (e) (switching means). The map guidance screen displays a travel route excluding narrow streets, an own vehicle position mark 81 and an auxiliary screen 75 having the same contents as the arrow guide screen, and a black route to distinguish the travel route. It is displayed as a bold line. In this map guidance mode,
The distance L from the current position of the vehicle to the course change point is 300
After outputting the guidance voice such as "Left (right) direction about 300 m ahead" at the point when it is within, the enlarged view of the course change point shown in FIG. 5 (d) is displayed, and after passing the course change point Is displayed again on the map guide screen of (e).

Further, the navigation device of this embodiment has a location function. This location function is started by the user's operation, and as shown in FIG. 5F, when there is no traveling route to the destination (for example, when a route search is not performed), 10 is displayed on the display.
A map that does not include narrow streets around the current position is displayed, and only the vehicle position mark 81 is displayed.

Next, a description will be given of an assist process by which the navigation apparatus of the present embodiment assists traveling from a point short of the guidance end point to the destination. Before that, the necessity of the assist process will be described. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a navigation device, a route search to a destination is performed using a trunk line, a main road, and the like excluding a living road (3.3 m to 5.0 m). For this reason, when the destination faces a living road (narrow street) instead of the main road or the like on which the route search is to be performed, the route guidance ends before the destination. For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-539 proposes a proposal for assisting traveling to the destination after the route guidance is completed.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 50, after the route guidance is completed, a map including the current location and the destination is displayed, and a narrow street (living road) is also displayed. By the way, a display device used in such a navigation device generally uses a detailed display device which displays a detailed image on a large screen of 4 inches or more and a large number of pixels of 160,000 pixels or more because a map needs to be displayed. Have been. Especially to improve the visibility of the map 3
For example, a display device of 6 inches or 7 inches or more may be used for displaying images in three dimensions.

As described above, in the conventional navigation device, a detailed display device having a large screen and a large number of pixels is used. Therefore, the detailed map screen displayed when the route guidance is completed is displayed in addition to the current position. The destination is also usually displayed. In rare cases, such as when the destination is located far away, it only exists. In addition, there is a problem that the display device becomes expensive and the load of the display processing increases with the enlargement of the display device and the three-dimensional display. Furthermore,
While increasing the number of display pixels of the display device and increasing the screen size to make the map easier to see, the map is displayed in detail by improving the accuracy of recognition of the current position and enhancing the route guidance by voice guidance. The necessity of traveling by relying on the displayed map is decreasing, and the utilization rate of the display device itself is decreasing.

Then, using a simple display device (display 10) for simply displaying an image with a small number of pixels,
The method of providing the route guidance in an easy-to-understand manner with the arrow image 71 has been described. That is, in the simple display device used together with the voice guidance, the route guidance is displayed by using the arrow that allows the intuition of the distance and direction of the course change. As a device necessary for performing the simple display as shown in FIG. 5, specifically, the screen size is about 3 inches (the number of display pixels is 64 dots vertically × 128 dots horizontally).
A small simple display device that can be stored in the DIN is adopted. Even when such a simple display device is used, it is necessary to display a map showing narrow streets in order to reach the destination after the route guidance is completed. However, 1
In the case of a simple display device that can be accommodated in DIN, the upper and lower widths are 4
cm, and therefore a scale of 100 m (1/1
When the map is displayed in (10,000), if the current position is displayed in the center of the screen, only the range of about 200 m above and below can be displayed.
There is a possibility that the destination cannot be displayed on the screen at the end of the route guidance frequently. For this reason,
It is important to display the traveling route to the destination after the route guidance has been completed in a manner that is easy for the driver and the passenger in the passenger seat to understand. When displaying both the current position and the target point on a simple display device having a small screen size, it is necessary to display a small-scale map (map on a wide area) together with a narrow street,
It is inconvenient to display a scaled map in which both points are displayed after the route guidance ends. In particular, during route guidance, if the route is guided by an arrow that should be rerouted without displaying the map on the simplified display device, the map is displayed even if the map is suddenly displayed after reaching the guide end point. There is a possibility that it is not recognized.

Therefore, in the assist process according to the present embodiment, a navigation device using a simple display device capable of simple display with a small screen size can easily reach the destination even after the end of route guidance.
This is to assist the user.

In order to realize the assist processing of the present embodiment, the navigation device includes a simple display device for simply displaying an image with a small number of pixels, a map information storage means for storing map data including narrow streets, Current position recognizing means for recognizing the current position of the vehicle, traveling route acquiring means for acquiring a traveling route to a destination, route guiding means for guiding the traveling route acquired by the traveling route acquiring means, Selecting means for selecting a map on a reduced scale capable of displaying both the current position of the vehicle and the destination recognized by the means on the simplified display device; and a map including the narrow street selected by the selecting means, The above object is achieved by providing a navigation device with display control means for displaying a point on the simplified display device before the route guidance by the route guidance means is completed. Here, as the timing of the map selection by the map selection means, when the display control means selects immediately before displaying the narrow street map of the two-point display, when the travel selection by the route acquisition means is selected in advance, or Alternatively, any point may be selected in advance while traveling while a point between the voice guidance and the next voice guidance is longer than a certain time (a certain distance).

In this navigation device, the display control means may determine that the current position of the vehicle is a specific position in the travel route (for example, a position at a predetermined distance from a guidance end point at which guidance of the travel route by the route guide means ends). Alternatively, at the position where the vehicle has passed the guidance target intersection just before the guidance end point, the display is switched from the arrow display mode to the map display mode in which the map including the narrow street and the two points are displayed on the simplified display device (switching). Means) may be displayed. In these navigation devices, the selection means is a map of a reduced scale capable of displaying the two points,
After the vehicle has passed the guidance end point, a map having a larger scale may be selected as the vehicle approaches the destination. As described above, after the guidance is completed, the scale is changed so that the scale increases as the user approaches the destination, so that approaching the destination can be intuitively recognized as a change in the scale of the entire screen (intuitive), and therefore, the scale is small. By displaying the map, it is possible to prevent the movement of the vehicle from being difficult to confirm on the screen, thereby providing a sense of security. In addition to each of these navigation devices, the selecting means further comprises:
When the two points are displayed on a diagonal line of the simplified display device, a map of a reduced scale that can be displayed is selected, and the display control means displays the map including the narrow street selected by the selection means. You may make it display so that it may be located on the diagonal line of a simple display apparatus.

Further, a simple display device for simply displaying an image with a small number of pixels, map information storage means for storing map data including narrow streets, current position recognition means for recognizing the current position of the vehicle, Map including travel route acquisition means for acquiring a travel route to the ground, route guidance means for guiding the travel route acquired by the travel route acquisition means, and a guidance end point at which guidance of the travel route by the route guide means ends It is also possible to achieve the above object by providing the navigation device with display control means for displaying a narrow street and displaying a line extending from the guidance end point toward the destination on the simplified display device. In the navigation device in this case, after the vehicle has passed the guidance end point, the display control means displays a line extending from the current position recognized by the current position recognition means to the destination direction on the simplified display device. You may make it display.

Further, a simple display device for simply displaying an image with a small number of pixels, map information storage means for storing map data including narrow streets, current position recognition means for recognizing the current position of the vehicle, Map including travel route acquisition means for acquiring a travel route to the ground, route guidance means for guiding the travel route acquired by the travel route acquisition means, and a guidance end point at which guidance of the travel route by the route guide means ends It is also possible to achieve the above object by providing a navigation device with display control means for thinning and displaying thin streets. In the navigation device in this case,
A selection unit for selecting a map of a reduced scale capable of displaying both the current position of the vehicle recognized by the current position recognition unit and the point of the destination on the simplified display device, and the display control unit includes: The narrow streets may be thinned out and displayed from the selected scale map. Further, in these navigation devices, the display control means may thin out narrow streets in a range not included in a range of a predetermined distance from a line connecting the current position of the vehicle and the destination. Further, in the present invention, the thinning rate may be changed according to the distance from the current position and the distance from the destination. For example, thinner streets are thinned as the distance from the current position increases.

Further, in each of the above navigation devices, the display control means displays a map including narrow streets and a current position of the vehicle on the simple display means from a state where no map is displayed on the simple display means. It is also possible.

Next, the details of the assisting process for assisting the vehicle from traveling before the guidance end point to the destination according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the assist process. The calculation unit 30 determines whether or not the vehicle has passed the last course change point from the travel route data stored in the RAM of the overall management unit 60. Finished, Figure 4,
By prioritizing the image display based on the travel route guidance described in 5 above, the last route change point can be accurately recognized. On the other hand, if the vehicle has passed the last course change point (step 3
0; Y), since there is no route change based on the route guidance, the assist process is continued. That is, the operation unit 3
In the case of 0, the current position of the vehicle is recognized by the current position recognition unit 46 (step 31), and it is determined whether or not the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the guidance end point (step 32). Here, in the present embodiment, the predetermined distance is set to 200 m, but may be another distance such as 100 m or 300 m, or may be set freely by the user.
If the distance is not a predetermined distance from the guidance end point (Step 32; N), the calculation unit 30 returns to Step 31 and continues monitoring.

When the distance is within 200 m from the guidance end point (step 32; Y), the arithmetic unit 30 calculates the distance L2 and the direction from the current position to the destination from the coordinate data of both points (step 33). Next, the arithmetic unit 30 determines the maximum scale of the two-point display narrow street map that can be displayed on the entire display 10 from the calculated distance L2 and the direction, and selects the map of the closest scale smaller than the scale. (Step 34).

The arithmetic unit 30 displays a map including the selected narrow street on the display 10 and also displays both the current position and the destination. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the two-point display narrow street map is displayed on the display 10. FIG. 7A shows a screen of the scale 1 which is first displayed on the display 10 within a predetermined distance from the guidance end point. As shown in FIG. 7A, a narrow street 90 is displayed on the two-point display narrow street map, and a vehicle position mark 81 indicating the current position of the vehicle and a destination mark 91 indicating the destination are displayed. Is displayed.

Since FIG. 7A is displayed just before the guidance end point, the point 200 m ahead of the vehicle position mark 81 is the guidance end point. The route that has traveled to the point of the vehicle position mark 81 is displayed as a thick black line, so that the traveling road and the traveling direction can be easily recognized. For the recognition of the traveling road and the traveling direction, the display of the traveling route is performed because the user is accustomed to the screen display by the arrow guidance screens of FIGS. Especially effective. 5 (e) and 5 (f), the vehicle position mark 81 is displayed not at the center of the display 10 or the map display area but at the lower side of the screen.
This is to display the area in the traveling direction of the vehicle as wide as possible because the vertical size of the screen is as small as about 4 cm.

The two-point display narrow street map is displayed on the display 10.
Is displayed, the calculation unit 30 determines whether or not the destination has been reached, and if it has been reached (step 36; Y), the processing ends. On the other hand, if the vehicle has not reached the destination (Step 36; N), the arithmetic unit 30 recognizes the current position of the vehicle again from the current position 46 (Step 37), and proceeds to Step 3
3 and repeat the processing of steps 33 to 37 until the destination is reached. As a result, as the vehicle approaches the destination, the two-point display narrow street map which was initially the display of the scale 1 shown in FIG. 7A is changed to the map of the larger scale 2 shown in FIG. 7B. The map is switched to a map of a larger scale 3 as shown in FIG. On the small-scale screen, the movement of the vehicle position mark 81 due to the movement of the vehicle is slight, and it is difficult to recognize on the screen. However, as shown in FIGS. Is changed, the entire screen changes, so that the user can visually feel that the vehicle is approaching the destination.

As shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, as the vehicle approaches the destination, a map of the maximum size in which both the current position and the destination can be displayed is selected and displayed on the display 10. However, a predetermined scale, for example, 1
When the scale is reduced to 00m (1 / 10,000), the scale may be fixed thereafter and the vehicle position mark 81 may be moved to the destination.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment and other embodiments, since the configuration of the navigation device is the same as that of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment, only different points will be appropriately described, and the same portions will be described. Omitted. In the first embodiment, a two-point display narrow street map of the maximum size is displayed on the display 1 in order to assist driving to the destination after the guidance is completed.
0, but in the second embodiment,
Assist is provided by displaying a line connecting the current location and the destination on the screen.

FIG. 8 shows a screen displayed on the display 10 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, for example, a map having a scale of 100 m is displayed on the entire screen of the display 10 without reducing the scale of the map including the narrow street. In this case, the destination cannot be displayed on the screen because of the large scale. However, the direction line 9 extending from the own vehicle position mark 81 indicating the current position to the destination is displayed.
By displaying 3, it becomes possible for the user to approach the direction of the destination while checking the narrow street map. In the present embodiment, the direction line 93 is provided with an arrow indicating the destination direction, and in order to clarify the existence of the direction line 93,
The direction line may blink. Also, the display may be such that the arrow on the direction line 93 moves toward the destination.
Then, when the vehicle is sufficiently close to the destination on the 100-meter scale map and the destination can be displayed, the destination mark 91 is displayed on the map being displayed and the display of the direction line 91 ends. In this state, the display is almost the same as that shown in FIG.

In the first embodiment, the distance from the current position changes depending on whether the destination is at the four corners or at the center of the upper part. The heading-up function is not used because the scale becomes larger or smaller each time the course changes, which makes it unnatural.
On the other hand, in the second embodiment, since the destination is not displayed, a heading-up display may be performed. Further, the identification display of the traveling route by a thick black line and the display of the own vehicle position mark 81 below the center of the screen area can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, when a narrow street is displayed on a map, the display on the display 10 is made easy to understand by thinning out the display according to a certain standard.
In other words, if all the narrow streets are displayed in the small display area of the display 10, the display screen may be cluttered and difficult to see, and it may be difficult to find the current position mark 81 and the destination mark 91. Therefore, own vehicle position mark 8
In order to reach from 1 to the destination (not only in the case of the first embodiment displayed on the screen but also in the second embodiment not displayed), it is apparently unnecessary to use a narrow street. By omitting the display, the display of the entire screen is refreshed.

FIG. 9 shows a map before and after thin streets are thinned out and displayed according to the third embodiment. FIG.
(A) is a figure before thinning a narrow street, and (b) is a figure after thinning. As shown in FIG. 9 (b), only narrow streets included within a predetermined distance from the line connecting the vehicle position and the destination are displayed, and the left area 95a and the lower right area 95b which are not included are displayed. The narrow streets are omitted and only the main roads are displayed. As shown in FIG. 9B, by omitting the display of narrow streets that are considered not to travel to reach the destination, the area to be confirmed even on a small screen (from the current position to the destination Area) can be immediately recognized. In the above-described embodiment, as a method of thinning out narrow streets, it is determined whether or not the narrow road is included within a predetermined distance from a line connecting the own vehicle position and the destination. The information may be displayed when it is within the range of an ellipse whose both focal points are the ground (an ellipse having both focal points on the long axis), and may be omitted when it is outside the range. The values of the major axis and the minor axis of the ellipse can be appropriately selected.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the current position and the destination are displayed in the diagonal corners of the display 10 offset from each other in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 shows this fourth
2 shows a two-point display narrow street map displayed on the display 10 according to the embodiment. By displaying the current position and the destination at the diagonal corners in an offset manner, it is possible to select a two-point display narrow street map having a larger maximum scale. Also in this case, the use of the heading-up function is stopped, but in order to approach the heading-up display, the current position (own vehicle position mark 81) is displayed at the lower left corner, and the destination (destination mark 91) is displayed at the upper right corner. (FIG. 10) or the current position is displayed in the lower right corner, and the destination is displayed in the upper left corner. Note that the current position (the vehicle position mark 81) and the destination (the destination mark 91) are not diagonal corners,
Displaying a little narrower than the center prevents the necessary narrow street from being cut off.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention described in each claim. For example, in the embodiment described above, a case has been described in which the size of the arrowhead 71a and the length of the linear portion 71b are changed according to the distance L from the current position of the vehicle to the course change point.
The size of the arrowhead 71a may be changed according to the distance L while the length of b is constant. In the embodiment described above, the image of the course change guidance arrow 71 is
A total of six types of minimum size arrows, medium size arrows, and maximum size arrows are prepared in advance for the left direction and the right direction,
The image is selected according to the distance L and the course change direction, but arrow images of more sizes are prepared and displayed so that the size of the arrowhead 71a and the length of the straight line portion 71b change more finely. May be. Further, an image in which the size of the arrowhead 71a and / or the length of the linear portion 71b is changed according to the distance L may be generated and displayed in real time. In this case, the left and right arrowheads 71
The basic image of “a” and the basic image of the straight portion 71b common to the left and right (used when the length of the straight portion 71b changes according to the distance L) are prepared in advance, and the arrowhead 71a is set according to the distance L.
And the respective basic images of the linear portion 71b may be enlarged and reduced to be synthesized and displayed.

Also, a case has been described in which two types of images, the arrow image indicating the left direction and the arrow image indicating the right direction, are used as the images of the arrow 71 for the course change guidance. As a direction indicated by the arrow 71,
The route change guidance may be performed using arrow images indicating more directions. For example, assuming that the straight traveling direction is 0 degrees, an oblique right arrow pointing in a clockwise 45 degrees direction, 9
Right arrow pointing in the 0-degree direction (similar to the right arrow described in the embodiment), right forward arrow pointing in the 135-degree direction, 2
Leftward arrow pointing in the 25-degree direction, leftward arrow pointing in the 270-degree direction (similar to FIG. 3 (b)), diagonal left arrow pointing in the 315-degree direction To guide you. Then, for each direction, a total of 6 × 3 = 18 types of arrow images 71 for route change guidance including images of the minimum size arrow, the medium size arrow, and the maximum size arrow
Are prepared in advance, and an arrow 71 having an appropriate direction and size according to the distance L and the direction is selected and displayed. In addition, assuming that the angle between the road to be changed and the road in progress (or the traveling direction) is θ, an oblique right arrow is selected when the angle is in the range of 22 degrees <θ ≦ 68 degrees. Similarly, 68 degrees <θ ≦ 11
The right arrow is selected if it is in the 2 degree range, and 112
When the angle is in the range of degrees <θ ≦ 158 degrees, the forward arrow is selected. When the angle is in the range of 202 degrees <θ ≦ 248 degrees, the arrow in front of the left is selected. When the angle is in the range of 248 degrees <θ ≦ 292 degrees. The left arrow is selected, and when it is in the range of 292 degrees <θ ≦ 338 degrees, the diagonally left arrows are respectively selected.
In this modified example, as in the modified example described above, basic images of each arrow indicating six directions (six types of arrow heads,
Linear type) is prepared in advance, and the basic image of the arrow selected according to the direction in which the course is to be changed is enlarged according to the distance L.
It may be displayed in a reduced size. Also, a right U-turn arrow displayed in the range of 158 degrees <θ ≦ 180 degrees and a left U-turn arrow displayed in the range of 180 degrees <θ ≦ 202 degrees are used as arrows for route change guidance, An arrow having a size corresponding to the distance L may be displayed.

Further, the case where the size of the arrowhead 71a is changed according to the distance L has been described.
The display area of the arrowhead 71a may be used as a reference for comparing the size of the arrowhead 71a according to the distance. Further, the sharpness of the arrowhead 71a may be changed according to the distance L. That is, when the distance L is long,
With respect to the center line passing through the tip 71c of the arrowhead 71a (see FIG. 3)
In the case of (b), the side blade portion 71 (with respect to the measurement line portion 71f)
By reducing the angle α of d, an acute arrowhead 71a is obtained,
By increasing the angle α as the distance L becomes shorter, an obtuse arrowhead 71b is formed.

[0067]

According to the present invention, the arrow head having a size corresponding to the distance to the route change point in the direction of the route change obtained by the route information obtaining means and the arrow having a straight line portion following the arrow head are displayed. Since the information is displayed on the apparatus, it is possible to easily grasp both the course change direction and the distance to the course change point.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a navigation device body according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a shape of an arrow displayed on a display of the navigation device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a traveling route guidance process by the navigation device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a transition state of an image displayed on an arrow guidance screen displayed on a display of the navigation device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of an assist process in the navigation device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a two-point display narrow street map is displayed on a display in the navigation device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen displayed on a display according to the second embodiment of the navigation device.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a map before and after thin streets are thinned out and displayed according to the third embodiment of the navigation device.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a two-point display narrow street map displayed on a display according to the fourth embodiment of the navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus main body 10 Display 12-16 Operation key 18 Speaker 20 Joystick 21 Touch panel 30 Operation part 32 Screen management part 34 Input management part 38 Voice output management part 40 GPS sensor 42 Distance sensor 44 Direction sensor 46 Current position recognition part 48 Data storage Unit 50 map data reading unit 52 map management unit 54 map drawing unit 56 route calculation unit 58 route guidance unit 60 overall management unit 70 arrow screen 71 arrow image 71a arrowhead 71b linear portion 71c tip portion 71d side blade portion 71e root portion 71f side line portion 72 Distance display 75 Auxiliary screen 76 Clock 77 Destination direction arrow 78 Remaining actual distance 79 Expected arrival time 80 Enlarged view of course change point 81 Own vehicle position mark 82 Arrow showing course change direction 83 Name of course change point (intersection name) 84 Remaining distance display 90 Narrow street 91 Objective mark 95a, 95b Area where narrow street is omitted

Continued on front page F term (reference) 2C032 HD07 HD16 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC09 AC14 AC17 AC18 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 FF04 FF05 FF13 FF22 FF24 FF25 FF27 FF33 FF35

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A display device for displaying images, map information storage means for storing map data, current position recognition means for recognizing a current position of a vehicle, and travel route acquisition means for acquiring a travel route to a destination. From the traveling route acquired by the traveling route acquiring unit and the current position recognized by the current position recognizing unit, a route information acquiring unit that acquires a distance to a route changing point to be rerouted next and a course changing direction, An arrow head having a size corresponding to the distance to the course change point in the direction of the course change direction acquired by the course information acquisition means, and an arrow display means for displaying an arrow having a linear portion following the arrow head on the display device, A navigation device comprising: 2. The arrow display means displays the length of the straight line portion of the arrow short or increases the thickness of the straight line portion according to the distance to the course change point acquired by the course information acquisition means. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device displays the information. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the arrow display means displays the smallest arrowhead pointing straight ahead when the distance to the course change point acquired by the course information acquisition means is a predetermined distance or more. The navigation device according to claim 1. 4. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the arrow display means displays the arrow so that the same location of the arrow is located at the same location on the display device. 5. A navigation device having a mode for executing route guidance by displaying an arrow without displaying a map on an image display device, wherein the arrowhead of the arrow indicates a distance from a course change point to a current vehicle position. And display means for displaying the linear portion of the arrow on the image display device in a thickness or length corresponding to the distance from the course change point to the current position of the vehicle. Navigation device. 6. A vehicular navigation system having a mode for executing route guidance by displaying an arrow without displaying a map on an image display device, comprising: input means for inputting a destination; Setting means for setting a traveling route to the set destination, and when traveling on the traveling route set by the setting means, the arrowhead portion of the arrow corresponds to the distance from the course change point to the current position of the vehicle. Path display means for displaying, on the image display device, a size and a straight line portion of the arrow with a thickness or a length corresponding to a distance from the path change point to the current position of the vehicle; and Map display means for displaying, on the image display device, a map of a region including the current position of the vehicle at a specific position in the traveling route, instead of displaying the arrow.
A navigation device comprising: 7. When the distance from the course change point to the current position of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined threshold, an image representing a road connected to the course change point is displayed instead of displaying the arrow. 7. The navigation device according to claim 6, further comprising a route change point display unit that simultaneously displays an arrow for indicating a route change direction at the point. 8. An arrow display mode for displaying an arrow for instructing a course change direction without displaying a map on the image display device, and a map display mode for displaying a map of a region including the current position of the vehicle on the image display device. A switching device for switching from the arrow display mode to the map display mode. 9. An arrow indicating a course change direction is displayed without displaying a map on the image display device, and an arrow head portion of the arrow has a size corresponding to a distance from a turning point to a current position of the vehicle, and And changing the straight line portion of the arrow to a thickness or length corresponding to the distance from the route change point to the current position of the vehicle, and displaying the route.