Map display system

Claim 2

A map display system comprising: (a) display means (1) for displaying a map; (b) a map data storage medium (2) for storing spot coordinate data and spot level data of each spot relative to a plurality of spots constituting the map, said spot coordinate data being defined to provide a coordinate spot relative to a predetermined coordinate origin spot, and said spot level data being defined to indicate the level corresponding to the importance of the spot; (c) designation means for designating a scale of the map; (d) extraction means responsive to the scale of the map designated by said designation means for extracting from said map data storage medium the spot coordinate data indicative of the spot located to be displayed by said display means and having the spot level data of importance relative to said scale; and (e) display control means (12) responsive to the spot coordinate data of each spot extracted by said extraction means for forming display data which is provided to said display means to display the map.

Claim 3

A map display system according to Claim 1 wherein said designation means for designating the scale is actuated by manual operation.

Claim 4

A map display system according to Claim 1 wherein said designation means includes: present position detecting means for detecting the present position of a running vehicle; destination setting means for setting the destination of the vehicle; distance calculating means for calculating the distance between said present position and said destination; and scale designating means responsive to the distance calculated by said distance calculating means for designating the scale of the map to be displayed.

Claim 5

A map display system according to Claim 3 wherein said present position detecting means includes: heading detection means for detecting the heading of the travelling vehicle; distance detection means for detecting the distance of the running vehicle; and present position calculating means responsive to said detected heading and distance of the vehicle for calculating the present position of the vehicle.

Claim 6

A map display system comprising: (a) display means having a main display area and a sub-display area for displaying maps different from each other and displaying a cursor indicative of a present position of a vehicle; (b) a map data storage medium for storing spot coordinate data and spot level data of each spot relative to a plurality of spots constituting the map, said spot coordinate data being defined to provide a coordinate spot relative to a predetermined coordinate origin spot; and said spot level data being defined to indicate the level corresponding to the importance of the spot; (c) first display control means for extracting from said map data storage medium the spot coordinate data of the spot having the spot level data corresponding to a first scale, and for forming display data on the basis of said extracted spot coordinate data to provide display control to said display means to display the map of a specified area on the main display area; (d) cursor moving means for moving the cursor within said main display area; (e) extraction means for extracting from said map data storage medium the spot coordinate data of the spot located to be displayed within said sub-display area on a second scale larger than said first scale and having the spot level data of the importance relative to the second scale; (f) data conversion means for converting the spot coordinate data of each spot extracted by said extraction means into display data used to be displayed on said sub-display area; (g) second display control means responsive to the data converted by said data conversion means for providing display control to said display means to display an enlarged map adjacent the position of said cursor on said sub-display area.

Claim 7

A map display system comprising: (a) display means having a main display area and a sub-display area for displaying maps different from each other and displaying a cursor indicative of a present position of a vehicle; (b) a map data storage medium for storing spot coordinate data and spot level data of each spot relative to a plurality of spots constituting the map, said spot coordinate data being defined to provide a coordinate spot relative to a predetermined coordinate origin spot; and said spot level data being defined to indicate the level corresponding to the importance of the spot; (c) first display control means for extracting from said map data storage medium the spot coordinate data of the spot having the spot level data corresponding to a first scale, and for forming display data on the basis of said extracted spot coordinate data to provide display control to said display means to display the map of a specified area on the main display area; (d) cursor moving means for moving the cursor within said main display area; (e) extraction means for extracting from said map data storage medium the spot coordinate data of the spot located to be displayed within said sub-display area on a second scale larger than said first scale and having the spot level data of the importance relative to the second scale; (f) data conversion means for converting the spot coordinate data of each spot extracted by said extraction means into display data used to be displayed on said sub-display area; (g) second display control means responsive to the data converted by said data conversion means for providing display control to said display means to display an enlarged map adjacent the position of said cursor on said sub-display area.

Claim 8

A map display system according to Claim 5 wherein said cursor moving means for moving the cursor is manually actuated.

Claim 9

A map display system according to Claim 5 wherein said cursor moving means includes: present position detecting means for detecting the present position of the travelling vehicle; and cursor moving control means responsive to the present position detected by said present position detecting means for providing control to said display means to move the cursor to be displayed on said display means.

Claim 10

A map display system according to Claim 7 wherein said present position detecting means includes: heading detection means for detecting the heading of the travelling vehicle distance detection means for detecting the distance of the running vehicle; and present position calculation means for calculating the present position of the vehicle on the basis of the heading and the distance of the vehicle detected by said detection means.

Claim 11

A map display system comprising: (a) display means for displaying a map; (b) a map data storage medium for storing spot coordinate data and spot level data of each spot relative to a plurality of spots constituting the map, said spot coordinate data being defined to provide a coordinate spot relative to a predetermined coordinate origin spot, and said spot level data being defined to indicate the level of the importance of the spot; (c) designation means for designating the rank indicative of coarseness and fineness of the map to be displayed; (d) extraction means responsive to the rank designated by said designation means for extracting the spot coordinate data of the spot having the spot level data corresponding to said rank; and (e) display control means responsive to the spot coordinate data of each spot for forming display data which are provided to said display means to display the map.

Claim 12

A map display system comprising: (a) display means for displaying a map; (b) a map data storage medium for storing spot coordinate data and spot level data of each spot relative to a plurality of spots constituting the map, said spot coordinate data being defined to provide a coordinate spot relative to a predetermined coordinate origin spot, and said spot level data being defined to indicate the level of the importance of the spot; (c) designation means for designating the rank indicative of coarseness and fineness of the map to be displayed; (d) extraction means responsive to the rank designated by said designation means for extracting the spot coordinate data of the spot having the spot level data corresponding to said rank; and (e) display control means responsive to the spot coordinate data of each spot for forming display data which are provided to said display means to display the map.

Claim 13

A map display system according to Claim 9 wherein said designation means includes manual operation means for designating the coarseness or fineness of the rank thereby to gradually provide the variation of the rank of the coarseness and fineness.