Patent US2908575A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0199780B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0199780B1
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EP
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Apparatus for displaying a map
Assignee: TomTom North America Inc
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Filing: 1985-10-17
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Granted: 1996-12-27
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Expires: 2005-10-17
Abstract
Abstract A computer hardware and software system and method for displaying a map of streets corresponding to an area over which a vehicle may move to assist a driver to navigate, the system displaying the map on a display (38) based on a scale-dependent street prioritization scheme, providing on the display (38) a vehicle position symbol indicating the current position and heading of the vehicle and a moving map (M) which moves in translation and rotation as the vehicle (V) moves, selectively and dynamically labelling streets (st) on the display as the vehicle moves, and providing a destination symbol (sd) on the display indicating a desired destination or the direction to a desired destination.
Inventors
- 👤 George E. Loughmiller, Jr.
- 👤 Stanley K. Honey
- 👤 Kenneth A. Milnes
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 17:12
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01C; G01C21/00; G01C21/26; G01C21/34; G01C21/36; G01C21/3667; G01C21/3673
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
281 words
Apparatus for displaying at selected scale levels a map of streets corresponding to an area over which a vehicle may move, to assist a driver to navigate, comprising: a) a stored map database having data identifying the location of streets of the area and data in the form of a code identifying each street as of a predetermined priority category; b) means for selecting the scale levels; c) means responsive to the data, for selecting certain streets of the map to display in dependence on a selected scale level and said code; d) means for providing input data identifying the current location and heading direction of the vehicle; characterised by the database further having data in the form of labels for streets, and by the apparatus further comprising: e) means responsive to the database data, for selecting street labels for display in accordance with a dynamic ordering scheme which selects and prioritises street labels to display in dependence on the input data identifying the current location and heading direction of the vehicle, said means assigning priority values to labels of said certain streets by at least: using the input data and the database data to identify a next cross street ahead of the vehicle and assigning a priority value to the label of any said street identified; and using the input data and the database data to identify the street on which the vehicle is travelling and assigning a priority value to the label of any said street identified; f) means for selecting certain street labels for display by using said assigned priority values; and g) means for producing a map display showing the certain streets and the certain street labels.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
41 words
Apparatus, according to claim 1, wherein said means for producing a map display includes means for determining the intensity of the certain streets for display, the intensity of the certain streets being dependent on the selected scale level and said code.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
Apparatus, according to claim 2, wherein one intensity is a zero intensity representing no display of streets of the corresponding said code.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus, according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said means for producing a map display includes a look-up table of street priority categories versus scale levels.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
34 words
Apparatus, according to claim 4, wherein said table has entries identifying the intensity of the certain streets to display, the intensity of the streets being dependent on the street priority categories and scale levels.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
61 words
Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, wherein said streets of said map database are stored as street segments each having endpoints, and wherein said means for producing a map display showing the certain streets and the certain labels for the streets computes the slopes of the street segments from the endpoints defining the respective street segments to provide the map display.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus, according to claim 6, wherein said certain labels are displayed parallel to said certain street segments according to said computed street segment slopes.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
Apparatus, according to claim 7, wherein said certain labels are displayed with an orientation closest to right side up.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
Apparatus, according to claim 6, 7 or 8, wherein the size of the labels displayed remains constant independent of the scale level.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
80 words
Apparatus, according to any preceding claim, comprising: storage means defining a two-dimensional array corresponding to cells of the display; means for setting elements of the storage array corresponding to display cells occupied by a label of a first priority selected for display; means for identifying the cells to be occupied by a selected label of lower priority in its proposed position and if any corresponding memory element is set, for deselecting the lower priority label for display in that position.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
61 words
Apparatus according to any preceding claim, further including means, responsive to the map database, the position and heading data of the vehicle and one of the selected scale levels, for producing a symbol on the map display of the position and heading of the vehicle, the map display moving in translation and rotation in dependence on the movement of the vehicle.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moving map is movable in translation and rotation to continue displaying the area around the current position of the vehicle and oriented to the heading of the vehicle.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein said means for displaying the map and said means for providing a vehicle position symbol and a moving map comprise means for producing a changeable map display viewing window corresponding to a given portion of the area over which the vehicle may move.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
19 words
An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said changeable map display viewing window is movable as the vehicle moves.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
An apparatus according to claim 13 or 14, wherein said map display viewing window is changeable in size in dependence on the selected scale level.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
26 words
An apparatus, according to any of claims 11 to 15, further comprising a means for providing a destination symbol on said display indicating a desired destination.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
49 words
An apparatus, according to claim 16, wherein said means for providing a destination symbol includes means for calculating the distance between a desired destination represented by said destination symbol and the current position of the vehicle represented by said vehicle position symbol, the distance being displayed on said display.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
51 words
An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11 to 17 further comprising: a) a stored map database having data identifying the location of streets of the given area and data identifying the desired destination; and b) means for selecting from said desired destination data a desired destination of the vehicle.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
44 words
An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said identifying data for the desired destination further includes street names and street addresses associated with a corresponding street, and wherein said means for selecting can select a street name and street address of a given street.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
31 words
An apparatus according to claim 18 or 19, wherein said identifying data further includes street names and wherein said means for selecting can select two street names corresponding to intersecting streets.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
25 words
An apparatus, according to claim 18, 19 or 20, further comprising means for determining if the destination lies within a current map display of streets.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
43 words
An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said means for providing a destination symbol provides a direction symbol indicating the direction to the desired destination in lieu of the destination symbol if the desired destination does not lie within the current map display.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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