Patents Assigned to Alpine Electronics, Inc
  • Patent number: 8983104
    Abstract: A speaker includes a ring-shaped vibrating member fixed to an internal support body at an internal peripheral edge, and a bobbin attached to an external peripheral edge thereof. A voice coil is attached to the bobbin and is located in a magnetic gap. A ring-shaped control member faces a front portion of the vibrating member, and a sound pass space is formed at an external peripheral side of the control member and at an internal peripheral side thereof. When listening to the speaker from a diagonal location, treble sound waves generated from the left side area are perturbed by the control member so as to prevent interference from sound waves generated from bilaterally separated areas, which prevents a decrease of treble sound pressure levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Naoki Shimamura
  • Patent number: 8977487
    Abstract: A navigation device and a guide route search method prevents searching for a detour route, and shortens the time required for setting an eventual guide route. A first partial route is extracted from a first guide route found in accordance with map data divided into three hierarchical levels, based on information about a road network. The first guide route is the route from the current location to a destination. A second partial route is obtained by performing a route search between the nodes at opposite ends of the first partial route, based on the map data containing the lowest level. A second guide route is obtained by replacing the first partial route in the first guide route with the second partial route, and is set as the eventual guide route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Shinobu Doi
  • Patent number: 8959342
    Abstract: A communication apparatus performs data communication with a communication device, and includes an authentication processing portion configured to perform authentication processing, including a round trip time (RTT) test on authentication requests received from one or more unauthenticated communication devices and a data communication portion configured to perform data communications with the communication device authenticated by the authentication processing portion. If, in authentication processing of a current authentication request, a prior RTT test is being performed corresponding to a prior authentication request originating from the same communication device, the current RTT test is not performed, and authentication processing waits for the completion of the prior RTT test. If the result of the prior RTT test is successful, authentication processing uses the result of the prior RTT test as the result corresponding to the current authentication request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Hideyuki Hatakeyama
  • Publication number: 20150039219
    Abstract: A navigation device, when a vehicle travels through an area in which the use of an ETC device provided in the vehicle is not possible, can prevent that vehicle from being guided along an ETC device utilization rout. The navigation device sets, for each area, whether or not the use of the ETC device is possible; performs a first route search using a first cost condition regarding the route cost of an ETC device utilization route; performs a second route search using a second cost condition regarding a route cost for which the route cost of an ETC device utilization route is higher than with the first cost condition; and, on the basis of a setting status for whether or not the use of the ETC device in each area is possible, controls whether to perform the first route search or the second route search.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2014
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Applicant: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Yamaki, Yukio Sato
  • Patent number: 8943438
    Abstract: For each smartphone application included in a smartphone, an identifier, such as a name of the smartphone application, and information on whether the smartphone application operates in cooperation with a vehicle-mounted device, are registered in a smartphone application management table. From the smartphone applications included in the connected smartphone, higher priority is given to the smartphone applications that are registered in the smartphone application management table as applications that operate in cooperation with the vehicle-mounted device. A lower priority is given to other smartphone applications. Icons of the high priority smartphone applications are arranged on a first page of a smartphone application menu, whereas icons of the low priority smartphone applications are sequentially arranged on second and following pages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Nobuo Matsumoto, Masahito Kazuno
  • Publication number: 20150026561
    Abstract: A system and method for displaying a web page prevents an operation error when the contents of display of the web page change. A vehicle-mounted device includes a touch panel and an input processor for performing an input operation corresponding to a position of contact of an indicator with a display screen. A proximity sensor and an indicator detector detects that the indicator has a predetermined positional relationship relative to the screen. A web browser obtains data on the web page, and a rendering engine performs web page display processing, including web page analysis processing and screen layout calculation for the data obtained. A display processor and a display device for displaying the web page subjected to the web page display processing are included. When the indicator has the predetermined positional relationship relative to the display screen, the web page display processing is stopped.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Applicant: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Haruhiko Nakatsuji, Naoki Saegusa, Rintaro Kuroda
  • Patent number: 8929233
    Abstract: A digital broadcast receiving apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive a digital broadcast signal in which predetermined data is transmitted repeatedly. A transmission time estimating unit estimates a transmission time for transmitting data per transmission unit, by analyzing separation information contained in the digital broadcast signal where the separation information describes a time for the transmission unit of data corresponding to the predetermined data. A determining unit determines whether content of the predetermined data has been updated for each data reception starting time after the transmission time has been estimated. If the content has not been updated, the control unit inhibits reception processing by the receiving unit for a predetermined period of time based on the estimated transmission time, and if the content has been updated, the control unit permits the reception processing by the receiving unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomoya Hamaguchi
  • Patent number: 8922483
    Abstract: An information system includes a camera located at a central position in a horizontal direction in front of two users who face the camera and who are aligned side by side, a gesture recognizing unit configured to recognize a gesture of a hand of a user based on a target image captured by the camera, a determining unit that determines whether a central point in a width direction of an arm in the target image is at a right side or at a left side with respect to a center of the hand in the target image, and an operation user configured to determine that a performer of the gesture is a right side or a left side user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi Yasumoto
  • Publication number: 20140355235
    Abstract: A display device includes a display unit having a display screen on a front side, a driving mechanism configured to move the display unit, a holder configured to support the display unit and reciprocally move the display unit relative to the holder in a linear trajectory parallel to the display screen, a rotation guiding mechanism in the driving mechanism configured to rotate the holder, and a movement guiding mechanism in the driving mechanism configured to move the display unit relative to the holder after the holder is rotated to a predetermined position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2014
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Applicant: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Kazunari Kato
  • Publication number: 20140354696
    Abstract: A navigation apparatus includes a map data storage apparatus which obtains map data needed for drawing an object; a map buffer; a map drawing unit which generates image information corresponding to an object included in a background image on the basis of the map data, and stores the image information in a frame buffer; and a display processing unit which reads out the image information stored in the frame buffer and displays a map image on a display apparatus. The map drawing unit generates shadow image information for a shadow region of the object which is a region sandwiched between an outline of the object and an outline of the object after the object has been moved in a predetermined direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2014
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Applicant: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Makoto Abe
  • Patent number: 8903650
    Abstract: A navigation device includes an icon display unit for displaying icons representing predetermined display objects located on a predetermined road ahead of the current location in an elongated display area of a display unit in a linear fashion along a length direction of the display area preferentially in order of proximity to the current location and a predefined distance display unit for displaying an image indicating the predefined distance from the current location in the display area when the icons are displayed. The icon display unit stationarily displays the icons representing display objects located farther than the predefined distance from the current location and movably displays an icon representing a display object located within the predefined distance so that the icon moves towards the current location in accordance with the movement of the current location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Akira Kazawa, Satoru Kono, Mitsunori Koyatsu, Masahiro Kida
  • Publication number: 20140347288
    Abstract: An in-vehicle device includes an operation screen display unit that displays a specific operation screen containing an operation key for causing the in-vehicle device to perform a specific action, an operation key moving unit that moves the operation key in a predetermined direction, a camera and a movement recognition unit that detect a movement of part of a body of a user or a movement of an operation member held by the user, and an operation selection unit that, when a movement direction of the operation key matches a direction of the detected movement of the user, selects the operation key moved by the operation key moving unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2014
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Applicant: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Takao Sato, Shizuo Kanbayashi, Fumiaki Hoki, Rintaro Kuroda, Takashi Jogataki, Naoki Saegusa, Haruhiko Nakatsuji, Hai Lin
  • Patent number: 8880341
    Abstract: A display method and apparatus for displaying three-dimensional terrains and route guidance achieves a flexible and high detail three-dimensional display operation by enabling to change parameters, such as a viewing angle of a selected three-dimensional object, a height of a selected three-dimensional object, and a level of details (LOD) of a selected part of the image. The display method and apparatus also enables to compensate discontinuity, if any, at a border portion of two or more images where such parameters have been changed. Since such a change is made only a selected portion or object on the three-dimensional image, a computation power, memory space or other resources of the navigation system may not be overburdened by such operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Maung Han, Benjamin Poiesz
  • Publication number: 20140320430
    Abstract: An input device includes a controller which determines if a user unintentionally touches a touch panel during a hover operation and recognized the hover operation instead of the touch operation when the user's hand or finger moves at a constant distance from the touch panel in time periods before and after the touch period, respectively regardless of detection of a touch on the touch panel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2014
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Applicant: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Atsushi Takeda
  • Patent number: 8872639
    Abstract: An in-vehicle system includes a instrument cluster display arranged in an instrument cluster and a heads-up display that projects an image in an area on a front window above the instrument cluster. When a user continues viewing a display screen of the instrument cluster display for a predetermined period of time or longer, the display of the instrument cluster display is stopped, and content displayed on the display of the instrument cluster display is displayed on the heads-up display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Kosuke Kinoshita, Shinji Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8862401
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for searching polygon objects defined by polygon data in the map database of a navigation system when such polygon objects are not associated with any POIs. The method includes the steps of creating a data table which arranges information on the polygon objects in the map database based on polygon names, creating a data table which arranges information on the polygon objects in the map database based on polygon locations, prompting a user to specify a desired polygon object through a screen of the navigation system either by a polygon name or a polygon location, retrieving candidate polygon objects from the corresponding data tables that match inputs specified by the user and displaying a list of the retrieved polygon objects in a predetermined order, and allowing the user to finalize selection of the desired polygon object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Jianning Zhuang
  • Patent number: 8854463
    Abstract: An obstacle detecting unit detects whether an obstacle exists in an area surrounding a vehicle in the direction a camera installed on the vehicle is pointed. If the obstacle is determined to have a portion at a predetermined height above a road surface with which the vehicle may make initial contact when the vehicle moves toward the obstacle, a virtual projection surface is set to the height of the predicted contact portion and viewpoint conversion processing is performed so as to project pixels of an image captured by the camera onto the virtual projection plane. In this way, the height of the projection plane and the height of the predicted contact portion match each other and the distance between the predicted contact portion and the vehicle is accurately expressed on a bird's-eye view image resulting from the viewpoint conversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Kosuke Imamura
  • Publication number: 20140292828
    Abstract: In one embodiment, left and right frame elements are provided in such a manner as to be movable in a horizontal direction. The left frame element has a shape of the left half of a circular ring and the right frame element has a shape of the right half of the circular ring. The frame elements are horizontally positioned away from each other such that the left frame element surrounds the left side of a circular meter image displayed on a display and the right frame element surrounds the right side of another circular meter image displayed on the display. Two frame interpolation part images are arranged and displayed on the display in a form that the two frame interpolation part images couple upper edges of the left and right frame elements to each other and couple lower edges of the left and right frame elements to each other, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Takashi Yasumoto, Taku Oikawa
  • Patent number: D713839
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Hideki Endo, Hiroshi Fujimoto
  • Patent number: D726044
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Hideki Endo, Takashi Ichikawa, Takayuki Horie, Munetaka Ito