JP2007050749A - Automobile periphery monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automobile periphery monitoring device capable of surely confirming the front side and the rear side of the automobile. <P>SOLUTION: The mirror included in the housing 10 of an outside mirror device 3 of the automobile is made to be a near-infrared reflection mirror 11, and a camera 12 capable of imaging the visible light 17 and the near infrared light 13 is disposed on the back surface of the near-infrared reflection mirror 11. An opening 15 is formed at the position which transmits the near-infrared light 13 reflected from the front side FR on the housing 10, and can be input in the lens 14 of the camera 12. The object imaged by the camera 12 can be displayed as the image on the monitor in a vehicle by an image processing device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle surroundings monitoring device, and more particularly to a device capable of separately monitoring the surroundings of a vehicle day and night using an outside mirror of the vehicle attached to a side door or a front fender.

A housing of an automobile outside mirror that is attached to a side door or a front fender has a built-in half mirror that can be seen, and a camera disposed on the back of the mirror (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
JP-A-7-186831

  However, in such an outside mirror of a conventional automobile, although it is possible to see the following vehicle, it cannot be denied that it is difficult to see because it is a half mirror. In addition, the front side must rely on the driver's visual inspection, and if there are no-light vehicles traveling in the front side at night, or whether pedestrians, wild animals, etc. are present in the direction of travel There is a risk of difficulty.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a conventional technique, and provides an automobile periphery monitoring device that can surely confirm the front side and the rear side of an automobile.

  The invention described in claim 1 is a near-infrared reflecting mirror as a mirror built in a housing of an outside mirror device of an automobile, and a camera capable of imaging visible rays and near-infrared rays is disposed on the back of the near-infrared reflecting mirror, An opening is formed at a position where the near-infrared light reflected from the front side can be transmitted to the housing and input to the lens of the camera, and the image captured by the camera can be displayed on a monitor inside the vehicle by an image processing device. It is characterized by that.

  The invention described in claim 2 is the vehicle surrounding monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing device can display a subject imaged by near-infrared light on the front side when no visible light from a following vehicle is detected. It is characterized by that.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, an object (such as a traveling vehicle without a light, a person, an animal, etc.) that cannot be confirmed with visible light by a near-infrared reflecting mirror and a camera capable of imaging visible light and near-infrared light. Since it can be surely grasped, safety will be increased. Further, since the opening is formed at a position where the near infrared light reflected from the front side can be transmitted to the housing and input to the lens of the camera, the front side can be confirmed more reliably. Furthermore, since the subject imaged by the camera can be displayed on the monitor in the vehicle by the image processing device, the monitor can be used even when it is difficult to check with naked eyes such as heavy snowstorms, heavy rain, and fog while driving the vehicle. It is possible to confirm with certainty.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the image processing apparatus can display the subject imaged by the near infrared ray on the front side when the visible light from the following vehicle is not detected. Thus, when the following vehicle is following by turning on the headlamp at night, it can be confirmed by being transmitted through the mirror as a visible light and picked up by the camera and displayed on the monitor. Similarly, in the state where there is no following vehicle at night, that is, in the state where no visible light is detected, the obstacles on the front side can be reliably imaged and imaged on the monitor.

  For the purpose of providing a vehicle surrounding monitoring device that can reliably check both the front side and the rear side of a vehicle, a mirror built in the housing of the outside mirror device of the vehicle is used as a near-infrared reflecting mirror, and the back of the near-infrared reflecting mirror is provided. A camera capable of imaging visible light and near-infrared light is disposed, and an opening is formed in the housing at a position where the near-infrared light reflected from the front side can be transmitted and input to the lens of the camera. This is achieved by enabling the image of the subject to be displayed on the monitor in the car by the image processing device.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes an automobile, and left and right doors 2 of the automobile 1 are respectively supported by symmetrical left and right outside mirrors 3. Reference numeral 4 denotes a front window panel, 5 denotes an inside mirror, 6 denotes a monitor provided on an instrument panel (not shown), and 7 denotes a steering wheel.

  The outside mirror 3 includes a hollow housing 10 supported by the door 2, a near-infrared reflecting mirror 11 built in the housing 10, and a rear surface of the near-infrared reflecting mirror 11, that is, the mirror 11. It is formed at a position where the visible light and near infrared rays arranged on the front side FR can be imaged, and the near infrared ray 13 reflected from the front side FR through the housing 10 can be transmitted and input to the lens 14 of the camera 12. An opening 15 is formed so that the subject imaged by the camera 12 can be displayed on the monitor 6 in the vehicle by the image processing device 16.

  The image processing device 16 receives visible light 17 such as light from a headlamp with which the following vehicle is lit, and near-infrared light 13 but does not detect visible light at night, that is, to the lens 14 of the camera 12. When there is no following vehicle to which the visible light 17 is not input, it is possible to display the subject imaged by the near-infrared ray 13 on the front FR on the monitor 6. This is because the visible light 17 and the near-infrared rays 13 and 19 have different wavelengths of light, so that the wavelength of the light processed by the image processing device 16 is changed between daytime and nighttime. It is possible to switch to the monitor 6 by the two light beams 17, 13 and 19. That is, the wavelength boundary between the visible light 17 and the near infrared rays 13 and 19 is about 670 nm, and the near infrared rays 13 and 19 having a wavelength longer than about 670 nm and the visible light 17 having a wavelength shorter than about 670 nm can be clearly distinguished. .

  The mirror 11 has a function of passing light in a wavelength portion of the visible light range and reflecting light in a wavelength portion of the near-infrared range of light. The visible light has a function as a mirror. It is not. Therefore, as described above, the mirror 11 transmits the near-infrared ray 13 input from the opening 15 to the rear surface 11a reflecting the lens 14 side of the camera 12, and the visible light 17 such as the headlamp of the subsequent automobile. Since it has a function, the near-infrared ray from the near-infrared projector 18 of the following automobile has a function of reflecting by the surface 11b.

  The camera 12 is composed of a CCD camera, for example, which can convert image light into an electrical image signal and output it as a predetermined video signal.

  The vehicle surrounding monitoring apparatus configured as described above is a target object (a traveling vehicle without a light) that cannot be confirmed with the visible light 17 by the near-infrared reflecting mirror 11 and the camera 12 capable of imaging the visible light 17 and the near-infrared light 13. , People, animals, etc.) can be grasped reliably, so it will be more secure.

  Further, since the opening 15 is formed at a position where the near infrared ray 13 reflected from the front side FR can be transmitted to the housing 10 and input to the lens 14 of the camera 12, the front side FR can be confirmed more reliably.

  Further, since the subject imaged by the camera 12 can be displayed on the monitor 6 in the vehicle by the image processing device 16, it is difficult to check with naked eyes such as heavy snowstorms, heavy rain, fog, etc. while driving the vehicle. In addition, it can be confirmed reliably by the monitor 6 and the safety is further increased.

  The image processing device 16 can display the subject imaged by the near-infrared ray 13 of the front side FR when the visible light 17 from the following vehicle is not detected, so that the following vehicle lights up the headlamp at night. If it is, the visible light 17 passes through the mirror 11 and is picked up by the camera 12 and displayed on the monitor 6 for confirmation. Similarly, when there is no following vehicle at night, that is, in a state where the visible light 17 is not detected, an obstacle or the like on the front FR can be reliably imaged and can be imaged on the monitor 6.

  Although the opening 10 is formed in the housing 10, a lens that prevents water droplets or the like from entering may be provided in the opening 15. Further, the position where the camera 12 is provided is not limited to the center of the back surface of the housing 10 but may be the lower surface side. The lens 14 may be a wide angle lens.

The side view which looked at the motor vehicle concerning one Example of this invention, especially the outside mirror from the side. The top view of FIG. Sectional drawing of the outside mirror of FIG. The circuit schematic diagram of the apparatus with which the outside mirror of FIG. 1 thru | or 3 was equipped.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automobile 3 Outside mirror 6 Monitor 10 Housing 11 Near-infrared reflecting mirror 12 Camera 13, 19 Near-infrared 14 Camera lens 15 Opening formed in housing 16 Image processing device 17 Visible light

Claims (2)

  The mirror built in the housing of the outside mirror device of the automobile is a near-infrared reflecting mirror, and a camera capable of imaging visible light and near-infrared is arranged on the back of the near-infrared reflecting mirror, and the housing reflects the light from the front side. A vehicle surrounding characterized in that an opening is formed at a position where near infrared rays can be transmitted and input to the lens of the camera, and an image captured by the camera can be displayed on a monitor in the vehicle by an image processing device. Monitoring device. The vehicle surrounding monitoring apparatus according to claim 1,
The vehicle surrounding monitoring device, wherein the image processing device is capable of displaying a subject imaged by a near-infrared ray on the front side when no visible light from a following vehicle is detected.

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