JP2550946B2 - Monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in the following order.

A Industrial field B Outline of invention C Conventional technology D Problems to be solved by the invention E Means for solving problems (Fig. 1) F Action G Example G ₁ Test description G ₂ Power supply Description of Control H Effect of Invention A Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a monitoring apparatus using a plurality of television cameras.

B. Summary of the Invention The present invention is a monitoring apparatus using a plurality of television cameras, in which the output signals of the plurality of television cameras are sequentially switched and supplied to a monitor, and the output signals of the plurality of television cameras are used for image change detection images. It is possible to set a different cycle independently of the cycle of sequential switching and supply to the processing section, and when an image change is detected by the image processing section, the monitor detects that an image change has occurred. By providing the output signal, the user-friendliness is improved.

C Conventional Technology As a conventional monitoring device, a device that detects an abnormality using infrared rays or the like has been proposed. However, even if an abnormality is detected, it is necessary to go to the spot to see what kind of situation has occurred. And there was the inconvenience that no evidence remained.

Therefore, a monitoring device using a television camera and a monitor has been conventionally proposed.

D Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the conventional surveillance device using the television camera and the monitor as described above, it is necessary for a person to supervise the device, and a long-time VTR (video tape) is used for recording. In the case of using a recorder), there is a risk that important scenes may be missed because time-lapse recording is performed.

The present invention provides a monitoring device that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and particularly aims to improve the usability for the user.

E Means for Solving Problems (FIG. 1) The present invention relates to a plurality of television cameras, a first switch circuit for sequentially switching and outputting output signals from the plurality of television cameras at a first cycle, and The output signal from the switch circuit of No. 1 is supplied, the image processing unit that detects a change in the image, the alarm generation circuit that generates an alarm based on the output signal of the image processing unit, and the output signals of the plurality of TV cameras are sequentially output. A second switch circuit that switches and outputs in the second cycle and switches to the television camera in which an image change is detected based on the output signal of the image processing unit, and a second switch circuit based on the output signal of the image processing unit Monitoring device having a printer unit for printing an image based on the output signal of the switch circuit and a monitor to which the output signal of the second switch circuit is supplied and which displays the image based on the output signal One in which the.

F action In the above-mentioned configuration, the cycle of sequentially supplying the output signals of the plurality of television cameras (1) to the monitor (6) (the switching cycle of the second switch circuit (11)) is set to the output of the plurality of television cameras (1). In the image processing unit (30), the signal processing unit (30) can be set to a different cycle independently of the cycle in which the signals are sequentially supplied to the image processing unit (30) (the switching cycle of the first switch circuit (33)). The image change can be promptly detected, and the user can freely select the image change on the monitor (6). Moreover, when the image change of the image processing section (30) is detected, the monitor (6) is supplied with the output signal from the television camera in which the image change is detected, and the image resulting therefrom is displayed.

G Example An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In the figure, (1) is a television camera, and a video signal S _V from this television camera (1) is supplied to a switch circuit (11) constituting a switcher section (10) via a line l _V. Further, (2) is a microphone attached to the television camera (1), and (3) is a conventionally well-known sensor using infrared rays or the like. Sensor detection signal (DC signal) S _S (3) is superimposed on the audio signal S _A from the microphone (2) with superposition circuit (4), the output signal switcher via line l _a superposition circuit (4) Audio signal supplied to the switch section (10) and separated in this switcher section (10)
S _A is supplied to the switch circuit (12), and the DC detection signal S _S separated in the switcher section (10) is CP.
Supplied to the alarm input terminal of U (Central Processing Unit) (13).

Further, although FIG. 1 shows the television camera (1), the microphone (2) and the sensor (3) for only one channel (one set), for example, a total of eight channels (eight sets).
Are provided and connected in the same manner as described above. Therefore, the video signal S _V from the 8-channel television camera (1) arranged at a different location is supplied in parallel to the switch circuit (11), and the switch circuit (12) receives the 8-channel microphones. The audio signal S _A from (2) is supplied in parallel, and the detection signal S _S from each sensor (3) of 8 channels is supplied to the alarm input terminal of the CPU (13).
Are supplied in parallel.

Switching of the switch circuits (11) and (12) is based on the user's operation on the control panel (5).
Controlled by (13). For example, FIG. 2 shows the top of the control panel (5), and the switch circuits (11) and (12) are switched to the selected channel by pressing the channel selection switches (71) to (78). . Also, by pressing the auto scan switch (51), the scan speed setting operator (52) is slid to switch the switch circuits (11) and (12) sequentially at a set cycle (for example, 1 to 60 seconds). Switch to a different channel. In this case, the channels (auto scan channels) to be sequentially switched are selected as follows.

First, the auto scan switch (51) is pressed. At this time, channel selection switches (71) to (78)
Each time you press, the switch part turns on and off repeatedly, but the channel selection switch part of the channel that requires sequential switching is turned on and the pressed state of the auto scan switch (51) is released. . As a result, the channel corresponding to the illuminated channel selection switch is selected as the auto scan channel.

It should be noted that the channel whose function is turned off cannot be selected by the function selection switch described later.

In addition, the video signal S _V output from the switch circuit (11)
Is supplied to the adder (14). This adder (14) has CP
Under the control of U (13), the character signal for displaying the date, time and channel generated by the character signal generator (15) is supplied and added to the video signal S _V. Then, the video signal S _V to which the character signal is added is supplied to the fixed terminal on the A side of the changeover switch (17) via the gate circuit (16), and to the fixed terminal on the B side of this changeover switch (17). The video signal S _V ′ is supplied from the external video signal input terminal (18 V), and the video signal obtained from this selector switch (17) is the amplifier (19).
Is supplied to the video signal output terminal (20V) via.

Also, the audio signal S _A output from the switch circuit (12)
Is supplied to the fixed terminal on the A side of the changeover switch (21), and the sound signal S _A ′ from the external sound signal input terminal (18A) is supplied to the fixed terminal on the B side of this changeover switch (21). The audio signal obtained from the changeover switch (21) is supplied to the audio signal output terminal (20A) via the amplifier (22). The video signal and audio signal output from the amplifiers (19) and (22) are supplied to the monitor (6).

Switching of the changeover switches (17) and (21) is based on the user's operation on the control panel (5).
3) controlled by. For example, by pressing the external selection switch (53) in FIG. 2, the changeover switches (17) and (21) are sequentially and alternately connected to the A side and the B side. When the changeover switches (17) and (21) are connected to the A side, an image based on the video signal S _V is displayed on the monitor (6) and a sound based on the audio signal S _A is generated. on the other hand,
When the changeover switches (17) and (21) are connected to the B side,
An image based on the video signal S _V ′ is displayed on the monitor (6) and a sound based on the audio signal S _A ′ is generated.

Further, the video signal S _V from each TV camera (1) of 8 channels is sent to the image processing unit (30) via the adder (23).
Is supplied to the binarization circuit (31) and the sync separation circuit (32). The video signal S _V2 binarized by the binarization circuit (31) is supplied to the switch circuit (33), and the sync signal Ssync separated by the sync separation circuit (32) is supplied to the switch circuit (34). . Switching between these switch circuits (33) and (34) is CP
Controlled by U (35). In this case, only the sensing channel among the eight channels is switched sequentially. The sensing channel is a channel for which the "print" or "alarm" function is selected. Such function selection is performed by function selection slide switches (91) to (98) provided on the control panel (5) as shown in FIG. Here, the "print" function is a function that, when an image change is detected in the image processing unit (30), an alarm is generated and the image of that channel is printed out. The "alarm" function is This is a function to generate an alarm when an image change is detected in the image processing section (30). In the case of the "monitor" function, the image processing section (30) does not detect the image change as described above, and therefore neither an alarm is generated nor the image of the channel is printed out.
The switch circuits (33) and (34) can be switched, for example, from 1/30
It is performed at a cycle of 1/60 seconds.

The video signal S _V2 from the switch circuit (33) is supplied to the serial / parallel conversion circuit (36) including a shift register, for example. Further, the synchronization signal Ssync from the switch circuit (34) is supplied to the address comparator (37), and the position address is formed from this synchronization signal Ssync, and C
It is compared with the specified position address supplied by the PU (35). Then, when they match, a matching pulse P _o is supplied from the address comparator (37) to the conversion circuit (36),
The shift operation in the conversion circuit (36) is stopped, and the data in the shift register is converted into parallel data by the CPU (35).
Is written to a predetermined address of the RAM (38) via the. CPU
The designated position address from (35) is changed sequentially, and RAM (3
As much data as necessary is written in 8).

Further, reference data based on the video signal S _V2 when there is no change in the image is written in the RAM (38) in advance.

The above operation is performed for each sensing channel. Then, the CPU (35) compares the reference data with the current data sequentially written in the RAM (38) for each sensing channel.
Bit image change alarm output signal S _AL is output.
Of the 4 bits, 3 bits are channel data and 1 bit is alarm data. The CPU (35) is the ROM (3
9) Made to work by the program in.

In addition, the alarm output signal S _AL from the CPU (35) is
It is supplied to the alarm input terminal of 3).

When the alarm output signal S _AL is supplied from the CPU (13) signal S _C is output, together with an alarm generating circuit (24) is driven consisting buzzer or lamp by the signal S _C, the signal S _C Is supplied to the external alarm output terminal (25).

When the alarm output signal S _AL is supplied, the switch circuits (11) and (12) are switched to the corresponding channels, and the changeover switches (17) and (21) are connected to the B side. Is also forcibly connected to the A side. Then, the video signal of the corresponding channel is displayed on the monitor (6).
An image is displayed by S _V. The printer trigger signal S _TR from the CPU (13) is the trigger control circuit (26).
Is supplied to the CPU (41) of the printer unit (40) via the. When the trigger signal S _TR is supplied to the CPU (41), the memory control circuit (42) is controlled, and the video signal S _V of the corresponding channel from the amplifier (19) is transferred to the A / D converter (43).
Then, after being converted into a digital signal, one field is written in the video memory (44). Then, the memory control circuit (42) sequentially reads the data from the video memory (44) and supplies the data to the printer head (45), the printer motor (46) is driven, and the image of the corresponding channel is printed out. It

Note that the video memory (44) has, for example, four field memories, and even when four trigger signals S _TR are continuously supplied to the CPU (41), the video memory (44) has a corresponding channel. Each video signal S _V is stored in the video memory (44).
Fields are written. When all four field memories are used without printing out, the CPU (41) triggers the trigger control circuit (2
6) Printer Vissey signal _SPB is supplied to CPU (41)
The trigger signal S _TR is not supplied to.

Further, although the above description has been given of the case where the alarm output signal S _AL is supplied to the CPU (13), the same operation is performed when an image change is detected by the detection signal S _S.

By the way, the threshold level E _o in the binarization circuit (31) of the image processing unit (30) is set so as to allow the image processing unit (30) to operate normally, from the television camera (1) of each channel. It is necessary to set correctly for each channel according to the level of the video signal S _V. When in level as shown video signal S _V is by the solid line in Figure 3 A, the threshold level E _o, for example, as shown by broken line in FIG. A, the video signal S _V
It is sufficient to set it to a substantially intermediate level of. At this time, 2
The video signal S _V2 from the binarization circuit (31) is as shown in FIG. The threshold level E _o is set for each channel as follows.

First, the setting mode is selected by the slide switch (54) of the control panel (5) shown in FIG. At this time, the changeover switch (17), by the control of the CPU (13),
The reference numeral (21) is connected to the A side, and the video signal S _V is supplied to the monitor (6) through the gate circuit (16) to display an image by the video signal S _V.

Next, the channel selection switches (71) to (78) are pressed to select the channel for which the threshold level E _o is to be set. At this time, by the control of the CPU (13), the switch circuits (11) and (12) of the switcher unit (10) and the switch circuits (33) and (34) of the image processing unit (30) are switched to the selected channels, respectively. Can be switched.

In this case, the gate circuit (16) is controlled by the CPU (13) so that the video signal S _V from the adder (14) is gated by the binarized video signal S _V2 from the switch circuit (33). Done. Incidentally, during the normal operation, the gate circuit (16) allows the video signal S _V from the adder (14) to pass therethrough. Therefore, when the video signal S _V from the adder (14) is as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3A and the video signal S _V2 from the switch circuit (33) is as shown in B in the same figure, the gate is The circuit (16) outputs a video signal S _V as shown in FIG. 6C, which is supplied to the monitor (6) and an image based on this is displayed.

Next, the threshold level E is set by rotating the operators (81) to (88) for setting the threshold level E _o arranged corresponding to each channel on the control panel (5). _{When o} is adjusted, the video signal S _V2 changes, and the video signal S _V from the gate circuit (16) changes, and the image on the monitor (6) changes. Therefore, while observing the image on the monitor (6), the threshold level E _o is adjusted as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 3A, for example. At this time,
In the image on the monitor (6), for example, a bright portion and a dark portion are approximately half and half.

Next, when the operation mode is selected by the slide switch (54), the operation state is restored.

G ₁ Test description As described above, when the image of the sensing channel changes, the image processing unit (30) outputs the alarm output signal S _AL and the alarm generation circuit (24) generates an alarm. Alternatively, although the image of that channel is printed out, it is necessary to check (test) whether the image processing unit (30) operates normally. In this example, it is configured to be performed manually or automatically.

That is, to perform a manual test, the test switch (55) on the control panel (5) is pressed. At this time, the noise generation circuit (27) is controlled by the CPU (13), and noise _SN from this noise generation circuit (27) is added by the adder (23) to the video signal S from the 8-channel television camera (1). _It is added to _V , and this is supplied to the binarization circuit (31). Then, the switch circuits (11) and (1
2) and the switch circuits (33), (3) of the image processing unit (30)
In 4), each of the sensing channels is sequentially switched at a predetermined cycle in synchronization with each other.

When the noise S _N is added to the video signal S _V , the image changes in a pseudo manner. Therefore, when the image processing unit (30) is operating normally, the CPU (35) does not operate as described above. The alarm output signal S _AL is output to the image processing unit (30)
If is not operating normally, the CPU (35) does not output the alarm output signal _SAL .

When the test switch (55) of the control panel (5) is pressed, the changeover switches (17), (21) are connected to the A side under the control of the CPU (13). In addition, the trigger control circuit (26) from the CPU (13) corresponds to the switching to each sensing channel in sequence.
The printer trigger signal S _TR is sequentially supplied to the CPU (41) of the printer unit (40) via the, and the character signal generator (15) outputs the character signal representing the date, time, channel, and the like. Alarm output signal on channel
When _SAL is output, a character signal representing "OK" is generated, and when it is not output, a character signal representing "NG" is generated and added to the video signal _SV in the adder (14). Therefore, for each sensing channel,
An image with "OK" or "NG" superimposed is displayed on the monitor (6), and "OK" is displayed on the printer unit (40).
Alternatively, the image in which “NG” is superimposed is printed.

It should be noted that when the above-mentioned operation is completed in each of the sensing channels, the normal operation state is restored.

When “NG” is displayed, it means that the image processing section (30) is not operating normally in that channel. Therefore, for example, the threshold level E _o of the binarization circuit (31) described above should be set. It will be done again.

Next, in the automatic test, the same operation as the above-described manual test is automatically performed every fixed period, for example, every 10 days.

FIG. 4 shows a general flow chart of the operation of the example of FIG. 1 including the operations of the manual test and the automatic test described above. Incidentally, when the monitoring apparatus of FIG. 1 is operated by the timer, it is possible that the power is turned off during the automatic test. At that time, the power is turned on and then turned off.

G ₂ Power Supply Control In addition, in FIG. 1, (7) is a power supply circuit, and this power supply circuit (7) is necessary for the switcher part (10), the image processing part (30), and the printer part (40). Power is supplied. Further, power is supplied to the 8-channel television camera (1) through the power control circuit (28) of the switcher section (10). This power control circuit (2
8) is controlled by the CPU (13), and the power supply to the 8-channel television camera (1) is controlled as follows.

First, when the power is turned on, power is supplied to the TV cameras (1) of all channels, and the channels not connected to the cameras are checked by the presence or absence of a synchronization signal. Next, the functions are not turned off by the function selection switches (91) to (98), and power is supplied to the TV camera (1) of all channels to which the camera is connected, and at the same time, the youngest channel is selected. It will be in the state of being set (manual mode). In this state, when the channel selection switches (71) to (78) are not pressed within a predetermined period, for example, 30 seconds, the TV camera (1) of the youngest channel and the TV camera (1) of the sensing channel after the predetermined period has elapsed. The power supply to the other TV cameras (1) except for is stopped. Further, when the channel selection switches (71) to (78) are pressed within the predetermined period, the above-mentioned predetermined period is newly started from the time of selection. Then, in this state, when the channel selection switches (71) to (78) are not pressed within a predetermined period, the TV camera (1) of the selected channel and the TV camera (1) of the sensing channel are excluded after the predetermined period has elapsed. The power supply to the other TV cameras (1) is stopped. Also,
When the channel selection switches (71) to (78) are pressed after a predetermined period, the function selection switches (91) to (9) are again pressed.
Power is supplied to the TV camera (1) of all channels to which the function is not turned off and the camera is connected by 8), and the same operation as described above is performed. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing this operation.

When the auto scan switch (51) is pressed (auto scan mode), the power supply to the other TV cameras (1) except the TV camera (1) for the auto scan channel and the sensing channel is stopped. . FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing this operation.

In addition, the monitor (6) has a power control circuit (2
Power is supplied from 8).

Further, in the control panel (5) shown in FIG. 2, (56) is a power switch, (57) is a printer section (4).
(0) is a switch for pulling out the print paper, (58) is a switch for causing the printer section (40) to print the image of the video signal supplied at that time, and (59) is written in the video memory (44). A switch for printing an image of a video signal, (60) is a switch for setting or releasing the image so that the image is automatically printed when the alarm output signal _SAL is output, as described above, ( 61) is a switch for setting or canceling the timer operation, (62) is a switch for setting or canceling the alarm generation circuit (24) to operate, and (63) is an alarm generation The light emitting diode which constitutes the circuit (24), (64) which constitutes the alarm generating circuit (24), for example, an operator for setting the volume of the buzzer, and (65) which detects the image change. A switch group for setting the output range, and (66) is a switch group for setting the time or timer.

In the example described above, for example, 10
Since it is automatically checked whether or not the image processing unit (30) normally operates every day, the operation of the image processing unit (30) can be completed. Further, since the printer unit (40) also operates when automatically checked in this way, there is an advantage that it is also checked whether or not the printer unit (40) normally operates.

In this example, the switching cycle of the switch circuits (11) and (12) of the switcher section (10) is independent of the switching cycles of the switch circuits (33) and (34) of the image processing section (30). Can be freely set by the user using the operation element (52) on the control panel (5), so that the usability can be improved. Further, when the image processing section (40) outputs the alarm output signal S _AL , the switch circuit (1
Since 1) and 12 are switched to the corresponding channels and the image of this channel is displayed on the monitor 6, there is no problem.

Further, in this example, the power supply to the TV camera (1) is controlled by the power control circuit (28), and the unnecessary power supply to the TV camera (1) is stopped. In addition, the life of the television camera (1), especially the image pickup device, can be extended. Also, in manual mode,
For example, since power is supplied to all TV cameras (1) for 30 seconds, when selecting another channel within this period, there is no image deterioration due to unstable start-up, and user discomfort. There is a benefit of not giving.

H According to the present invention described above, the output signals of a plurality of TV cameras are sequentially switched and supplied to the monitor, and the output signals of a plurality of TV cameras are sequentially supplied to the image processing unit for image change detection. Since it is possible to arbitrarily set a different cycle independently of the cycle, it is possible to improve the usability for the user. Moreover, when an image change is detected by the image processing unit, there is no problem because the monitor outputs the output signal from the television camera in which the image change is detected and is displayed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control panel, and FIGS. 3 to 6 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the example of FIG. (1) is a TV camera, (6) is a monitor, (7) is a power circuit, (10) is a switcher section, (11) (12) (33)
And (34) are switch circuits, (13) and (35) are CPUs,
(24) is the alarm generation circuit, (27) is the noise generation circuit,
(28) is a power supply control circuit, (30) is an image processing unit,
(40) is a printer section.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of television cameras, a first switch circuit for sequentially switching and outputting output signals from the plurality of television cameras in a first cycle, and an output signal from the first switch circuit is supplied. An image processing unit that detects a change in the image, an alarm generation circuit that generates an alarm based on the output signal of the image processing unit, and the output signals of the plurality of television cameras are sequentially switched in the second cycle and output. And a second switch circuit that switches to the television camera in which an image change is detected based on the output signal of the image processing unit, and an output signal of the second switch circuit based on the output signal of the image processing unit. And a monitor that is supplied with the output signal of the second switch circuit and that displays the image according to the output signal. Place.