JP3031139B2 - Camera system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera system for a vehicle body, and more particularly to a camera system for displaying a blind spot from a driver's seat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a system for projecting a blind spot of a field of view from a driver's seat, a mirror system for projecting a field of view behind and to the side of a vehicle body with a rearview mirror, a side mirror or the like is well known. However, in the case of the conventional mirror system, since the mirror protrudes from the vehicle body, it hinders traveling on a narrow road. Further, since each mirror projects from the vehicle body, noise is generated during traveling. Furthermore, when the trailer is connected to the tractor, there is a problem that the view behind the side of the trailer cannot be seen except when the vehicle is traveling straight, which is dangerous. Therefore, two cameras are mounted on the center of the rear upper part of the trailer and on the left and right of the front end of the trailer to project the blind spot of the field of view from the driver's seat. A method of displaying images on a monitor is introduced in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-84749.

[0003]

However, in the above-described camera system, instruments such as a speedometer and a tachometer are separately arranged from a monitor, so that it is difficult to coexist them, and visibility is poor. There is a problem.

An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera system with good visibility in which instruments such as a speedometer and a tachometer coexist with a monitor.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A plurality of cameras provided outside the vehicle body and having at least a blind spot in the field of view from the driver's seat, and arranged in the driver's seat,
Multiple monitors that display images from the camera, a speed sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle, and when the vehicle is below a predetermined speed, the speed at that time is digitally displayed on a part of the screen of one of the monitors. Control means for displaying the lower portion near the vehicle body in the traveling direction of the vehicle body on the remaining portion of the screen, and displaying at least the speed of the vehicle on the entire surface of the screen when the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when the control means is at a predetermined speed or less, the speed at that time is digitally displayed on a part of the screen of one of the plurality of monitors, and the vehicle body is displayed on the remaining part of the screen. reflects the vehicle body near the bottom of the traveling direction of the vehicle when the above predetermined speed, since the display speed of at least the vehicle over the entire surface of the screen, and a vehicle body near the bottom of the traveling direction of the velocity and the vehicle body in a single monitor You can see.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference symbol E indicates a cab of a tractor. At the center of the front upper part of the cab E, a camera 1 having a field of view near the front lower part of the vehicle body within a blind spot from the driver's seat.
Is arranged. At the center of the roof panel E1 of the cab E, there is a camera 2 having a field of view in front of the vehicle body, and at the front of the upper side panel E2 on the left side of the cab E, a camera having a field of view near the left side of the vehicle body. 3 and a camera 4 having a field of view on the left rear side of the vehicle body is disposed at the rear of the upper portion of the side panel E2. In FIG. 1, a trailer F is connected behind the cab E.
A camera 8 having a view behind the left side of the trailer F is provided above the left front portion of the trailer F, and a lower portion near the rear portion of the trailer F is provided near the center of the rear upper portion of the trailer F. A camera 9 is provided for each. As shown in FIG. 2, a camera 6 having a field of view near the lower right side of the vehicle body is provided at a front upper portion of the side panel E3 on the right side of the cab E.
However, a camera 7 having a field of view on the right rear side of the vehicle body is provided at a rear portion of an upper portion of the side panel E3, and a camera 5 having a field of view behind the vehicle body is provided at the center of the upper rear portion of the cab E.
A camera 10 having a field of view behind the right side of the trailer F is provided above the right front part of the vehicle.
Cameras 11 each having a field of view in the rear of the vehicle body are disposed in the body mounting portion L behind the connecting portion 12 for connecting the trailer F to the vehicle.

Since the cameras 1 to 11 have the same configuration, the configuration will be described with the camera 1 as a representative. As shown in FIG. 3, the camera 1 has a casing 13 attached to the outside of the vehicle body by appropriate means, a camera body 14 arranged inside the casing 13, and a camera body 14 arranged outside a lens 15 of the camera body 14. It is mainly composed of a transparent cover 16. As the lens 15, a wide-angle lens is used to widen the field of view. In addition, an infrared camera or the like is used so that an image can be taken even at night. Camera 1,
2, 3, and 6 show normal images by cameras 4, 5, 7, 11, 8,
Reference numerals 9 and 10 project the reverse image on a monitor described later.

As shown in FIG. 4, the driver's seat inside the cab E is provided with a camera 1, a camera 2, a camera 11 or a camera 9.
Monitor 17 for projecting images from the camera, and monitor 19 for projecting images from the camera 3, camera 4, or camera 8.
And a monitor 18 for displaying an image from the camera 6, the camera 7, or the camera 10. Monitor 17
When the speed of the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, as shown in FIG. 5, the speed and the number of revolutions at that time are digitally displayed on the lower portion 17a of the screen of the monitor 17 by a control means 21 described later. When the speed is equal to or higher than the speed, the speed and the number of revolutions at that time are displayed on the entire screen of the monitor 17 in an analog manner. Reference numeral 20 in the figure indicates a changeover switch. The driver can select a blind spot image to be displayed on each of the monitors 17, 18, and 19 by selectively turning on and off the changeover switch 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cameras 1 to 11 are connected to a control means 21 for selectively operating a camera for transmitting an image displayed on monitors 17, 18, and 19. The control means 21 includes a speed sensor 22 for detecting the speed of the vehicle and a speed sensor 2 for detecting the speed of the engine.
3, a vehicle height sensor 24 for detecting the height of the vehicle body, and a distance sensor 25 for detecting the distance to the obstacle, and information on the width of the vehicle body is stored. The control means 21 controls the monitors 17, 18, 1 based on the output signals of the sensors described above.
9 is selected and controlled.

The display operation of the monitor 17 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, at step 61, it is determined whether the speed of the vehicle is equal to or higher than 20 km / h. If yes in step 61, the process proceeds to step 63, in which the speed of the vehicle and the number of revolutions of the engine are displayed in analog on the entire screen of the monitor 17.

If no in step 61, step 62
Then, the speed of the vehicle and the number of revolutions of the engine are displayed as digital numbers on a part of the screen of the monitor 17, and the lower portion near the vehicle body in the traveling direction of the vehicle body is displayed on the remaining screens.

Next, the monitors 17, 1 are divided into a case where only the tractor is used and a case where a trailer is connected to the tractor.
The display operations 8 and 19 will be described. When only the tractor is used and the vehicle speed is 20 km / h or less and the vehicle body is moving forward, when the engine is started to rotate, a rotation speed sensor 23, a speed sensor 22, a vehicle height sensor 24,
Signals are input to the control means 21 from the distance sensor 25 and the cameras 1 and 2, respectively, and the speed of the vehicle and the number of revolutions of the engine are displayed on a part of the screen of the monitor 17 by digital numbers as described above. The image from the camera 1 is projected on the screen of the monitor 17, and the image from the camera 5 is projected on the remaining screen of the monitor 17 when the vehicle body is moving backward. An image from the camera 3 or 4 is displayed on the monitor 19, and an image is displayed on the monitor 18.
An image from the camera 6 or 7 is displayed. Switching between the cameras 3 and 4 and between the cameras 6 and 7 may be performed by the driver arbitrarily operating the switch 20.

When the speed of the vehicle is 20 km / h or more using only the tractor, the control means 21
7, the speed of the vehicle and the number of revolutions of the engine are displayed on the entire screen as described above.
The image from the camera 6 or 7 is projected on the monitor 18.

In order to connect the trailer F to the tractor, the driver operates the switch button 20 to project the connection portion 26 of the trailer F shown in FIG. Just do it.

When a trailer is connected to the tractor and the speed of the vehicle is 20 km / h or less and the vehicle body is moving forward, when the engine is started to rotate, the rotation speed sensor 23 is turned on.
, A speed sensor 22, a vehicle height sensor 24, a distance sensor 25, and a signal are input to the control means 21 from the cameras 1 and 2, and the speed of the vehicle is displayed on a part of the screen of the monitor 17 as described above. The number of revolutions of the engine is displayed as a digital number, and the image from the camera 1 is displayed on the remaining screen of the monitor 17. When the vehicle body is moving backward, the image from the camera 9 is displayed on the remaining screen of the monitor 17. Monitor 1
An image from the camera 3 or 8 is displayed on 9, and an image from the camera 6 or 10 is displayed on the monitor 18.

When the speed of the vehicle is 20 km / h or more, the control means 21
Displays the vehicle speed and the engine speed on the entire screen of the monitor 17 as described above.
The image from the camera 3 or 8 and the image from the camera 6 or 10 are displayed on the monitor 18.

When there is an obstacle that obstructs the passage of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction and the vehicle height direction, the control means 21 controls the vehicle width information stored in advance, the cameras 1, 2 and the distance sensor. It is determined whether or not the vehicle body can pass based on information input from the vehicle height sensor 24 and the vehicle height sensor 24. When the control means 21 determines that the vehicle body can pass through the obstacle, the control means 21 displays a green lamp at an appropriate position on the screen of the monitor 17. A red lamp is displayed at an appropriate position on the screen.

It is a matter of course that the images from all the cameras 1 to 11 can be arbitrarily displayed on the monitors 17, 18 and 19 regardless of the driving state of the vehicle body.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the speed of the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined speed, the control means digitally displays the speed at that time on a part of the screen of one of the plurality of monitors, and displays the vehicle speed in the traveling direction of the vehicle body on the remaining portion of the screen. When the vehicle is at or above a predetermined speed, at least the speed of the vehicle is displayed on the entire screen, so that instruments such as speedometers and tachometers and monitors coexist, providing a camera system with good visibility. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view in which a tractor on which a camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted and a trailer are connected.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state where a tractor and a trailer shown in FIG. 1 are divided.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the camera.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a driver's seat of the tractor shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the camera system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a monitor display operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11}
{Camera 12} Connecting part 13} Casing 14} Camera body 15} Lens 16} Cover 17, 18 , 19 ‥‥‥‥‥‥ monitor 20 ‥‥‥‥‥‥ changeover switch 21 ‥‥‥‥‥‥ control means 22 ‥‥‥‥‥‥ speed sensor 23 ‥‥‥‥‥‥ rotation speed sensor 24 ‥‥‥ ‥‥‥ Vehicle height sensor 25 ‥‥‥‥‥‥ Distance sensor E ‥‥‥‥‥‥ Cab F ‥‥‥‥‥‥ Trailer L ‥‥‥‥‥‥ Body section

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 1/00 H04N 7/18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of cameras provided outside a vehicle body and having at least a blind spot in a field of view from a driver's seat, a plurality of monitors arranged in a driver's seat and displaying images from the cameras, and a speed of the vehicle. digital a speed sensor for detecting a, when the vehicle is below a predetermined speed, a part of the screen of one monitor of the plurality of monitors, the speed at that time
Le is displayed, to the rest of the screen reflects the vehicle body near the bottom of the traveling direction of the vehicle, including when the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, and control means for displaying the speed of at least the vehicle over the entire surface of the screen, the Camera system.