JP2000125156A - Electronic camera system for confirming surroundings - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an electronic camera system for confirming surroundings that uses one electronic camera and varies its direction so as to allow the camera to select continuously or intermittently its photographing direction in a plurality of directions thereby photographing and confirming a state of surroundings of the electronic camera in diversified ways. SOLUTION: An electronic camera 340 of this electronic camera system 310 is arranged at one end part of a chassis 330 fixed in a housing 320 while pivotally supporting the camera with a turning shaft 347, a camera angle changeover device 350 is placed and fixed to another end part of the chassis 330, a tip of an arm 344 of the electronic camera 340 is connected to an angle changeover device 350 via a slide arm 353. A direction of rotation of a motor 351 of the angle changeover device 350 is set forward/reverse to move the slide arm 353 in a direction of the arrow A or B so as to select a photographing direction of the electronic camera 340 in a downward direction or a forward (or rearward) direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera device for confirming the surroundings of an electronic camera, such as a CCD camera, by changing the angle of the electronic camera so that a relatively wide range of surroundings can be photographed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle is effective as an electronic camera using this kind of electronic camera for confirming the surroundings. When the peripheral confirmation electronic camera device is mounted on a vehicle, at least two electronic cameras are housed inside a door mirror housing or the like of the vehicle, and like the conventional door mirror,
While one vehicle is running, it captures the situation behind and diagonally behind the vehicle and displays an image on a monitor arranged in the driver's seat so that the situation can be confirmed. It is built-in to check the situation, and when parking, the electronic camera shoots the situation of the side and / or lower front wheel tires and the vicinity and displays the image on the monitor, Electronic camera devices for vehicles have been proposed.

[0003] As a rear confirmation device using an electronic camera, for example, a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-266740, "Vehicle Rear Confirmation Camera" has been proposed. The in-vehicle rear view confirmation camera will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a partial side view of a vehicle showing a configuration of a conventional in-vehicle rear view camera, and FIG.
3 is a monitor screen on which an image captured by the vehicle-mounted rear view confirmation camera shown in FIG.

[0004] In this conventional vehicle rear view confirmation camera apparatus 200, an electronic camera 203 for rear view is provided in an interior 208 of a body 201 at the rear of the vehicle, and the electronic camera 20 is provided.
An opening 207 is provided on the surface of the body 201 where the opening 3 is provided, and the opening 207 is provided in the opening 207.
A cover 204 having an area that covers the opening is openably and closably attached to the upper edge of the opening 207 with a hinge 206, and is located on the back surface of the cover 204 within the field of view of the back confirmation electronic camera 203. It has a structure provided with a mirror 205 that reflects the blind spot of 203.

[0005] With this configuration, the conventional rear-view camera device 200 for a vehicle has a mirror 205 on the back surface of the cover 204 in a part of the field of view of the electronic camera 203.
The cover 204 is opened upward such that the electronic camera 203 moves backward from the horizontal line H on the screen of the monitor, as shown in FIG. A) A technology which can simultaneously project an image directly photographing A) and an image indirectly photographing a lower situation (field of view B) immediately adjacent to the bumper 202 by a mirror 205 on a portion above the horizontal line H. It is.

However, the former electronic camera device for confirming the surroundings requires two expensive electronic cameras.
Peripheral devices for that purpose are also required, making the device expensive as a whole.

[0007] In the latter rear-viewing camera device for in-vehicle use, an electronic camera is housed in a vehicle, and an opening 207 is formed by a cover 204.
Has the advantage of preventing wind noise when driving and theft during parking.However, it must be built into the vehicle at the time of manufacture of the vehicle, which increases the cost of the vehicle. Become. Also, it is not suitable for separate installation after purchasing the vehicle. Furthermore, a space for incorporating the space is required, and in a small vehicle or the like, a valuable space must be devoted to the space. Furthermore, since the angle at which the cover 204 is opened is an angle at which the mirror 205 enters a part of the field of view of the electronic camera 203, when the vehicle retreats, the image of the situation behind the vehicle and the image immediately below the bumper are displayed on the same screen of the monitor. The image of the situation will be projected, and the area on the monitor where each image is originally projected on a small screen monitor will be narrowed, and the driver will be able to see, for example, sharp blades and wires. A very small, very small but very dangerous object is very difficult to see.

[0008] In order to solve these problems of the conventional electronic camera device for confirming the periphery, the present inventor invented and filed by the present applicant on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10-2, September 25, 1998.
In 70839 “Electronic camera device with field-of-view switching device”, when the field of view of one electronic camera is switched by changing the elevation angle of one mirror disposed in front and mounted on a vehicle,
On the same screen of the monitor, it is possible to display the image of the situation behind or on the side of the vehicle and the image of the situation immediately below or just below the side of the bumper. In addition, a versatile electronic camera device for confirming the surroundings, which is suitable for use not only for vehicles but also for security cameras, has been proposed.

A detailed description of the structure and the configuration is described in the specification of the above-mentioned application, and is omitted here, but FIG.
As shown in FIG.
The common chassis 10 is mounted and fixed inside the
An electronic camera 20 is attached to the center of the chassis 10, a mirror device 30 is attached to the rear portion 2B, and a mirror angle switching device 40 is attached to the front portion 2A.

When a switch provided on a dashboard or the like in front of the driver's seat is turned on, the electronic camera 20 is operated, and by switching a switch (not shown) to one side, the motor 4 of the mirror angle switching device 40 is switched.
8, the slide arm 43 is moved in the direction of the right arrow A by the power applied by the power transmission device 42, for example, in FIG. Then, the pin 34 is lifted by the oblique guide hole 433 formed at the rear end of the slide arm 43 and moves upward along the arc-shaped guide hole 121. Therefore, the mirror base 31 uses the rotation axis 33 as a fulcrum and the objective lens 20L of the electronic camera 20.
From the oblique position (oblique lower limit position) La (the position shown by the dotted line) below the field of view to the upper limit oblique position (oblique upper limit position) Ua
(The position shown by the solid line).

Next, by switching a changeover switch (not shown) to the other side, the motor 41 of the mirror angle changeover device 40 rotates in the reverse direction, and the reverse power applied by the power transmission device 42 causes, for example, a slide in FIG. The arm 43 moves in the direction of the left arrow B. Then, the pin 34 is pushed down by the oblique guide hole 433 formed at the rear end of the slide arm 43, and moves downward along the arc-shaped guide hole 121. Accordingly, the mirror base 31 is pushed down from the oblique upper limit position Ua to the oblique lower limit position La with the rotation shaft 33 as a fulcrum.

When the mirror device 30 is located at the oblique lower limit position Lb, the electronic camera 20 can take an image of, for example, the rear of the vehicle through the transparent plate 4 and display the image on the monitor screen of the driver's seat. By issuing the vehicle, the situation behind the vehicle can be confirmed. Also, the mirror device 3
When 0 is switched to the oblique upper limit position Ua,
The rear view of the electronic camera 20 is closed, and the situation at the lower rear of the vehicle is reflected by the mirror 32 and enters the electronic camera 20 instead. Therefore, by projecting the image on the screen of the monitor (not shown) in the driver's seat, it is possible to confirm the condition of the lower rear portion of the vehicle.

[0013]

The prior invention as described above is suitable, for example, as an electronic camera device for confirming the periphery of a vehicle. However, the electronic camera device 1 has a mirror device 30. The mechanism for changing the elevation angle is adopted by the mirror angle switching device 40,
As the number of components increases, such components must be accommodated in the housing 2, and therefore, there is a problem that the overall structure of the electronic camera device 1 becomes large.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem. By changing the direction of one electronic camera, the photographing direction can be continuously or intermittently changed in a plurality of directions. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera device for confirming surroundings which can be switched and photographed and confirmed in a multifaceted manner a situation of a peripheral portion in which the electronic camera is provided. In particular, when the device is attached to the rear of the vehicle, in addition to the image of the situation behind or the side of the vehicle and the image of the situation immediately below or just below the side of the bumper can be displayed on the same screen of the monitor in the driver's seat, It can be switched and projected independently of each other, and can be retrofitted to the vehicle. It can also be used as a versatile electronic camera for peripheral confirmation that is suitable not only for vehicles but also for security cameras. It is possible.

[0015]

Therefore, the electronic camera device for confirming the periphery according to the first aspect of the present invention can be rotated at a predetermined rotation angle in a housing partially covered with a transparent plate. The electronic camera supported by the holder and held by the holder as described above, and a rotation driving device that rotates the electronic camera within a range where the transparent plate exists and changes the shooting direction of the electronic camera are housed. Thus, the above problem has been solved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera device for confirming surroundings, wherein a bent arm is formed in a housing which is covered with a transparent plate over two adjacent sides. An electronic camera held by a holder, a rotating shaft that pivotally supports the bent portion of the U-shaped arm, and a V-shaped arm at the tip of the U-shaped arm. A slide arm connected to reciprocate linearly for rotating the arm about the rotation axis,
A rotation drive device connected to the slide arm and linearly reciprocating the slide arm, and by starting the drive device, the photographing direction of the electronic camera is changed from one side surface of the transparent plate. The above problem is solved by adopting a configuration that can be switched to the other side surface.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera device for confirming surroundings according to the first and second aspects, wherein the electronic camera device for confirming surroundings according to the first and second aspects of the present invention comprises: An electronic monitor that is mounted on a rear portion or a left and right side surface portion, and an electronic monitor that displays an image captured by the electronic camera, and a control device for controlling the rotation drive device are mounted and configured in front of a driver's seat, and the above-described problem is solved. Solved.

Therefore, according to the electronic camera device for confirming the periphery of the present invention according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the configuration in which the photographing direction of one electronic camera is directly switched is adopted, the configuration can be made with the minimum number of parts. Can be downsized. According to the electronic camera device for confirming surroundings of the present invention, the switching mechanism of the photographing direction of one electronic camera is constituted by the simplest combination mechanism of the linear mechanism and the rotating mechanism. Because
It can be simply assembled with extremely inexpensive parts, and can be downsized. Furthermore, according to the electronic camera device for confirming the periphery of the present invention as set forth in claim 3, in addition to the above-mentioned functions and effects, when the electronic camera device is attached to a vehicle, the same screen of the monitor displays the situation of the rear or side of the vehicle. In addition to displaying the video and the video of the situation immediately below or just below the bumper, each video can be switched and projected independently, and can be retrofitted to the vehicle.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an electronic camera device for confirming the surroundings according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle in which an electronic camera device for confirming surroundings according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a rear portion as a rearward confirming device for a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a side view of an electronic camera device for confirming surroundings according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view of the electronic camera of the periphery confirmation electronic camera device shown in FIG. 2 in a state facing in the horizontal direction. FIG. 4 is a view of the periphery confirmation electronic camera device shown in FIG. 5 is a side view of the electronic camera turned downward from the horizontal direction, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a chassis in the electronic camera for confirming surroundings shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 300 indicates the entire vehicle. Although the illustrated vehicle 300 is shown as a vehicle body such as a recreational vehicle (RV), the present invention relates to a bus,
It is effective when used on a body such as a truck where the rear is difficult to see. Reference numeral 310 denotes an electronic camera device for confirming the periphery of the embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as “electronic camera device”). This electronic camera device 310
Is externally mounted on the rear part of the roof 301 of the vehicle 300. As will be described later, the electronic camera device 310 captures a field of view A behind the vehicle 300 and a field of view B below the vehicle 300 with one electronic camera, and records these images in the driver's seat 3.
02 is an electronic vehicle periphery confirmation system that can simultaneously project on the screen of a monitor (not shown) arranged on the dashboard in front of the camera 02 or switch to display either image as needed. One of the components.

The electronic camera device 310 is, as shown in FIG. In the housing 320, the upper surface of the front part 321 is formed in a streamlined shape, and the rear part 322 is formed in a substantially square or rectangular shape in a front surface (not shown, a surface viewed from the right side in FIG. 2). ing. An opening 323 is formed from the front to the lower surface of the rear portion 322.
The lower surface of the front portion 321 is covered with a bottom plate 324, and both side surfaces of the housing 320 are covered with side plates. An L-shaped transparent plate 315 is attached to the opening 323, and the opening 323 is sealed by the transparent plate 325, and the incident light of an image such as a rearward and downward situation is transmitted through the transparent plate 325. Enters. The transparent plate 325 also plays a role of windproof and waterproof.

Inside the housing 320, a chassis 330 (a portion shown by a chain line in FIG. 2) is mounted and fixed. The chassis 330 includes an upper chassis 3310 and a lower chassis 33, as shown in FIG.
20. The upper chassis 3310 includes a pair of legs 3311 and 3312 formed at intervals slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the housing 320, and a U-shaped camera mounting portion 3313 formed so as to extend diagonally upward from one end thereof. It is configured integrally. An arm 344 of a camera storage case 341 of an electronic camera 340 described later is provided with a rotating shaft 347 at an oblique lower end of the camera mounting portion 3313.
A shaft hole 3314 is formed to be axially supported. The lower chassis 3320 includes a rectangular support plate 3321 having a width incorporated as shown by a dotted line between a pair of legs 3311 and 3312 of the chassis 3310, and a pair formed vertically upward from both side ends of one end thereof. Mounting plate 332
2, 3323 and a pair of mounting plates 3324, 3325 formed vertically downward from both side ends of the other end are integrally formed. As described above, the rotation shaft 347 is inserted into the shaft hole 3314 of the upper chassis 3310, and the electronic camera 340 is mounted on the upper chassis 3310, and the components of the angle switching device 350 described later are mounted on the lower chassis 3320.

The electronic camera 340 is stored in a camera storage case 341.
Is a main body 342 as shown by a solid line in FIGS.
And a lens portion 343, and an arm 344 formed in a V shape from the center of the main body portion 342. The main body 342 includes, for example, a CCD (Charge C).
An electronic camera element 345 such as a small board camera on which an Oupled Device is mounted, and an objective lens 346 is housed in the lens unit 343. The bent portion of the arm 344 is connected to the chassis 330 by a rotation shaft 347.
, And the electronic camera 340 is rotatably supported by the chassis 330. A connecting pin 358 is vertically implanted on a side surface of the tip of the arm 344. An example of the small board camera is an MUC type camera manufactured and sold by the present applicant. Its size is about 41.5 mm × 37 mm in area and about 8.5 mm in thickness. The power supply of the electronic camera 340 and the transmission of the captured image are performed through the flexible substrate 348.

The angle switching device 350 includes a motor 35
1, a power transmission device 352, and a slide arm 353. The power transmission device 352 is interposed between the motor 351 and the slide arm 353,
It is composed of a plurality of reduction gears, and transmits the power of a motor 351 to the mirror mounting unit 13. The slide arm 353 has a rack gear 35
The two linear guide holes 35 are formed at predetermined intervals on the side surface on which the rack gear 354 is formed.
5 and 356, and at the rear end thereof, a slide arm 3
An elongated hole 357 is formed substantially perpendicularly to the 53 slide axis. The slide arm 353 is inserted into the linear guide holes 355 and 356 respectively.
8 and 359, the connecting pin 360 is inserted into the long hole 357, and the rack gear 354 at the front portion thereof is attached so as to mesh with the gear of the power transmission device 352. The pair of guide pins 358 and 359 are implanted vertically at predetermined intervals on the side surface of the substrate of the power transmission device 352.

The electronic camera device 310 of the present invention has the above-described structure. The size of the electronic camera device 310 can be reduced to less than 200 mm in the left and right length of FIG. Compared to the size of the device about 350mm in length,
It can be seen that the size can be significantly reduced.

Next, the operation of the electronic camera device 310 will be described. For example, a rear confirmation switch (not shown) disposed on a dashboard or the like in front of the driver's seat 302.
Is turned on, the electronic camera 340 is operated, and a changeover switch (not shown) constituting a part of the rear confirmation switch thereof
Is switched to one, the motor 351 of the angle switching device 350 is operated, and the power provided by the power transmission device 352 and the rack gear 354 causes the slide arm 353 to be connected to the guide pins 358 and 359 in FIGS. It is guided and moves in the direction of the left arrow A to the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. Then, the long hole 3 formed at the rear end of the slide arm 353 is formed.
57 causes the connecting pin 360 and the arm 344 to rotate
The electronic camera 340 is rotated clockwise around the center 47, so that the electronic camera 340 is moved from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. Rotate to the indicated position. When the electronic camera 340 is in the position in this state, that is, in the downward position, it is needless to say that the electronic camera 340 can capture an image from the vicinity of the rear bumper of the vehicle 300 to an imaging range obliquely downward (range B in FIG. 1).

Next, by switching a changeover switch (not shown) constituting a part of the rear confirmation switch to the other, the motor 351 of the angle switching device 350 reversely rotates, and the reverse rotation provided by the power transmission device 352 and the rack gear 354. 2 and 4 by the power of
The slide arm 353 moves in the direction of the right arrow B. Then, the connecting pin 360 and the arm 34 are formed by the long hole 357 formed at the rear end of the slide arm 353.
4 rotates counterclockwise about the rotation shaft 347. Therefore, the electronic camera 340 moves from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 3 by a dotted line in FIG. It rotates from the position shown to the position shown by the solid line. At the position where the electronic camera 340 is in this state, that is, at the position where the electronic camera 340 faces rearward, it is possible to photograph the photographing range (range A in FIG. 1) behind the vehicle 300.

Further, if the electronic camera 340 is stopped at an intermediate point between the lower position and the rear position, the rear and lower portions of the vehicle 300 can be simultaneously photographed, and both images can be displayed in the vertical direction of the monitor screen. Can be projected simultaneously. The ratio of both images projected on the monitor screen is
The driver can adjust the inclination angle of the electronic camera device 310 as necessary, so that it can be arranged. As described above, the electronic camera device 310 of the present invention can switch the shooting direction by adjusting the direction of the electronic camera 340. It should be noted that the image captured by the electronic camera 340 can be displayed on the screen of the monitor of the driver's seat 302 by inverting left and right or upside down.

In the above description, the electronic camera device 310 is attached to the rear portion 322 of the vehicle 300, and the rear and lower portions of the vehicle 300 are photographed. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment. For example, it may be attached to the side surface of the vehicle 300 so as to photograph the side of the vehicle 300 and the situation below the vehicle 300 and confirm the situation. In addition, the electronic camera device 310 of the present invention is disposed not only for vehicles but also around buildings such as buildings, shops, houses, etc., and switches between the periphery of the buildings and the state under the buildings to photograph and monitor. It should be noted that it is effective even when used as a monitor device such as a camera.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the electronic camera device for confirming the periphery of the embodiment of the present invention, when the photographing direction of one electronic camera is switched and the electronic camera is mounted on a vehicle, the monitor is mounted. On the same screen, the image of the situation behind or on the side of the vehicle and the image of the situation immediately below or just below the bumper can be projected, and each image can be switched and projected separately, and it is retrofitted to the vehicle In addition, the versatile electronic camera device for versatility confirmation that is suitable not only for vehicles but also for security cameras can be configured to be very small, and the number of parts can be reduced, so that the number of assembly steps can be reduced. In addition, cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle in which an electronic camera device for confirming surroundings according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a rear portion as a device for confirming the rear of a vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the electronic camera device for checking surroundings according to the embodiment of the present invention attached to the vehicle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the electronic camera of the periphery confirmation electronic camera device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the electronic camera for peripheral confirmation shown in FIG. 2 and turned downward from the horizontal direction shown in FIG. 2 and facing downward.

5 is an exploded perspective view of a chassis in the electronic camera device for confirming surroundings shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial side view of a vehicle showing the configuration of a vehicle-mounted rear-viewing camera according to the related art.

7 is a screen of a monitor on which an image captured by the vehicle-mounted rear view confirmation camera shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the electronic camera device of the invention of the prior application.

[Explanation of symbols]

300: vehicle, 301: roof, 302: driver's seat, 31
0 ... Electronic camera device (for peripheral confirmation) of the embodiment of the present invention, 320 ... Housing, 323 ... Opening of housing 320, 325 ... Transparent plate, 330 ... Chassis, 340 ...
Electronic camera, 341, camera storage case, 342, body part of camera storage case 341, 343, lens part of camera storage case 341, 344, arm, 345, electronic camera element, 346, objective lens, 347, rotation axis, 35
0: Angle switching device, 351: Motor, 352: Power transmission device, 353: Slide arm, 354: Rack gear, 355, 356: Linear guide hole, 357: Long hole, 35
8,359: guide pin, 360: connecting pin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic camera held by a holder and rotatably supported at a predetermined rotation angle in a housing partially covered with a transparent plate, and provided in a range where the transparent plate exists. An electronic camera device for confirming surroundings, wherein a rotation driving device for rotating an electronic camera and changing a shooting direction of the electronic camera is housed. 2. An electronic camera held by a holder having an arm bent in a dogleg shape in a housing covered by a transparent plate over two adjacent sides, and an armature of the dogleg arm. A rotating shaft for pivotally supporting the bent portion of the U-shape, and a linear portion for rotating the U-shaped arm around the rotating shaft at the tip of the U-shaped arm. A slide arm connected so as to reciprocate, and a rotary drive device connected to the slide arm and linearly reciprocating the slide arm, and by starting the drive device, the electronic camera An electronic camera device for confirming surroundings, wherein a photographing direction can be switched from one side surface of the transparent plate to the other side surface. 3. An electronic camera device for confirming surroundings according to claim 1 or 2, which is attached to a front portion, a rear portion, or left and right side portions of a vehicle main body, and is used for displaying images taken by said electronic camera. An electronic camera device for confirming the periphery of a vehicle, wherein an electronic monitor for projecting and a control device for controlling the rotary drive device are mounted in front of a driver's seat.