JP2002218450A - On-vehicle monitor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make use of the front, rear, left and right conditions of a parked automobile for cause analysis and investigation by picking up the automobile conditions with a CCD camera and recording the conditions on an image recording medium in case the parked automobile is damaged. SOLUTION: A multidirectional CCD camera 1 capable of simultaneously picking up images in front, rear, left and right directions is installed on the roof of the automobile, images from the camera are recorded on a memory card 3 at the time set by a clock part 5 or when a proximity sensor 11 detects a person and an animal approaching the automobile, and the images are made use of for investigation and analysis when the automobile is damaged. The imaging range of the camera can be confirmed and a reproduced image from the memory card can be looked at by using a monitor 12. A focus selection SW 6 switches a camera between a fixed focus and an automatic focus, a direction selection SW 7 selects any direction to three optional directions among the four directions or the four directions to pick up the automobile, a mode selection SW 8 selects whether to record images continuously, by a timer or at the time of detecting a person, whether not to record the images, whether only to display the images on the monitor without recording the images or the like, and a memory erasure SW 9 switches the recording/erasure of the memory card partially or entirely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an on-vehicle monitoring device, in which a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera is installed in an automobile, a captured image is recorded on a recording medium, and the cause of damage to the vehicle is investigated. About what to make the material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle is damaged and damaged, video cameras are installed inside and outside the vehicle and images are recorded on a video tape in order to record the situation before and after the damage and to help solve problems later. There is something that I did. Recently CC
Since the D camera can be used, there is no space for the camera itself, but it is necessary to incorporate a turning device in order to monitor any of the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle, and it becomes large-scale, and Since it is not known when or on which side damage will occur, there is also a problem that the swing device cannot follow up in time. As a measure to eliminate the need for turning the camera, it is conceivable to provide the camera at four locations on the front, rear, left and right outside the vehicle body, but since it is installed outside the vehicle, there is a risk of being mischievously damaged and wiring connection becomes long There is a disadvantage that.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, the present invention records the situation of damage caused in an unspecified direction around an automobile in a small and light-weight, without missing a decisive moment. It is an object of the present invention to install a device capable of performing such operations on a ceiling or the like in an automobile so that the situation at the time of damage occurrence can be investigated and analyzed, and can be used to solve problems.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a vehicle-mounted monitoring device according to the present invention provides a multi-directional monitoring system capable of simultaneously imaging a front direction, a rear direction, a left direction and a right direction on a ceiling surface in an automobile. Of the CCD camera and the same multi-directional CCD camera, whether to operate only one direction, operate any two directions, operate any three directions,
Or, a direction selection switch for selecting whether to operate all four directions, and an image recording device for recording an image taken by the same multi-directional CCD camera on an image recording medium are provided. By taking out the medium, attaching it to a personal computer, and displaying the recorded image, it is possible to grasp the situation at the time of capturing the image.

[0005] The image recording apparatus may be capable of simultaneously recording each image from the multi-directional CCD camera on the image recording medium and recording still images at predetermined time intervals.

A clock section may be provided to record the date and time when the image was recorded together with the image, or the image may be recorded at a preset time.

A proximity sensor is provided near each lens of the multi-directional CCD camera or outside the automobile, and the image is recorded when the approach sensor detects an approach of a person or an animal.

[0008] A monitor may be provided in the automobile so that the image recording device can reproduce the recorded image on the image recording medium and display the image on the monitor.
By displaying an image input to the image recording device, the image pickup range of the multidirectional CCD camera may be confirmed.

A focus selection switch is provided so that the multi-directional CCD camera can be switched between a fixed focus type and an automatic focus type by operating the same focus selection switch.

A mode selection switch is provided to record images continuously, to record images at the time set by the clock unit, or to record images when the proximity sensor detects approach of a person or an animal. The user can select whether to stop recording the image, display the image on the monitor without recording the image, or reproduce the recorded image.

A memory erasure switch is provided so that it is possible to select between erasing all images recorded on the image recording medium or erasing only specified images.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on embodiments with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of a vehicle-mounted monitoring device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a multi-directional CCD camera (hereinafter abbreviated as a camera) mounted on the inner surface of the ceiling of a car, which can simultaneously capture images in front, rear, left and right. Reference numeral 2 denotes an image recording device for recording an image from the camera 1 on a memory card 3 (image recording medium). Memory card 3 records a still image. 4 denotes a compressed image for recording on the memory card 3. A compression / expansion unit for expanding the image read from the memory card 3, a clock unit 5, a SW (switch) 6 for switching the camera 1 between a fixed focus type and an auto focus type, and 7 a one of the cameras 1 A direction selection SW, 8 for selecting whether to operate only one direction, operate any two directions, operate any three directions, or operate all four directions,
Whether to record images continuously, to record images at a time set by the clock unit 5, to record images when a proximity of a person or an animal is detected by the proximity sensor 11, or to stop recording images. Mode selection S for selecting whether to display the image on the monitor 12 without recording the image or to reproduce the recorded image.
W and 9 are memory erasing SWs for selecting whether to erase all images recorded on the memory card 3 or only specified images, and 10 is a control unit for controlling each unit. Reference numeral 11 denotes a proximity sensor (consisting of a far-infrared sensor) for detecting the approach of a person or an animal, which is provided near each lens of the camera 1 in the imaging direction or provided outside the automobile. Reference numeral 12 denotes a monitor installed in a car.

Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted monitoring device according to the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 1 is mounted on a ceiling 21 of an automobile integrally with the image recording device 2. The camera 1 is configured so that the imaging directions are shifted by 90 degrees in order to be able to simultaneously image the front, rear, left and right sides. As shown in FIG. 3, the camera 1 can be switched to a fixed focus type or an automatic focus type via the control unit 10 by operating the focus selection SW 6 of the image recording device 2. However, in the case of a vehicle, usually the imaging distance is constant. Therefore, a fixed focus type is set, and when it is used for other purposes, for example, for a fixed point observation outdoors, it is switched to an automatic focus type. Further, by operating the direction selection SW 7, only one direction of the camera 1 (front, rear, left, or right) is operated, any two directions are operated, and any one of three directions is operated. Or all four directions can be activated. The video signal from each camera 1 can be compressed by the compression / decompression unit 4 via the control unit 10, recorded on the memory card 3 (image recording medium), or displayed on the monitor 12 installed in the vehicle. That is, as shown in FIG.
When the recording is continuously performed at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 6 seconds) by the operation of the mode selection SW 8, the recording is performed at the time set by the clock unit 5, or when the approach of the person or the animal is detected by the proximity sensor 11. Whether to record or not to record, to display on the monitor 12 without recording, or to play back the recorded image of the memory card 3, expand the image by the compression / expansion unit 4, and display it on the monitor 12. (The direction of the camera 1 can also be specified). For recording on the memory card 3, it is possible to select whether to erase the data of the portion designated by the operation of the memory erasing SW9 or to erase all of the recording. If the memory card 3 is capable of recording 600 still images compressed by the compression / expansion unit 4, for example, it can be used for simultaneous recording in four directions for 15 minutes at 6-second intervals, and 30 images for two directions. Minutes, one hour in one direction,
Images can be recorded. The proximity sensor 10
By recording when a person or an animal is detected, it is possible to record the damage situation even when the vehicle is parked for a long time, for example.

Further, based on the data from the clock section, the date and time when the image was recorded are stored together with the image in the memory card 3.
Record the time of occurrence of damage and damage. In addition, by displaying the image input from the camera 1 to the image recording device 2 on the monitor 12, the imaging range of each camera 1 can be confirmed by the user's eyes in advance.

In the case of damage, the memory card 3 on which the image is recorded is taken out from the image recording device 2 and is mounted on the personal computer 31 as shown in FIG. 4, and the read image is displayed. On the screen of the personal computer 31, for example, four screens of the front, the rear, the left and the right, and only the image in which the suspicion is generated by the operation of the personal computer 31 are enlarged and displayed to fill the screen together with the date and time of the image recording. Equally useful for identifying perpetrators and investigating and analyzing the situation at the time of damage. Also, PC
A printer 32 is connected to 31 to print out a noticeable image and send it to an appropriate destination.

[0016]

As described above, according to the on-vehicle monitoring device of the present invention, the front, rear,
A camera that can capture images in the left and right directions at the same time is attached, so that images from the camera can be recorded on a memory card.Since no turning mechanism is required, it can be configured flat and compact, and turning can not catch up Since it is possible to record images taken around the vehicle without being noticed by people around you without fear of overlooking the decisive moment, the situation at the time of failure occurrence in the event of damage while parking Can be used for investigation and analysis of

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of a vehicle-mounted monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of an on-vehicle example of the on-vehicle monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of functions of each selection switch.

FIG. 4 is an example of a personal computer and a printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CCD camera 2 Image recording device 3 Memory card 4 Compression / expansion part 5 Clock part 6 Focus selection SW 7 Direction selection SW 8 Mode selection SW 9 Memory erase SW 10 Control part 11 Proximity sensor 12 Monitor 21 Car ceiling 31 Personal computer 32 Printer

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A front surface, a rear direction,
Multi-directional CCD (C
harge Coupled Device) Of the camera and the same multi-directional CCD camera, operate only one direction, operate any two directions, operate any three directions, or operate all four directions And a direction selection switch for selecting an image, and an image recording device for recording an image captured by the same multi-directional CCD camera on an image recording medium. The image recording medium is taken out from the image recording device and attached to a personal computer. By displaying the recorded image,
An in-vehicle monitoring device that allows the user to grasp the situation when the image was captured. 2. The in-vehicle monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the image recording device is capable of simultaneously recording each image from the multi-directional CCD camera on the image recording medium. 3. The on-vehicle monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the image recording device records a still image on the image recording medium at a predetermined time interval. 4. A clock section, wherein a date and time at the time of recording the image are recorded together with the image.
Or the monitoring device for a vehicle according to 3. 5. The in-vehicle monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising a clock unit, wherein the image is recorded at a preset time. 6. The multi-directional CCD camera according to claim 1, wherein a proximity sensor is provided near each lens, and the image is recorded when an approach of a person or an animal is detected by the proximity sensor. The vehicle-mounted monitoring device according to any one of the above. 7. A proximity sensor is provided outside the vehicle,
The on-vehicle monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the image is recorded when the approach of a person or an animal is detected by the proximity sensor. 8. The in-vehicle vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a monitor is provided in the vehicle, and the image recording device reproduces a recorded image of the image recording medium and can display the reproduced image on the monitor. Monitoring device. 9. The in-vehicle monitoring device according to claim 8, wherein an image input to the image recording device is displayed on the monitor, so that an image pickup range of the multi-directional CCD camera can be confirmed. 10. The in-vehicle vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a focus selection switch, wherein the multi-directional CCD camera can be switched between a fixed focus type and an auto focus type by operating the same focus selection switch. Monitoring device. 11. A mode selection switch is provided to continuously record an image, record an image at a time set by the clock unit, or display an image when a proximity of a person or an animal is detected by the proximity sensor. Whether to record, stop recording images,
The in-vehicle monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein it is possible to select whether to display the image on the monitor without recording the image or to reproduce the recorded image. 12. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a memory erasing switch for selecting whether to erase all images recorded on said image recording medium or to erase only specified images.
12. The in-vehicle monitoring device according to any one of claims 11 to 11.