JP2003198884A - Camera turning device, its rocking preventing device, and surveillance camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera turning device that can be downsized and proper ly realize rocking prevention with a small driving force. <P>SOLUTION: The camera turning device where a turning section 2 for turning a camera photographing a surveillance object is fitted to a base 1 with a gap, includes: a solenoid 61 placed to the base 1 or the turning section 2 to move a plunger 62 in a turning axial direction of the camera; and a lever 63 turnably fitted to the plunger 62 and the tip of which is inserted to the gap, the lever 63 is placed in the gap and is pressed into contact with the base 1 and the turning section 2 to apply braking when power is applied or not to the solenoid 61. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera turning device, a swinging prevention device thereof, and a surveillance camera system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional surveillance camera system, for example, a camera turning device as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 is known. A swivel unit 103 is attached to the pedestal unit 101 via a rotary shaft 102, and a swivel unit 103 is provided by a motor (not shown) provided on the pedestal unit 101 or the swivel unit 103.
Rotates about the rotary shaft 102.

A camera (not shown) is provided in the swivel unit 103, and the swivel unit 103 swivels to direct the camera in a desired direction. When an image is captured in a state where the camera is oriented in a desired direction, a swinging image is obtained by swinging the revolving unit 103 due to “play” on the rotating shaft 102 and the like.

Therefore, the turning portion 103 and the brake portion 104 are provided.
Is equipped with. The brake unit 104 includes a friction plate 105.
Is moved up and down by the drive unit 106. In the turning state, the friction plate 105 is raised as shown in FIG. 11, and when the monitoring target is imaged, the friction plate 105 is lowered as shown in FIG. As a result, the top plate of the pedestal portion 101 is pressed to prevent the swinging portion 103 from swinging.

[0005]

However, since the above-described shaking prevention mechanism cannot obtain a sufficient effect when the area of the friction plate 105 is small, the friction plate 10 cannot be obtained.
It is necessary to increase the area of No. 5, which causes an increase in the size of the brake unit 104 and an increase in the size of the camera turning device. In addition, the method of preventing the shaking by the brake section 104 has a problem that a large driving force is required because a fixed state is created by surface contact.

Further, in the camera turning device, a device provided with a heater inside the device is used for the purpose of preventing icing due to snow or the like. However, ice accretion and the like often progress not only from inside the apparatus but also from outside, and there is a demand for a surveillance camera system capable of appropriately coping with such cases.

The present invention has been made in view of the situation of the conventional camera turning device and surveillance camera system as described above, and the purpose thereof is to make the device small and to appropriately prevent shaking with a small driving force. (EN) Provided are a camera turning device and a rocking preventive device thereof. Another object of the present invention is to provide a surveillance camera system capable of coping with the progress of icing from the outside.

[0008]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera swivel device, wherein a swivel device for swiveling a camera for picking up an image of an object to be monitored is attached to a pedestal part with a gap. A solenoid provided on the pedestal part or the turning device for moving the plunger in the turning axial direction of the camera, and a lever rotatably attached to the plunger and having its tip inserted into the gap. Is positioned in the gap, and when the solenoid is energized or de-energized, the lever comes into contact with the pedestal portion and the turning device to apply a brake.

In the camera turning device according to the present invention, when the solenoid is not energized, the plunger is moved in the axial direction to urge the lever so that the lever rotates, and the tip of the lever moves to the pedestal portion. It is characterized in that it comes into contact with one of the turning devices and a predetermined part of the lever comes into contact with the pedestal part and the other of the turning devices to prevent the camera from shaking.

The swing prevention device according to the present invention includes a solenoid, a plunger moved in a first direction by the solenoid, a lever rotatably mounted on the plunger, and the solenoid when the solenoid is not energized. A camera turning device in which a biasing device for moving the plunger in the axial direction to pull the lever and a turning device for turning the camera for imaging the monitoring target are attached to the pedestal part with a gap. And a mounting portion mounted on the pedestal portion or the swivel device of the apparatus.

A surveillance camera system according to the present invention includes a camera for picking up an image of an object to be monitored, a turning device for turning the camera, a heater for warming the camera from a predetermined direction, and the turning device to bring the camera to a predetermined preset position. Detection means for detecting whether or not the camera has been rotated, and control means for turning on the heater when the camera detects that the camera has been rotated to a predetermined preset position. It is characterized by including.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a camera turning device, a rocking prevention device thereof, and a surveillance camera system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, the same constituent elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

1 and 2 are block diagrams of a camera turning device according to the present invention. The camera turning device includes a pedestal portion 1 and a turning portion 2. The pedestal part 1 has a motor 3
Is provided, and the rotating shaft 4 is rotated by the rotation of the motor 3 to rotate the revolving unit 2. The motor 3 may be provided in the swivel unit 2. The swivel unit 2 is provided with a camera 5 for capturing an image of a monitoring target.

A swing prevention device 6 is attached to the outside of the swivel unit 2. The swing prevention device 6 includes a solenoid 61.
And a plunger 62 which is moved in the vertical direction (first direction) in the figure by the solenoid 61, and a lever 63 rotatably provided at the tip of the plunger 62. The plunger 62 is always urged upward by the first urging means 64A, and when the solenoid 61 is not energized, the state of FIG. 2 is exhibited, and when the solenoid 61 is energized, the state of FIG. 1 is exhibited.

A second urging means 64B is provided at the connecting portion between the plunger 62 and the lever 63. The biasing means 64B biases the lever 63 with respect to the plunger 62 so that the lever 63 has a predetermined angle (in this embodiment, an angle orthogonal to each other). It can be constituted by a stopper that urges the posture shown in FIG. 1 and stops the lever 63 in the state of FIG. There is a gap 9 between the pedestal part 1 and the swivel part 2, and the lever 63 is located in the gap 9,
The pedestal part 1 and the swivel part 2 are not touched.

The camera turning device is controlled by the controller 10. The control unit 10 controls the drive of the motor 3 via the driver 7, realizes turning according to an operator's instruction, and directs the camera 5 in a desired direction. Further, the control unit 10 gives a control signal to the drive unit 8 to supply the solenoid 6
The control is made as to whether or not the current is passed through 1. Specifically, the drive control of the motor 3 is performed via the driver 7, and the control of supplying the current to the solenoid 61 during the turning is performed, so that the turning according to the instruction of the operator or the like is realized.
The control is performed so that no electric current flows through the solenoid 61 when is directed in the required direction.

With the above-described structure, when the camera 5 is turning and is not oriented in the required direction, a current flows through the solenoid 61, so that as shown in FIG. The lever 63 is pushed downward against the urging force of the means 64A, and the lever 63 is positioned in the gap 9 by the urging force of the second urging means 64B, so that the pedestal portion 1 and the swivel portion 2 are not touched. When the revolving unit 2 revolves and the camera 5 turns in a desired direction to exhibit revolving, the solenoid 61 is energized and the plunger 62 is moved upward by the first urging means 64A as shown in FIG. .

As a result, the lever 63 comes into contact with the lower end of the pedestal 1 and presses against the top plate of the revolving unit 2. That is, the lever 63 acts as a lever in the gap 9 and applies a downward force to the pedestal portion 1 and an upward force to the swivel portion 2 to fix the pedestal portion 1 and the swivel portion 2. As a result, swinging of the swivel unit 2 is eliminated, and the obtained image is not shaken and appropriate monitoring is possible.

A more specific structure of the rocking preventive device 6 is shown in FIG.
~ Shown in FIG. In the rocking preventive device 6, a solenoid 61 is fixed in a case 60 by a fixture such as a screw 65.
The plunger 62 projects from the upper and lower sides of the solenoid 61, and has a spring 66, which is a first urging means 64, in the upper portion.
Is urged upward by and is connected to the connecting member 68 via the nut 67 at the lower part. The connecting member 68 is configured to slide in the hole of the sleeve 69.

The lever 63 is provided in a joint 71 that is connected to the connecting member 68, and has a hole portion through which the tip of the joint 71 passes. Two shafts 64C are provided penetrating from the front side to the back side of the joint 71 in FIG. 5, and the lever 63 is rotatable by the shafts 64C. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, the second urging means 64B is urged to hold it in a state of projecting in a substantially horizontal direction. However, in this example, the second urging means 64B is not provided and the second urging means 64B is not provided. Is in a state. The case 60 to which the solenoid 61 is attached as described above is coupled to the attachment plate 70. Holes 72 are formed in the four corners of the mounting plate 70, and constitute holes for mounting the rocking prevention device 6 on a target device such as the turning device 2.

In the rocking preventive device 6 having the above-described structure, when the solenoid 61 is energized, the plunger 62 is pushed out and the lever 63 is in the condition shown in FIG. The brake is not applied to. When the solenoid 61 is de-energized, the plunger 62 moves upward in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 5 by the urging force of the spring 66, the lever 63 abuts on the lower end of the pedestal portion 1 and the top plate of the revolving portion 2 moves. It abuts so as to press and rotates about the mounting portion of the joint 71 to apply a tilted brake to eliminate swinging of the revolving unit 2.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a swivel camera device having a swivel portion 2 to which the swing prevention device 6 can be attached and a pedestal portion 1.
Shown in. In this swivel camera device, a pedestal portion 1 has a shape in which a substantially cylindrical cylindrical body is vertically placed, and a swivel portion 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape is provided on the pedestal portion 1. The swivel unit 2 horizontally swivels with respect to the pedestal unit 1.

A camera unit 20 is mounted on the right side of the swivel unit 2 when facing the front, and a projector 30 is mounted on the left side of the swivel unit 2. It is possible for the camera unit 20 to swivel with respect to the swivel unit 2 about a horizontal axis to swing the field of view up and down. On the back of the swivel unit 2,
As shown in FIG. 5, the rocking preventive device 6 is attached.

The camera unit 20 has a shape in which a cylinder is projected from the side surface of the revolving unit 2, has a window 21 in the front, and an image is taken by a camera provided inside the window 21. ing. A wiper 22 is attached to the window 21 so as to wipe away rain and the like.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a surveillance camera system using the turning camera device configured as shown in FIG.
It shows in FIG. This surveillance camera system employs a configuration in which a motor unit 31 is provided inside the turning unit 2.
The motor unit 31 turns the turning unit 2 itself and the camera unit 20.
Is turned.

Control unit 5 for controlling the turning camera device
0, and a heater 60 for preventing icing is installed at a predetermined position. The heater 60 includes a heat source 62 formed by a reflector 610 formed on an inclined surface as shown in FIG.
It is a type that radiates heat generated from 0 in one direction.

The control unit 50 supplies a control signal to the motor unit 31 to control the turning and to turn on / off the heater 60, etc., and a memory 52 and a CPU 51 in which data and programs used by the CPU 51 are stored.
A panel unit 53 is provided for the operator to give instructions.

The operator inputs a preset position at which the heater 60 should be turned on from the panel section 53 and stores it in the memory section 52 in advance. The preset position information stored here is the position in which the swivel unit 2 swivels from the mohm position in which direction (left and right direction in the figure) (how many times at an angle or the stepping number of a stepping motor for turning). Information. Since the preset position information is information on the position at which the heater 60 should be turned on, it is information on the position when the window 21 of the camera unit 20 faces the front of the heater 60. Then, turning to the preset position can be instructed by a predetermined operation (for example, operation of a preset button) from the panel portion 53.

The CPU 21 controls the heater 60 according to the program of the flow chart shown in FIG. 10, which will be described. The operation starts, and based on the control signal given to the motor unit 31, the current turning position information is detected (S1), and the preset position information stored in the memory unit 52 for turning on the heater 60 is detected. Is detected (S2).

For example, the heater 60 and the window 21 of the camera section 20
7 is as shown in FIG. 7, and when it is detected in step S2 that the current turning position information does not match the preset position information for turning on the heater 60, steps S1 and S2 are further performed. And repeat. On the other hand, turning to a preset position is performed by operating a preset button, for example, the positional relationship between the heater 60 and the window 21 of the camera unit 20 is as shown in FIG. 8, and the current turning is performed in step S2. When it is detected that the positional information matches the preset position information for turning on the heater 60, the heater 60 is turned on (S3).

As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, when the window 21 of the camera section 20 faces the front of the heater 60, the heater 60 is turned on, and the icing and the like of the window 21 is warmed and melted from the outside. You can Therefore, the field of view of the camera is secured, and appropriate surveillance activities are possible. Further, according to this embodiment, it is possible to deal with icing and the like which cannot be dealt with only by providing the heater inside the camera section 20. Further, it is not necessary to increase the capacity of the heater inside.

In the above description, the preset position information is the position information at which the heater 60 should be turned on.
The information on the position when the window 21 of the camera unit 20 faces the front of the heater 60 has been described. However, a configuration is adopted in which information on some preset positions other than this position is held and the heater 60 is turned on. You can For example, wiper 22
It is also possible to prevent the wiper 22 from becoming stuck due to icing by using the information on the position when the front of the heater 60 faces the portion of (2) as the information on the second preset position.

The rocking prevention device 6 may be attached to the pedestal portion 1 instead of the turning device 2. Further, when the solenoid 61 is de-energized, the lever 63 tilts to lock the pedestal portion 1 and the turning device 1 to stop at the predetermined turning position, thereby reducing current consumption, but stopping at the predetermined turning position. In a system in which the time in the monitoring state is longer than the time during turning, the lever 63 can be tilted to lock the pedestal 1 and the turning device 1 when the solenoid 61 is energized.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the solenoid is energized or de-energized, the plunger is moved in the axial direction to rotate the lever, and the tip of the lever contacts one of the pedestal and the turning device. Since a predetermined part of the lever comes into contact with the other part of the pedestal part and the turning device to apply the brake, the camera can be prevented from shaking and an image suitable for monitoring without shaking can be obtained. Becomes Further, according to the present invention, when it is detected that the camera is turned to the predetermined preset position, the heater for heating the camera from the predetermined direction is turned on, so that the desired position of the camera is warmed from the outside. The ice deposits can be removed and proper monitoring can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a camera turning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a camera turning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a swing prevention device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a rocking prevention device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounted state of the rocking prevention device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a swing camera device used in the surveillance camera system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a surveillance camera system according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a surveillance camera system according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a heater used in the surveillance camera system according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the surveillance camera system according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a camera turning device according to a conventional example.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a camera turning device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 pedestal 2 revolving part 3 motor 4 rotation axes 5 motor 6 Swing prevention device 7 driver 8 drive 10, 50 Control unit 20 camera section 21 window 22 wiper 31 Motor part 60 heater 61 solenoid 62 Plunger 63 lever 64A First biasing means 64B Second urging means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A camera swivel device in which a swivel device for swiveling a camera for imaging a monitoring target is attached to a pedestal part in a state having a gap, wherein the pedestal part or the swivel device is provided with the swivel device. A solenoid that moves the plunger in the axial direction of rotation and a lever that is rotatably attached to the plunger and has its tip inserted into the gap, the lever being located in the gap, when the solenoid is energized or A camera turning device, characterized in that the lever is brought into contact with the pedestal portion and the turning device to apply a brake when the device is not energized. 2. When the solenoid is not energized, the plunger is urged to move in the axial direction to attract the lever, the lever rotates, and the tip of the lever contacts one of the pedestal portion and the turning device. The camera turning device according to claim 1, wherein the lever comes into contact with a predetermined portion of the lever and the other of the pedestal portion and the turning device to prevent the camera from shaking. 3. A solenoid, a plunger that is moved in a first direction by the solenoid, a lever that is rotatably provided on the plunger, and a lever that moves the plunger in the axial direction when the solenoid is not energized. The pedestal portion or the slewing portion of the camera slewing device, in which the urging means for urging the lever to be pulled and the slewing device for slewing the camera for imaging the monitoring target are attached to the pedestal portion with a gap. A rocking prevention device for a camera turning device, comprising: a mounting portion that is mounted on the device. 4. A camera for picking up an image of a monitoring target, a turning device for turning the camera, a heater for warming the camera from a predetermined direction, and whether the camera is turned to a predetermined preset position by the turning device. And a control unit for turning on the heater when the camera detects that the camera is turned to a predetermined preset position. Camera monitoring system.