JP2003219226A - Imaging camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging camera capable of changing the imaging direction of an imaging camera while directing the optical axis of a lens system in a fixed direction and of saving its installation space on a vehicle or the like. <P>SOLUTION: In this imaging camera 10, the imaging direction of the imaging camera 10 can be changed inclinedly downward with respect to a horizontal direction while directing the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 in a horizontal direction, because the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 is moved parallelly downward from the central axis 23 of an image pickup element part 13 to be eccentric and an imaging range of the imaging camera 10 is expanded downward. <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 an image pickup camera for picking up an image formed by a lens system by an image pickup device, and more particularly to an image pickup camera mounted on a vehicle for picking up an image of the periphery of the vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 16 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a conventional image pickup camera. In this conventional imaging camera, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the image pickup device unit 1 and the lens system 3 are arranged so that the central axis of the image pickup device unit 1 and the optical axis 5 of the lens system 3 are aligned on a straight line. Therefore, as a matter of course, at the time of image pickup, the optical axis 5 of the lens system 3 moves in the direction of the image pickup target.
It is necessary to arrange the imaging camera so that For example, as shown in FIG. 16, when it is attempted to image the lower area in the horizontal direction 7 in a wider range than the upper area, the image pickup device is arranged so that the optical axis 5 faces obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction 7. It is necessary to arrange the unit 1 and the lens system 3 or the image pickup camera.

[0003]

Therefore, when a conventional image pickup camera is mounted on a vehicle and an image of a region obliquely below the horizontal direction 7 around the vehicle is picked up, as shown in FIG. It is necessary to arrange the image pickup device section 1 and the lens system 3 or the image pickup camera so that 5 is directed obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction 7. As described above, in the arrangement of the image pickup element unit 1 and the lens system 3, or the arrangement of the image pickup camera, the arrangement of the image pickup element unit 1 and the lens system, or the arrangement of the image pickup camera so that the optical axis 5 is parallel to the horizontal direction 7. As compared with the above case, there is a problem that the installation space of the imaging camera in the vehicle becomes large. It should be noted that this point will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention can change the image pickup direction of the image pickup camera while keeping the optical axis of the lens system in a fixed direction, thus saving the installation space in the vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup camera that can be realized.

[0005]

A technical means for achieving the above object is to provide an image pickup camera for picking up an image formed by a lens system by an image pickup device portion, wherein the center of the image pickup device portion is the lens system. The lens system is arranged eccentrically in a predetermined direction with respect to the image pickup device section so as to be eccentric from the optical axis.

Preferably, the optical axis of the lens system is eccentric by being translated in the predetermined direction from the center axis of the image pickup device section.

Further, it is preferable that the image pickup camera is mounted on a vehicle to pick up an image of the periphery of the vehicle.

Further, preferably, light from two directions which are substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens system and are substantially opposite to each other is reflected on the front surface side of the lens system to enter the lens system. It is preferable that an optical element is provided.

Preferably, one of the lens system and the image pickup device section is provided so as to be movable in the predetermined direction with respect to the other of the lens system and the image pickup device section, and one of the lens system and the image pickup device section is provided. A driving mechanism that drives along the predetermined direction may be provided.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a longitudinal section of an image pickup camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the image pickup camera shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the planar structure of a principal part. This imaging camera 10 is shown in FIG.
Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the lens system 11 and the image sensor unit 1
3 and two prisms 15 and 17, which are optical elements that reflect the light in the left-right direction and introduce the light into the lens system 11, and a case 19 that houses these, for example, a vehicle front end (for example, an emblem's The image pickup area A1 (see FIG. 4) in the left direction, the image pickup area A2 in the right direction (see FIG. 4), and the image pickup area A3 in the diagonally downward direction (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Image. The lens system 11 and the image pickup device section 13 form an image pickup section 20.

The lens system 11 comprises lenses 11a to 11d, is installed with the incident side facing the front of the vehicle, and its optical axis 21 is set to be parallel to the horizontal direction.

The image pickup device section 13 is composed of at least one image pickup device (here, a CCD image pickup device), receives light from the lens system 11 and picks up image pickup regions A1 to A3 in three directions. , Output the captured image (video signal).

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 is translated downward from the center axis 23 of the image pickup device section 13 (in a predetermined direction) by a predetermined eccentric distance D. Thus, the image pickup range of the image pickup camera 10 is expanded downward. That is,
The image pickup direction of the image pickup camera 10 is directed obliquely downward from the horizontal direction while keeping the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 in the horizontal direction.

The eccentricity distance D of the lens system 11 is, for example, when the vertical angle of view of the lens system 11 is 70 degrees,
7 in the case where the CCD image pickup device of is 1/4 inch size (the effective image pickup size in the vertical direction is 2.7 mm)
A range α of 23.4 degrees from the upper side of the vertical angle of view of 0 degree
(See FIG. 3) images the range above the horizontal direction, and the range β (see FIG. 3) of the vertical angle of view from the lower side of 46.6 degrees captures the range below the horizontal direction. When it is set as described above, it is set to 0.45 mm. That is, the eccentric distance D is set so that the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 passes through the position ⅓ upward from the lower end of the CCD image pickup device.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the prisms 15 and 17 has a triangular cross section, and one of the corners 15a and 17a of the triangular shape faces the front side of the vehicle so that the front side of the lens system 11 can be seen. In the figure, the light beams are erected in the up-down direction so as to be bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the optical axis 21. The first side surfaces 15b and 17b of the prisms 15 and 17 are light incident surfaces that receive light, and the second side surfaces 15c and 17b.
c is a mirror surface that is mirror-finished (a protective film made of black paint is formed on the aluminum film by vapor deposition), and the third side surfaces 15d and 17d are light emitting surfaces that emit light. . In addition, a light blocking member (including a light blocking film) (not shown) is provided on the lower bottom surface of each prism 15, 17.

The prisms 15 and 17 receive the light from the left and right imaging areas A1 and A2, respectively, on the first side surfaces 15b and 1b.
7b, the second side surface 15c, which is mirror-finished,
The light is reflected by the first side surfaces 15b, 17b at 17c and totally reflected by the side surfaces 15b, 17b toward the lens system 11 side, and then emitted from the third side surfaces 15d, 17d.

The respective lower ends of the prisms 15 and 17 are inclined obliquely downward toward the front of the vehicle, and the prisms 15 and 17 are above the total vertical angle of view (70 degrees in this case) of the lens system 11. Is arranged so as to cover a region of a predetermined angle θ1 (for example, a region of 20 degrees from the upper side to the lower side in the horizontal direction).

For this reason, the range of the predetermined angle θ1 from above in the vertical angle of view of the lens system 11 is such that each prism 15, 1
Light from the left and right imaging areas A1 and A2 is incident via 7 and the range of the lower residual angle θ2 of the vertical angle of view is from the imaging area A3 on the vehicle front side not through the prisms 15 and 17. The light of is coming in. As a result, the light from the left and right imaging areas A1 and A2 and the light from the imaging area A3 located diagonally below the front side is imaged by the lens system 11 in different areas on the imaging element unit 13, respectively, and by the single imaging element unit 13, The imaging regions A1 to A3 in the three directions of the left and right and the front diagonally downward direction shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are imaged at one time. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to accurately image the blind spot area near the front end of the vehicle on the vehicle front side, which is blocked by the front nose of the vehicle, by the imaging area A3 in the diagonally lower front direction.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the lens system 11
The horizontal angle of view is set to 120 degrees, the vertical angle of view is set to 90 degrees, and the angle θ1 is set to 40 degrees.

The case 19 includes left and right imaging areas A1 and A.
A through hole portion (not shown) for taking in light from No. 2 and a through hole portion 19a for taking in light from the imaging region A3 in the front obliquely downward direction are provided.

The image picked up by the image pickup camera 10 is displayed by the display device provided in the vehicle compartment and used for visual recognition of the periphery of the vehicle.

Next, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, in the image pickup camera 10 shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 and the center of the image pickup element portion 13 are arranged as in the prior art shown in FIG. A configuration will be described in which the lens system 11 and the image pickup device unit 13 are arranged so that the axes 23 coincide with each other, and an image pickup range similar to that shown in FIG. 1 is picked up.

In the configurations shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 and the central axis 23 of the image pickup device 13 are set coaxially, so that the image pickup direction is obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction 31. When pointing, the image pickup camera 100 is arranged diagonally downward and the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 is set in the horizontal direction 3.
It is necessary to incline downward by a predetermined angle θ3 (here, about 25 degrees) with respect to 1.

In the configuration in which the lens system 11 is arranged in a tilted manner as described above, as shown in FIG. 6, the configuration of the image pickup cameras 10 and 100 (horizontal and vertical sizes) is larger than that of the configuration shown in FIG. Is being promoted.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the installation state of the image pickup camera 10 of FIG. 1 in a vehicle, and FIG. 9 is a view showing the image pickup camera 100 of FIG.
It is a figure which shows the installation state in the vehicle of. In the installation example of FIGS. 8 and 9, the imaging cameras 10 and 100 are installed below the emblem 33. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the imaging camera 10 projects forward from the imaging camera 100 from the installation space (in particular, the occupied height H in the vertical direction) and the front surface of the vehicle (front grill or the like). The length L is small.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 is translated from the center axis 23 of the image pickup device portion 13 downward by a predetermined distance D to be eccentric, and the image pickup camera 10 is then moved. Since the imaging range of is expanded downward,
The image pickup direction of the image pickup camera 10 can be changed obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction with the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 oriented horizontally, and the installation space of the image pickup camera 10 in a vehicle can be reduced. Can be achieved.

Further, since two prisms 15 and 17 which are optical elements are provided so as to partially cover a predetermined area from above the vertical angle of view of the lens system 11 on the front side of the lens system 11, a single prism is provided. The image pickup device section 13 can pick up the image pickup areas A1 to A3 in the three directions of the left-right direction and the diagonally downward direction.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 10 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the longitudinal cross section of the imaging camera which concerns on embodiment, and the structure of the installation state. The imaging camera 40 according to the present embodiment is substantially different from the imaging camera 10 according to the first embodiment in that the prisms 15 and 17 are omitted and only the imaging area A4 in front of the vehicle is imaged. The same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to each other, and description thereof will be omitted.

Also in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 is eccentrically arranged by being translated from the central axis 23 of the image pickup device section 13 downward by a predetermined eccentric distance. As a result, the image pickup area A4 of the image pickup camera 10 is enlarged downward as shown in FIG. That is, the image pickup direction of the image pickup camera 10 (the center direction of the image pickup area A4) is directed obliquely downward from the horizontal direction while keeping the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 in the horizontal direction. Light from the imaging area A4 is transmitted through the through hole 1 provided in the case 19.
It is adapted to be taken into the case 19 via 9b.

Next, referring to FIG. 12, in the image pickup camera 10 shown in FIG. 10, the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 and the central axis 23 of the image pickup device section 13 are assumed as in the prior art shown in FIG. Lens system 11 and the image pickup device section 1 so that
A configuration in which 3 is arranged and an imaging range similar to that of FIG. 10 is imaged will be described.

In the configuration of FIG. 12, the optical axis 2 of the lens system 11 is
Since 1 and the central axis 23 of the image pickup device section 13 are set to be coaxial, when the image pickup direction is directed obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction 31, the imaging camera 110 is arranged obliquely downward, It is necessary to incline the optical axis 21 of the lens system 11 obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction 31 by a predetermined angle θ4 (here, about 12 degrees).

In the configuration in which the lens system 11 is inclined as described above, as shown in FIG. 12, as compared with the configuration shown in FIG. 10, the configuration of the image pickup cameras 40 and 110 (horizontal and vertical sizes) is large. Is being promoted. Therefore, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 12, the image pickup camera 40 is smaller than the image pickup camera 110 in the protrusion length L and the like from the front surface of the vehicle (front grill etc.), and
The shape of the brackets 41, 43 for fixing to the vehicle can be simplified.

<Third Embodiment> FIG. 13A is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a longitudinal section of an essential part of an image pickup camera according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a front view. The difference between the image pickup camera 50 according to the present embodiment and the image pickup camera 40 according to the second embodiment described above is that the lens system 11 is driven in the vertical direction by the drive mechanism 51. The same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to each other, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, FIG. 13 (a) and FIG.
As shown in (b), the lens system 11 is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the image pickup device section 13, and a drive mechanism 51 that drives the lens system 11 together with the lens case 20a in the vertical direction is provided. . In this embodiment,
Although the lens system 11 is driven by the drive mechanism 51, the image pickup device unit 13 may be driven with respect to the lens system 11.

Various types of drive mechanisms 51 can be considered, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13B, a rack 51a connected to the lens case 20a of the lens system 11 and a rack 51a. Meshed pinion 51b
And a motor 51c that rotationally drives the pinion 51b. Then, by driving the pinion 51b in the forward and reverse directions by the motor 51c, the rack 51
The lens system 11 is driven up and down together with the lens case 20a integrally with a, whereby the image pickup direction of the image pickup camera 50 is changed up and down.

For example, the imaging direction is the horizontal direction 31 of the vehicle.
When facing the (front direction), the position of the lens system 11 is
As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the image pickup device unit 13 is set at a position coaxial with the central axis 23.
Further, when the image pickup direction is directed obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction 31 (front direction) of the vehicle, the position of the central axis 11a of the lens system 11 is changed to that shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, the image sensor unit 13 is set at a position parallel translated downward from the central axis 23 by a predetermined distance.

FIG. 15 shows the movable range E of the lens system 11.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the above, and the lens system 11 can be moved within a range E in which the effective image pickup area F of the CCD image pickup device of the image pickup device unit 1 does not substantially protrude from the image circle 53 of the lens system 11. In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, in order to prevent vignetting at the edge of the captured image, the image circle 53
Although it is preferable to use a lens system 11 having a large size, a slight vignetting may not affect the edge of the image.

The position of the lens system 11 may be switched in association with the switch operation of the user, and various signals of the vehicle (for example, a signal indicating the operation of the direction indicator).
It may be performed in conjunction with.

As described above, also in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the above-described second embodiment can be obtained, and by driving the lens system 11 in the vertical direction with respect to the image pickup device section 13 by the drive mechanism 51. The image pickup direction of the image pickup camera 50 can be easily changed to the vertical direction.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the image pickup cameras 10, 40, 50 are installed at the front end of the vehicle so as to take an image of the area on the front side of the vehicle.
50 may be installed at the rear end of the vehicle to capture an image of the area on the rear side of the vehicle.
0 may be installed in another part of the vehicle to capture an image of another area around the vehicle.

[0041]

According to the present invention, the lens system is decentered in a predetermined direction with respect to the image pickup device so that the center of the image pickup device is decentered from the optical axis of the lens system. Since the image pickup camera is arranged and the image pickup range of the image pickup camera is expanded in the predetermined direction, the image pickup direction of the image pickup camera can be changed to the predetermined direction while keeping the optical axis of the lens system in a certain direction. It is possible to reduce the installation space on the vehicle.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, while the installation space of the image pickup camera in the vehicle is reduced and the like, the image pickup camera picks up an image of a region obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction in the vehicle periphery. be able to.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by providing the optical element on the front side of the lens system, the two-direction regions that are substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens system and are substantially opposite to each other are formed. Images can be picked up by a single image pickup device section.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the image pickup direction of the image pickup camera is easily changed to the predetermined direction by driving one of the lens system and the image pickup device section along the predetermined direction by the drive mechanism. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a vertical cross section of an image pickup camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a planar configuration of a main part of the image pickup camera of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a lens system and an image pickup device section in the image pickup camera of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an image pickup area of the image pickup camera shown in FIG. 1;

5 is a diagram showing an image pickup area of the image pickup camera shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a diagram showing a configuration when a conventional technique is applied to the image pickup camera of FIG.

7 is a diagram showing a planar configuration of a main part of the imaging camera of FIG.

8 is a diagram showing a state in which the image pickup camera of FIG. 1 is installed in a vehicle.

9 is a diagram showing a state where the image pickup camera of FIG. 6 is installed in a vehicle.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a longitudinal section of an image pickup camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a configuration of an installation state thereof.

11 is a diagram showing an image pickup area of the image pickup camera shown in FIG.

12 is a diagram showing a configuration when a conventional technique is applied to the imaging camera of FIG.

FIG. 13A is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a vertical cross section of a main part of an imaging camera according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13B is a front view thereof.

FIG. 14 (a) is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a vertical cross section of a main part of an imaging camera according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 (b) is a front view thereof.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a movable range of a lens system.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a lens system and an image pickup device section in a conventional image pickup camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Imaging camera 11 lens system 13 Image sensor section 15,17 Prism 40,50 imaging camera 51 Drive mechanism 51a rack 51b pinion 51c motor

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03B 13/32 G03B 17/17 5C024 15/00 19/02 5C054 17/17 H04N 5/335 V 19/02 7/18 J H04N 5/335 G03B 3/04 7/18 (72) Inventor Masayoshi Imoto 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Aichi prefecture Nagoya city Auto network technology laboratory F term (reference) 2H044 AC02 2H054 BB02 2H101 FF00 3D020 BA20 BC13 BE03 5C022 AA04 AC42 AC54 5C024 BX04 EX47 5C054 AA01 CE08 CF06 CG05 CG08 HA30

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup camera for picking up an image formed by a lens system by an image pickup device section, wherein the lens system picks up the image so that a center of the image pickup device section is decentered from an optical axis of the lens system. An image pickup camera, which is arranged eccentrically in a predetermined direction with respect to an element portion. 2. The image pickup camera according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis of the lens system is eccentric by being translated in the predetermined direction from a central axis of the image pickup device section. camera. 3. The image pickup camera according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup camera is mounted on a vehicle and picks up an image of the periphery of the vehicle. 4. The image pickup camera according to claim 1, wherein two directions, which are substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens system and are substantially opposite to each other, are provided on the front surface side of the lens system. An image pickup camera comprising an optical element that reflects light from the optical system to enter the lens system. 5. The image pickup camera according to claim 1, wherein one of the lens system and the image pickup device unit is in the predetermined direction with respect to the other of the lens system and the image pickup device unit. An image pickup camera, which is provided so as to be movable along a predetermined direction, and which is provided with a drive mechanism that drives the one side along the predetermined direction.