JP2006108991A - Security device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a security device for vehicles, capable of accurately grasping the state of abnormal occurrence. <P>SOLUTION: In the security device which is mounted on a vehicle, the image of cabin which is imaged by an imaging part (1) is compressed and inserted with time information at a prescribed timing, which is recorded in an image recording memory (32). If the image is judged to be an abnormal image by an abnormal image judging part (2), the time interval for recording images in the image recording memory (32) of an image processor (3) becomes short. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a security device, and more particularly to a vehicle security device that is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and used for enhancing safety and security of the vehicle.

A vehicle, particularly an automobile, may be stolen in a car navigation system, an audio device, or the like due to damage to the vehicle body during parking or vandalism (aim on the vehicle). For this reason, conventionally, there is known a security device that detects abnormalities during parking of a car (for example, intrusion of an abnormal person, vibration when a door glass or a door is damaged, etc.), and is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-142543. There is something that was done. In this apparatus, when the abnormality detection means of the automobile detects the abnormality, the abnormality is notified to the owner of the automobile by the notification means. In addition, when the distance between the car and the car owner is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, an abnormality is notified by voice, or when the distance is larger than the threshold, the mobile communication device notifies the abnormality.
JP2004-142543

Further, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-127835, a vehicle security device that detects a vehicle abnormality and performs a predetermined notification process, an abnormality detection unit that detects the abnormality of the vehicle, a vehicle periphery, and a vehicle interior An imaging means for imaging at least one of the situations, a communication means capable of transmitting / receiving information via a wireless communication line, and the imaging means at that time in response to the abnormality detection means detecting an abnormality occurrence There is disclosed a vehicle security device comprising: control means for transmitting image data obtained by the imaging operation together with information for notifying occurrence of abnormality to a transmission destination set by a user via the communication means. Yes. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-6762 discloses a crime prevention device for crime prevention that is installed in a vehicle such as an automobile, and that automatically detects a malfunction that has occurred and a malfunction detection signal from the sensor. A vehicle crime prevention device is disclosed that includes a photographer that operates a shutter in order to take a photograph.
JP 2003-127835 A JP 2000-6762 A

  However, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-142543 has only a function of reporting that an abnormality has occurred, and cannot specifically know under what circumstances the abnormality has occurred. Further, in the case of the apparatus of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-127835 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-6762, since the image pickup and the shutter operation of the camera are started at the stage when the abnormality occurs, the state of occurrence of the abnormality, particularly the occurrence of the abnormality. It was difficult to accurately grasp the situation at the initial stage.

  The security device of the present invention is a security device mounted on a vehicle, and includes a sensor unit 4 that detects an abnormality occurring in the vehicle, an imaging unit 1 that images a predetermined portion of the vehicle, and the imaging unit A screen processing unit (recording unit) 3 that records an image; an abnormal image determination unit 2 that determines whether the image captured by the imaging unit 1 is an abnormal image; When it is determined that 2 is an abnormal image, the image processing unit 3 is controlled by the control unit 8 so as to record the abnormal image.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image processing unit 3 always records an image captured by the imaging unit 1 at a predetermined time interval, and the abnormal image determination unit 2 determines that the abnormal image is the abnormal image when the abnormal image determination unit 2 determines that the image is an abnormal image. It is controlled by the control unit 8 so as to record at a time interval shorter than a predetermined time interval.

  Further preferably, it further includes a sensor unit (abnormality detection unit) 4 that detects an abnormality that has occurred in the vehicle, and an alarm unit 5, and when the sensor unit detects an abnormality, the alarm unit 5 issues an alarm. It is good also as a structure controlled by the said control part 8 so that it may generate | occur | produce. In addition, when the abnormal image determination part 2 determines with it being an abnormal image, it is good also as a structure controlled by the said control part 8 so that the alarm part 5 may generate | occur | produce an alarm.

  The wireless transmission unit 6 further includes a wireless transmission unit 6 that transmits an abnormality occurrence signal and a reception terminal 7 that receives the abnormality occurrence signal. The wireless transmission unit 6 receives the reception when the sensor unit 4 detects an abnormality. The control unit 8 may be configured to transmit the abnormality occurrence signal to the terminal 7.

  Further, the security device further includes a power supply unit 9 configured using a battery, and the predetermined time interval is determined based on the capacity of the battery. That is, in a normal state where no abnormality occurs, the predetermined time interval is set as long as possible in order to lengthen the time for performing the abnormality monitoring as described above.

In the security device of the present invention, when the image captured by the image capturing unit 1 is an abnormal image, the image processing unit (recording unit) 3 records the abnormal image. For this reason, recording can be started from the stage immediately after the occurrence of an abnormality.
In addition, the image captured by the imaging unit 1 is always recorded at a predetermined time interval, and the abnormal image is recorded (image processing) at an interval shorter than the predetermined time interval when it is determined to be an abnormal image. By doing so, the state before the occurrence of the abnormality can be recorded.
Therefore, by viewing the recorded images later, it is possible to grasp the detailed situation before and after the occurrence of the abnormality in detail later, and this image can be used to search for crimes when identifying the intrusion status and the intruder's person. Useful material.

The security device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
Referring to FIG. 1, this security device includes an imaging unit 1, an abnormal image determination unit 2, an image processing unit (recording unit) 3, a sensor unit (abnormality detection unit) 4, an alarm unit 5, a wireless transmission unit 6, and a reception. The terminal 7 and the control unit 8 are configured.

  The imaging unit 1 includes a camera unit 11 that is configured by using a CCD (charge coupled device) or the like and images (captures) a surrounding situation, and a light emitting unit 12 that uses an LED (light emitting diode) or the like as a light source. Contains. The camera unit 11 is preferably for a color image, but may be for a monochrome image. An output of the camera unit 11, that is, an image captured by the camera unit 11 is output as a signal. The light emitting unit 12 is of a known configuration that automatically emits infrared rays when the surroundings are dark, such as at night, so that the illuminance can be taken by the camera unit 11 even when the surroundings are dark. Can be obtained.

  The abnormal image determination unit 2 receives a signal output (output image) from the camera unit 11 of the imaging unit 1. Then, the abnormal image determination unit 2 determines whether the image output as a signal is an abnormal image. Specifically, the determination of the abnormal image as described above is performed as follows, for example. That is, in the state where the driver and other passengers are not in the automobile, the shape and arrangement of various devices and fixtures in the automobile are substantially the same, so the image obtained by photographing the interior of the automobile does not change. Therefore, by detecting and determining the presence or absence of the identity or change between the output image (output image A) at a predetermined timing from the camera unit 11 and the output image (output image B) at the next timing, The presence or absence of occurrence can be detected, and it can be determined whether or not the output image B is an abnormal image. Thus, the presence or absence of a change in the output image is specifically detected when, for example, the output image B includes an object (particularly a part of the human body) that is not in the output image A.

  In order to perform the above determination, the abnormal image determination unit 2 includes, for example, at least two image memory areas (an image memory area A that stores the output image A and an image memory area B that stores the output image B). And an image discriminating unit (not shown) for comparing the images stored in these image memory areas and discriminating the presence or absence of the same. In this case, the image discriminating unit may discriminate the presence or absence of identity by comparing corresponding ones among a plurality of pixels constituting each image memory area sequentially or in parallel. As another example, the image determination unit detects the presence of each article by detecting the shape of an article (car handle, seat, instrument panel, window frame, etc.) formed in each image memory area, When the number of articles detected in the area A or the size (shape) thereof is changed, the number of articles detected in the image memory area B or the size (shape) thereof is changed or the identity is lost or changed. It may be determined that it has been done.

  The image processing unit 3 includes an image compression / time information editing unit 31 and an image recording memory unit 32. An image output from the camera unit 11 of the imaging unit 1 is input to the image compression / time information editing unit 31. The image compression / time information editing unit 31 inserts time information into the input image at a predetermined position (for example, upper right) of the image and compresses the image by a known method, for example, MPEG3, thereby Process to reduce the amount. The time information is, for example, “YYYY: MM: DD: TT: MM: SS”, that is, year: month: day: hour: minute: second, eg, 2004: 10: 02: 14: 30: 15 (October 2004 2 days 14:30 minutes 15 seconds). The image recording memory unit 32 is configured by, for example, an HD (hard disk), a nonvolatile RAM (for example, SRAM), a DV tape, or the like, and stores the compressed image data. With the above image compression, the amount of image data that can be recorded in the image recording memory unit 32 can be reduced.

  Further, when the power supply unit 9 is configured using a battery as will be described later, the operation of the image processing unit 3 is necessary in a normal state where no abnormality occurs in order to make the above-described abnormality monitoring possible as long as possible. By minimizing it, it is useful to have the battery capacity of the power supply unit 9, thereby enabling long-term abnormality monitoring. Specifically, this is performed by making the time interval between the compression and insertion processing sequentially performed in the image compression / time information editing unit 31 as long as possible.

  The sensor unit 4 includes a human body sensor 41, an impact sensor 42, and the like. The human body sensing sensor 41 is a sensor for detecting an intruder entering the vehicle. Specifically, for example, an infrared sensor (microwave sensor) that senses the body temperature generated by the human body is used. The impact detection sensor 42 is a sensor that detects an impact applied to the vehicle, for example, vibration or impact sound when an intruder breaks the window glass, or vibration or impact sound when the door lock is broken. Specifically, for example, a vibration sensor or a sound sensor (a sensor that detects a sound having a frequency in a predetermined range corresponding to the impact sound) is used. The output of the sensor unit 4 is input to the control unit 8.

  The alarm unit 5 includes an alarm sound generator 51 and an alarm light generator 52. The alarm sound generating unit 51 includes a loudspeaker, a buzzer, and the like. The warning light generator 52 is composed of a strobe, a flash, a large capacity LED, and the like. As will be described later, the alarm sound generation unit 51 and the alarm light generation unit 52 detect an intruder into the vehicle or an impact on the vehicle when the abnormal image determination unit 2 determines an abnormal image. It activates in some cases and generates alarm sound or warning light to threaten the intruder or notify the occurrence of abnormality around the vehicle.

The wireless transmission unit 6 includes an antenna unit 61 and has a known wireless transmission function. Then, when the abnormal image determination unit 2 determines an abnormal image, or when the sensor unit 4 senses an intruder into the vehicle or an impact on the vehicle, it transmits to the receiving terminal 7 that an abnormality has occurred. To do. The reception terminal 7 includes an antenna unit 71 and has a known configuration having a function of receiving a radio signal transmitted from the radio transmission unit 6. The receiving terminal 7 has at least one of a display unit using an LCD or LED, a sound generation unit using a speaker or a buzzer, or a vibration generation unit, and the display by the display unit, sound from the sound generation unit, or generation of vibrations. The vibration of the unit notifies the owner of the receiving terminal 7 (same as the owner or user of the vehicle) that an abnormality has occurred in the vehicle.

  The power supply unit 9 is a dry battery (primary battery), a secondary battery (for example, a nickel metal hydride battery), or the like, and supplies power to the security device of the present embodiment. When a secondary battery is used, a charging circuit for the secondary battery may be provided, for example, charging while the engine of the car is operating. Or it is good also as a structure which supplies electric power from now on using the battery with which the vehicle was equipped as the power supply part 9. FIG.

  The control unit 8 has a known configuration including a CPU and a storage device storing a control program thereof, and the control program is configured to perform the following operations.

  Here, the above-described constituent elements may be combined together, that is, provided in a single housing. However, for example, the above-described imaging unit 1 and sensor unit 4 may be separated and provided at predetermined positions. . In that case, each component may be connected by wire or wirelessly.

The operation of the security device of the embodiment having the above configuration is as follows.
First, the security device is installed at a predetermined position in a vehicle, for example, an automobile. And when the user of a motor vehicle leaves a motor vehicle, a security apparatus is made into an operation state. Then, in the security device, an image photographed by the imaging unit 1 is sent to the abnormal image determination unit 2 and the image processing unit 3. The abnormal image determination unit 2 determines an abnormal image at a predetermined timing as described above. On the other hand, in a state where no abnormal image is determined, the image processing unit 3 performs image compression and time information insertion on the image in the image compression / time information editing unit 31 with respect to an image input at a predetermined timing. . The processed images are sequentially recorded in the image recording memory unit 32.

  Since the storage area in the image recording memory unit 32 is limited, when the amount of recorded image data reaches this storage area, the image data recorded in the oldest time is sequentially deleted. Thereby, continuous recording can be performed. In an actual apparatus, about 2 to 3 images are sufficient as past image data to be recorded in the image recording memory unit 32.

  When an intruder enters the vehicle, an abnormal image is detected by the abnormal image determination unit 2, so the abnormal image determination unit 2 determines that an abnormal image has occurred. Then, this determination output is input to the control unit 8, so that an abnormality occurrence signal is output from the control unit 8 to the image compression / time information editing unit 31 of the image processing unit 3. Then, the time interval in which the image compression / time information editing unit 31 performs the image compression and the time information insertion becomes shorter than before, and the compressed and inserted image data is sequentially recorded in the image recording memory unit 32. That is, the time interval of images recorded in the image recording memory unit 32 is shortened.

  On the other hand, when an intruder enters the vehicle, if an action such as opening the door of the automobile or breaking the window glass is performed, the impact detection sensor 42 of the sensor unit 4 detects this. Further, when an intruder enters the vehicle, the human body sensor 41 similarly detects this. These sensing outputs are input to the control unit 8.

  When the determination output from the abnormal image determination unit 2 and the detection output from the impact detection sensor 42 or the human body detection sensor 41 are input, the control unit 8 determines that an abnormality has occurred, and Process to output the above alarm. In addition, the reception terminal 7 is notified of the occurrence of abnormality via the wireless transmission unit 6.

  The image at the time of occurrence of an abnormality recorded in the image recording memory unit 32 as described above is used after being output as a video when an intruder is specified.

It is explanatory drawing which showed the structure of the security apparatus of embodiment which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging part 2 Abnormal image determination part 3 Image processing part 4 Sensor part 5 Alarm part 6 Wireless transmission part 7 Receiving terminal 8 Control part 9 Power supply part

Claims (6)

A security device mounted on a vehicle,
A sensor unit (4) for detecting an abnormality occurring in the vehicle;
An imaging unit (1) for imaging a predetermined portion of the vehicle;
An image processing unit (3) for recording an image captured by the imaging unit (1);
An abnormal image determination unit (2) for determining whether the image captured by the imaging unit (1) is an abnormal image;
A control unit (8),
When the abnormal image determination unit (2) determines that the image is an abnormal image, the image processing unit (3) is controlled by the control unit (8) to record the abnormal image. Security device.   The image processing unit (3) records the images captured by the imaging unit (1) at a predetermined time interval, and when the abnormal image determination unit (2) determines that the abnormal image is an abnormal image, The security device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (8) controls the recording so as to record at a time interval shorter than the predetermined time interval. A sensor unit (4) for detecting an abnormality occurring in the vehicle, and an alarm unit (5);
The said control part (8) is controlled by the said control part (8) so that an alarm may be generated when the said sensor part (4) detects abnormality, The said control part (8) is characterized by the above-mentioned. Security device. A wireless transmission unit (6) for transmitting the abnormality occurrence signal, and a receiving terminal (7) for receiving the abnormality occurrence signal;
The wireless transmission unit (6) is controlled by the control unit (8) to transmit the abnormality occurrence signal to the receiving terminal (7) when the sensor unit (4) detects abnormality. The security device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein   The control unit (8) is controlled so that the alarm unit (5) generates an alarm when the abnormal image determination unit (2) determines that the image is an abnormal image. Item 5. The security device according to any one of Items 1 to 4. The power supply unit (9) configured using a battery is further provided, and the predetermined time interval is determined based on a capacity of the battery. The security device described.

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