JP2007089042A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus to hold a tilt of an image imaged on a display apparatus at a prescribed angle. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging apparatus 100 is provided with a pan rotation driving portion 142 to rotate an imaging portion 110 to a pan direction and an optical axis rotation driving means 150 to rotate the imaging portion 110 around the optical axis according to a pan rotation angle of the imaging portion 110. The optical axis rotation driving means 150 rotates the imaging portion 110 around the optical axis so as to accord a reference line of an imaging image by the imaging portion 110 to the reference line of an imaging subject. The tilt of the image caused by pan-rotating the imaging apparatus is corrected thereby and the tilt of the image imaged on the display apparatus 300 can be held regularly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus that can rotate an imaging unit in the pan direction.

  An imaging device such as a surveillance camera can drive a predetermined area over a wide range from various angles by including driving means that can rotate in the pan direction and / or the tilt direction. Such an imaging device may be mounted in an upside down posture depending on the mounting position on the ceiling or mounting table of the room to be monitored.

  When the mounting orientation of the imaging device changes, the projected image is tilted and displayed on the monitor. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to see the image displayed on the monitor. Further, when operating the image pickup apparatus while looking at the monitor, it is difficult to operate in a desired direction. In order to solve such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a monitoring camera device including a determination unit that determines the top and bottom of the installation posture of the device. The surveillance camera device is configured to perform up / down / left / right inversion control of the direction control signal from the installation posture information detected by the determination unit and to perform up / down / left / right inversion control of the image information output from the camera or the camera. Has been.

JP 2000-209575 A

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is a new and improved technique capable of maintaining the inclination of an image projected on a display device at a predetermined angle. Another object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit and a pan rotation driving unit that rotates the imaging unit in a pan direction: according to a pan rotation angle of the imaging unit. Thus, an imaging apparatus including an optical axis rotation driving unit that rotates the imaging unit around the optical axis is provided.

  Since the imaging unit is moved along a circular trajectory by the pan rotation driving unit, the image is inclined by moving the imaging unit. Therefore, the tilt of the image is corrected by rotating the imaging unit around the optical axis by the optical axis rotation driving means. In this way, it is possible to make the image captured by the imaging unit easier to see.

  Here, the optical axis rotation driving means maintains a predetermined relationship between the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the frame screen of the imaging unit and the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the captured image captured by the imaging unit. The imaging unit may be rotated around the optical axis so as to rotate the imaging unit. Each two-dimensional reference coordinate is a reference position composed of at least two coordinate values. For example, two specific points or a straight line connecting the two points can be set. The relative positional relationship is maintained such that the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the picked-up image are coincident with or perpendicular to the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the frame screen of the imaging unit. As described above, by rotating the imaging unit around the optical axis, an image captured by the imaging unit can always be displayed on the display device with a constant inclination.

  For example, if the pan rotation direction of the imaging unit is the right direction when the imaging unit is viewed from above, the imaging unit is rotated leftward about the optical axis, while the pan rotation direction of the imaging unit is When viewed from above, the image picked up by the image pickup unit can be corrected by causing the optical axis rotation driving unit to function so as to rotate the image pickup unit in the right direction around the optical axis.

  Further, the rotation direction around the optical axis of the imaging unit may be changed according to a predetermined pan rotation angle of the imaging unit. That is, when the imaging unit rotates, for example, clockwise, every time the pan rotation angle rotates by a predetermined angle (for example, 45 °), the rotation direction around the optical axis of the imaging unit changes from left to right. Thus, the optical axis rotation driving means can be made to function. Furthermore, the rotation angle around the optical axis of the imaging unit may be changed according to a predetermined pan rotation angle of the imaging unit. By making the optical axis rotation driving means function in this way, the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the captured image can be changed so that the inclination of the image displayed on the display device can be easily seen.

  Here, the imaging unit includes at least an imaging element. Therefore, the image tilt can be corrected in the same manner as described above by rotating the imaging device around the optical axis by the optical axis rotation driving means.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit and a pan rotation driving unit that rotates the imaging unit in the pan direction: by the imaging unit according to a pan rotation angle of the imaging unit. An imaging apparatus including an image correction unit that rotationally corrects a captured image is provided. With this configuration, it is possible to correct the inclination of the image generated by the pan rotation movement of the imaging unit by rotating the position corresponding to the optical axis of the imaging unit with the image correction unit as the rotation center. In this way, it is possible to make the captured image easy to see.

  For example, the image correction unit maintains a predetermined relationship between the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the frame screen of the imaging unit and the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the captured image captured by the imaging unit. The image captured by the image capturing unit can be rotationally corrected. As a result, the captured image can be displayed on the display device at a constant inclination at all times. Here, for example, when the pan rotation direction of the imaging unit is the right direction when the imaging unit is viewed from above, the captured image is rotated leftward about the position corresponding to the optical axis in the image, When the pan rotation direction of the image pickup unit is the left direction when the image pickup unit is viewed from above, the image correction unit is caused to function so as to rotate the picked-up image to the right about the position corresponding to the optical axis in the image. Thus, the captured image can be corrected. As a result, the captured image displayed on the display device can be displayed in an easy-to-view manner as in the case where the imaging unit is rotated around the optical axis.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an imaging device capable of maintaining the inclination of an image displayed on a display device at a predetermined angle.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

(First embodiment)
First, based on FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the structure of the imaging device concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. Here, FIG. 1 is a front view of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes an imaging unit 110, a driving unit 140, and an optical axis rotation driving unit 150.

  The imaging unit 110 includes, for example, a lens unit 120 and a camera unit. The imaging unit 110 forms an image of light on an imaging surface of an imaging element provided in the camera unit via the lens unit 120, and displays an imaging target to be displayed on a monitor or the like. In addition, a gear 115 is attached to the housing 113 of the imaging unit 110 according to the present embodiment in order to rotate the imaging unit 110 by an optical axis rotating unit 151 described later.

  The driving unit 140 supports the imaging unit 110 and moves the imaging unit 110 to capture a desired imaging target. The drive unit 140 includes, for example, a pair of support parts 143 that support the imaging unit 110, and a base part 141 that supports the imaging unit 110 and the support unit 143 so as to be able to perform pan rotation. As will be described later, the base unit 143 includes a tilt rotation driving unit 144 that rotates the imaging unit 110, and the base unit 141 includes a pan rotation driving unit 142 that rotates the imaging unit 110 and the support unit 143. Is provided.

  The imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the imaging unit 110 can rotate around the optical axis around the optical axis. Here, the rotation around the optical axis is rotation around a straight line connecting the center points of the spherical surfaces of the lenses constituting the lens unit 120. In the present embodiment, the imaging device 100 having a structure in which the optical axis exists on the pan rotation axis of the imaging unit 110 will be described. The imaging apparatus 100 includes an optical axis rotation driving unit 150 that rotates the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis. The optical axis rotation driving unit 150 includes, for example, a motor 151 that is an optical axis rotation driving unit, a control board 153, and a detection unit 155.

  The motor 151 that is an optical axis rotation drive unit is a drive unit that rotates the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis P, and for example, a DC motor can be used. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating shaft portion of the motor 151 is provided with a gear 152 so as to mesh with a gear 115 attached to the imaging means 110.

  The control board 153 is a board on which a control circuit (not shown) for calculating a control signal for driving the motor 151 is mounted. The control circuit determines the operation amount (rotation angle around the optical axis, rotation speed, etc.) of the motor 151 based on, for example, the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110.

  The detection unit 155 detects a rotation angle around the optical axis of the imaging unit 110 rotated by the motor 151 (hereinafter referred to as “optical axis rotation angle”). As the detection unit 155, for example, a potentiometer that detects a rotation angle based on a change in electrical resistance can be used. Thus, when the optical axis rotation angle of the imaging means 110 is directly detected, the detection unit 155 can be configured as shown in FIG. That is, the gear 156 is attached to the detection unit 155 so as to mesh with the gear 115 attached to the housing 113 of the imaging unit 110. The imaging unit 110 is rotated by the motor 151 and the gear 156 is rotated, so that the detection unit 155 can detect the optical axis rotation angle of the imaging unit 110.

  The overall configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 has been described above. Next, the function of each component constituting the imaging device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As described above, the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes the imaging means 110, the driving means 140, and the optical axis rotation driving means 150.

  When an operator operates the imaging device 100 to capture an imaging target, first, the operator remotely operates the imaging unit 110 using the operating device 200 connected to the imaging device 100. The operation device 200 includes, for example, a joystick for inputting a panning direction and / or a tilting direction for rotating the imaging unit 110 and a rotation speed, a lever for performing zoom and focus adjustment of the camera unit 130, and the like. The operation signal of the image pickup means 110 input using such an operation device 200 is input to the interface unit 146 of the image pickup device 100.

  The signal input to the interface unit 146 is converted into a signal for actually driving the control target, and operation signals are input to the pan driving unit 142, the tilt driving unit 144, and the camera unit 130, respectively.

  Here, it is assumed that the imaging unit 110 is rotated by the pan driving unit 142. In the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when the imaging unit 110 is pan-rotated, the imaging unit 110 is rotated by the motor 151. Normally, if the image pickup means 110 is simply pan-rotated, the image picked up at the pan-rotated position becomes an inclined image compared to the image picked up at the initial position. Therefore, the image tilt is corrected by rotating the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis so that the tilted image does not occur.

  The correction of the tilt of the image is performed according to the pan rotation direction and / or the pan rotation angle of the image pickup means 110. Here, in order to correct the inclination of the image, two-dimensional reference coordinates are set in the frame screen of the imaging unit 110 and in the captured image captured by the imaging unit 110, respectively. The two-dimensional reference coordinates are composed of at least two coordinate values. For example, two specific coordinates or a straight line connecting the two coordinates can be set. Then, the housing 113 of the imaging unit 110 is rotated by the optical axis rotating unit 150 so that the two-dimensional reference coordinates are in a predetermined relationship, for example, coincident or have a certain inclination.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the imaging device 100 is installed on the ceiling of a room R monitored by an operator. Here, the two-dimensional reference coordinates in the frame screen of the imaging means 110 are set as the reference line 130a, and the two-dimensional reference coordinates in the captured image taken by the imaging means 110 are set as the reference line R1. Then, a state where the optical axis of the image pickup means 110 faces the A direction and is parallel to the reference line R1 is set as an initial position. At this time, in the image captured by the imaging apparatus 100, the reference line 130a in the horizontal direction of the screen and the reference line R1 are substantially parallel as shown in the screen A of FIG.

  Next, it is assumed that from the state of the screen A, the imaging unit 110 is rotated about 45 ° to the left, that is, panned so as to face the B direction. Here, when the image pickup means 110 is not rotated around the optical axis, the reference line 130a in the horizontal direction of the screen and the reference line R1 are not parallel, and an image in which the reference line R1 is inclined like the screen B is displayed. The image pickup means 110 of the image pickup apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment rotates the image pickup means 110 around the optical axis by substantially the same angle in the opposite direction to the pan rotation direction so as not to form such an inclined image. That is, by rotating the image pickup means 110 about 45 ° in the right direction around the optical axis, the horizontal reference line 130a and the reference line R1 are always kept substantially parallel, and the image pickup means 110 faces the B direction. When the image is displayed, an image in which the reference line 130a and the reference line R1 are substantially parallel as shown in the screen B ′ can be displayed.

  Thus, for example, when the imaging means 110 is pan-rotated in the forward direction by θ ° (eg, 45 ° in the left direction), the imaging means 110 is moved in the reverse direction by θ ° (eg, 45 ° in the right direction). By rotating around the optical axis P, the tilt of the image can be corrected.

  Here, when the imaging unit 110 is rotated by the motor 151 along the optical axis, an angle of rotation of the optical axis from the current initial position is fed back to the control unit 154 in order to calculate an angle of rotation around the optical axis. . The optical axis rotation angle of the imaging unit 110 is detected by the detection unit 155. As described above, the detection unit 155 includes the gear 156 that meshes with the gear 115 provided in the housing 113 of the imaging unit 110, and measures the angle at which the gear 156 is rotated, so that the optical axis of the imaging unit 110 is measured. Measure the rotation angle. As described above, the detection unit 155 can directly detect the optical axis rotation angle of the imaging unit 110.

  The detected optical axis rotation angle of the imaging means 110 is transmitted to the control unit 154. The control unit 154 calculates the optical axis rotation angle of the imaging unit 110 necessary for correcting the tilt of the image from the optical axis rotation angle and the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110. Then, the housing 113 of the imaging means 110 is rotated around the optical axis by the calculated optical axis rotation angle.

  Thus, by rotating the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis in accordance with the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110, the image displayed on the display device 300 can always have a predetermined inclination.

  As a method for correcting the tilt of the image, in the above description, when the pan rotation direction of the imaging unit 110 is the forward direction, the optical axis rotation direction is the reverse direction, and the optical axis rotation angle is substantially the same as the pan rotation angle. Although a method of rotating around the optical axis has been shown, the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the optical axis rotation direction of the imaging unit 110 may be changed according to the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110.

  For example, the rotation direction of the optical axis of the imaging unit 110 may be changed every time the imaging unit 110 is rotated 45 degrees from the reference position. That is, in FIG. 4, when the pan rotation angle is 45 ° (for example, movement from the A direction to the B direction), the imaging means 110 is rotated about the optical axis by the pan rotation angle in the opposite direction (right direction) to the pan rotation direction. Rotate to While the image pickup means 110 is further rotated by 45 ° (movement from the B direction to the C direction), the image pickup means 110 is rotated about the optical axis by the pan rotation angle from the B direction in the pan rotation direction and the forward direction (left direction). Rotate to

  Thus, by changing the optical axis rotation direction of the imaging means 110 during the movement from the A direction to the C direction, the reference line R1 and the reference line 130a are changed between the A direction and the B direction. Between the direction and the C direction, the reference line R2 and the reference line 130a can be made substantially parallel. Further, similarly to the movement from the A direction to the C direction, the movement from the C direction to the E direction, the E direction to the G direction, and the G direction to the A direction are performed by changing the optical axis rotation direction of the imaging unit 110. , B direction to D direction is a reference line R2, D direction to F direction is a reference line R3, F direction to H direction is a reference line R4, and H direction to B direction is to display a screen parallel to the reference line R1. Can do.

  Thus, the two-dimensional reference coordinates (for example, the reference line 130a in the horizontal direction of the screen) set in the frame screen of the imaging unit 110 and the two-dimensional reference coordinates (for example, the reference lines R1 to R4 in FIG. 4) in the captured image. By rotating the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis so that the predetermined relationship is maintained, the inclination of the image displayed on the screen can be set to a desired angle.

  As another method for correcting the tilt of the image, the imaging unit 110 can be rotated around the optical axis in accordance with the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110. For example, when the A direction is set to 0 ° in pan rotation and the clockwise direction is positive, for example, when the imaging unit 110 is rotated 90 ° pan, the state of the imaging unit in the A direction is 90 ° to the left around the optical axis. , When the pan is rotated by 180 °, the state of the imaging means in the A direction may be set to 180 ° to the left around the optical axis.

  The imaging device 100 according to the first embodiment has been described above. The imaging apparatus 100 rotates the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis in accordance with the pan rotation angle and / or the pan rotation direction of the imaging apparatus 100, so that the inclination of the image displayed on the display apparatus 300 is a predetermined angle. It can be. Thereby, it becomes easy to see the image displayed on the display device 300 and the operation of the imaging device 100 is also easy. Further, as compared with the conventional imaging device 100, a gear 115 is provided in the housing 113 of the imaging unit 110, and an optical axis rotating unit 150 that rotates the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis is additionally provided. Therefore, it is not necessary to significantly change the configuration of the conventional imaging apparatus 100.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, an imaging device 100 ′ according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the present embodiment is different from the imaging apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment in that an object rotated by the optical axis rotation driving unit 150 is an imaging element. Hereinafter, the configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the present embodiment will be described. Here, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the imaging means 110 and the optical axis rotation driving means 150 of the imaging device 100 ′ according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the present embodiment. Detailed description of the same parts as those in the first embodiment will be omitted.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment corrects the tilt of a captured image that is generated by panning the imaging unit 110 and causes the display apparatus 300 to display the image with a predetermined tilt. And

  The imaging unit 110 of the imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the present embodiment includes a lens unit 120 and a camera unit 130 as illustrated in FIG. 5. Inside the camera unit 130, an imaging element 131 (for example, a CCD or the like) that forms light on the imaging plane with light incident through the lens unit 120 is provided. In the imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the present embodiment, the tilt of the image is corrected by rotating the imaging element 131 around the optical axis. For this reason, the imaging apparatus 100 ′ includes an optical axis rotation driving unit 150 for rotating the imaging element 131 around the optical axis.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the optical axis rotation driving means 150 according to the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, for example, a motor 151 that is an optical axis rotation driving unit, a control board 153, and a detection unit 155. And is configured.

  The motor 151 that is an optical axis rotation drive unit is a drive unit that rotates the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis P, and for example, a DC motor can be used. The rotating shaft portion of the motor 151 is provided with a gear 152 as shown in FIG.

  The control board 153 is a board on which a control circuit (not shown) for calculating a control signal for driving the motor 151 is mounted. The control circuit determines the operation amount (optical axis rotation angle, rotation speed, etc.) of the motor 151 based on, for example, the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110.

  The detection unit 155 detects the optical axis rotation angle of the imaging unit 110 rotated by the motor 151. As the detection unit 155, for example, a potentiometer that detects a rotation angle based on a change in electrical resistance can be used.

  The image sensor 131 is fixed to a holder 135 that supports the image sensor 131 by, for example, screwing. A gear is formed around the holder 135 and is arranged so as to mesh with the gear 152 provided on the rotation shaft portion of the motor 151 of the optical axis rotation driving means 150. That is, the image sensor 131 fixed to the holder 135 is rotated by rotating the motor 151.

  The imaging apparatus 100 ′ having such a configuration functions as follows, and corrects the inclination of the image captured by the imaging unit 110 as in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the present embodiment includes the imaging unit 100, a driving unit 140, and an optical axis rotation driving unit 150. First, the operator remotely operates the imaging unit 110 using the operating device 200 connected to the imaging device 100 '. The operation signal of the image pickup means 110 input using the operation device 200 is input to the interface unit 146 of the image pickup device 100 ′.

  The signal input to the interface unit 146 is converted into a signal for actually driving the control target, and operation signals are input to the pan driving unit 142, the tilt driving unit 144, and the camera unit 130, respectively.

  Here, it is assumed that the imaging unit 110 is rotated by the pan driving unit 142. In the imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the present embodiment, when the imaging unit 110 is pan-rotated, the imaging element 131 of the imaging unit 110 is rotated by the motor 151. Thereby, the inclination of the image generated by panning the imaging unit 110 is corrected by rotating the imaging element 131 provided in the camera unit 130 of the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis. The correction of the inclination of the image is performed according to the pan rotation direction and / or the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110, as in the first embodiment.

  When the image sensor 131 is rotated by the motor 151, the angle of rotation of the image sensor 131 from the initial position is fed back to the control unit 154 in order to calculate the angle at which the image sensor 131 is rotated around the optical axis. The The optical axis rotation angle of the image sensor 131 is detected by the detection unit 155. As described above, the detection unit 155 includes the gear 156 that meshes with the gear of the holder 135 that supports the image sensor 131, and measures the angle at which the gear 156 is rotated, so that the optical axis rotation angle of the image sensor 131 is measured. Measure. Thus, the detection unit 155 can directly detect the optical axis rotation angle of the image sensor 131.

  The detected optical axis rotation angle of the image sensor 131 is transmitted to the control unit 154. The control unit 154 calculates the optical axis rotation angle of the image sensor 131 necessary for correcting the tilt of the image from the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110 and the optical axis rotation angle of the image sensor 131. Then, the imaging element 131 is rotated around the optical axis by the calculated optical axis rotation angle.

  Thus, by rotating the image sensor 131 around the optical axis in accordance with the pan rotation angle of the imaging unit 110, the image displayed on the display device 300 can always have a predetermined inclination.

  The imaging apparatus 100 ′ according to the second embodiment has been described above. The imaging apparatus 100 rotates the imaging element 131 around the optical axis in accordance with the pan rotation angle and / or the pan rotation direction of the imaging apparatus 100, so that the inclination of the image displayed on the display apparatus 300 is a predetermined angle. It can be. Thereby, it becomes easy to see the image displayed on the display device 300 and the operation of the imaging device 100 is also easy. Further, as compared with the conventional imaging device 100, the holder 135 that supports the imaging device 131 is provided with a gear, and further includes an optical axis rotating unit 150 that rotates the imaging unit 110 around the optical axis. Therefore, it is not necessary to significantly change the configuration of the conventional imaging apparatus 100.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the detection unit 155 directly measures the rotation angle of the imaging unit 110, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, instead of directly detecting the rotation angle of the imaging unit 110, the rotation angle of the imaging unit 100 can be calculated from the operation amount of the optical axis rotation driving unit 151 calculated by the control unit 154, for example.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the housing 113 or the image pick-up element 131 of the imaging means 110 was rotated using the motor 151, this invention is not limited to this example. For example, in the case of a fixed imaging device that is not operated by the operation device 200, the imaging device may be manually rotated so that the angle desired to be displayed on the display device 300 can be set when setting the mounting of the imaging device. Further, for example, image correction means for correcting the inclination of the captured image by image processing may be provided. At this time, two-dimensional reference coordinates (for example, two specific points or a specific straight line) including at least two coordinate values are set in the captured image captured by the imaging unit. Then, the image correction means performs image processing such that the two-dimensional reference coordinates in the picked-up image and the two-dimensional reference coordinates set in the frame image of the image pickup means coincide with each other. Rotate to As described above, even if the housing 113 or the image sensor 131 of the image pickup unit 110 is not actually rotated, it is possible to display the image displayed on the display device 300 so that the inclination of the image maintains a constant inclination.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the reference line 130a of the imaging unit 110 is a horizontal line on the screen, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and for example, a vertical line may be used as the reference line. Further, instead of the reference line 130a, a specific mark as a reference may be provided in the screen.

  In the above-described embodiment, the image pickup apparatus having a structure in which the optical axis exists on the pan rotation axis of the image pickup unit has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the optical axis is on the pan rotation axis of the image pickup unit. An imaging device that does not exist may be used.

  The present invention can be applied to an imaging apparatus, and in particular, can be applied to an imaging apparatus that can rotate an imaging unit in the pan direction.

1 is a front view of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the imaging device concerning 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image imaged with the imaging device. It is a cross-sectional view showing an imaging unit and an optical axis rotation driving unit according to the second embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the imaging device concerning 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100,100 'Imaging apparatus 110 Imaging means 113 Housing 115,152,156 Gear 120 Lens part 130 Camera part 131 Imaging element 135 Holder 140 Driving means 142 Pan driving part 144 Tilt driving part 150 Optical axis rotation driving means 151 Motor (optical axis) Rotation drive unit)
153 Control board 154 Control unit 155 Detection unit 200 Operation device 300 Display device P Optical axis

Claims (8)

An imaging apparatus comprising: an imaging unit; and a pan rotation driving unit that rotates the imaging unit in a pan direction:
An image pickup apparatus, comprising: an optical axis rotation drive unit that rotates the image pickup unit about an optical axis according to a pan rotation angle of the image pickup unit.   The optical axis rotation driving means maintains a predetermined relationship between a two-dimensional reference coordinate set in the frame screen of the imaging unit and a two-dimensional reference coordinate set in a captured image captured by the imaging unit. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit is rotated as described above. The optical axis rotation driving means is:
When the pan rotation direction of the imaging unit is the right direction when the imaging unit is viewed from above, the imaging unit is rotated leftward about the optical axis,
The panning direction of the imaging unit is a left direction when the imaging unit is viewed from above, and the imaging unit is rotated rightward about the optical axis. The imaging device according to any one of the above.   3. The optical axis rotation drive unit changes a rotation direction around the optical axis of the imaging unit according to a predetermined pan rotation angle of the imaging unit. Imaging device.   3. The optical axis rotation drive unit changes a rotation angle around the optical axis of the imaging unit according to a predetermined pan rotation angle of the imaging unit. Imaging device. The imaging unit includes at least an image sensor,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis rotation driving unit rotates the imaging element of the imaging unit around an optical axis. An imaging apparatus comprising: an imaging unit; and a pan rotation driving unit that rotates the imaging unit in a pan direction:
An image pickup apparatus, further comprising: an image correction unit that rotationally corrects an image picked up by the image pickup unit according to a pan rotation angle of the image pickup unit. The image correction means maintains a predetermined relationship between a two-dimensional reference coordinate set in a frame screen of the imaging unit and a two-dimensional reference coordinate set in a captured image captured by the imaging unit. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image picked up by the image pickup unit is rotationally corrected.

Images