JP2008118482A - Camera unit for driving recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera unit for a driving recorder capable of not only photographing video outside a vehicle but also photographing video inside the vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The camera unit for a driving recorder is provided with an outside-vehicle camera for photographing the outside of a vehicle, an inside-vehicle camera for photographing the inside of the vehicle, a casing 4 for housing the outside-vehicle camera and the inside-vehicle camera, and a fixing means 5 for fixing the casing 4 to a room mirror, wherein the casing 4 is provided with a main body part 41 arranged at the rear side of the room mirror, an inside-vehicle camera housing part 42 extending from the top end of the main body part 41 toward the inside of the vehicle and disposed at an upper part of the room mirror, and an outside-vehicle camera housing part 43 provided at the lower end of the main body part 41. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driving recorder that records vehicle behavior, ambient conditions, and the like, and can suitably perform cause analysis after reaching such conditions, and particularly relates to a camera unit used in the driving recorder. It is.

  Recently, as shown in Patent Document 1, an external video of a driving vehicle (automobile) is automatically recorded so that an objective situation in the event of an accident or near-miss can be analyzed afterwards. For example, in a taxi, this type of driving recorder is used for accident prevention measures by post-mortem analysis of daily driving, and for objective evidence and investigation of the cause when an accident occurs. There is also a movement to install recorders.

However, the causes of accidents and near-misses cannot always be determined only from images outside the vehicle. This is because, for example, a driver such as a taxi drops a ballpoint pen or the like and picks it up.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-197858

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its main object is to provide a camera unit for a driving recorder that can capture not only images outside the vehicle but also images inside the vehicle. It is intended.

  That is, the camera unit for the driving recorder according to the present invention includes an outside camera for photographing the outside of the vehicle, an in-vehicle camera for photographing the inside of the vehicle, a casing for housing the outside camera and the in-vehicle camera, and fixing the casing to a room mirror. A vehicle body housing portion disposed on the back side of the rearview mirror, and a vehicle interior camera housing portion extending from the upper end portion of the body portion to the vehicle interior side and disposed above the rearview mirror. And a vehicle exterior camera storage section provided at a lower end portion of the main body section.

  If this is the case, it is possible not only to shoot outside the vehicle, but also inside the vehicle, and to investigate the cause of accidents and near-misses using images outside and inside the vehicle. . Further, the in-vehicle camera housing portion is disposed above the rearview mirror, that is, the casing has a substantially L shape in which the in-vehicle camera housing portion extends from the main body portion, and is shaped to be hooked on the rearview mirror. For this reason, the center of gravity of the camera unit can be moved to the room mirror side, and the camera unit can be made difficult to come off the room mirror even in a vibrating vehicle. From this, the fixing force of the fixing means can be weakened, the fixing means can be simplified, and attachment / detachment from the rearview mirror can be facilitated. In addition, since the in-vehicle camera accommodating portion is disposed above the rearview mirror, the angle of view of the in-vehicle camera is not blocked by the rearview mirror, and the angle of view of the in-vehicle camera can be increased.

  Further, in order to facilitate the assembly using the wiring board and realize the above structure without increasing the size of the camera, the wiring board disposed in the main body of the casing and the upper end of the wiring board And a frame extending to the inside of the vehicle, and the vehicle camera is preferably attached to the frame.

  In order to prevent the view of the driver or the like as much as possible in a state where the camera unit is attached to the rearview mirror, the lower end portion of the outside camera housing portion is substantially the same height as the lower end portion of the rearview mirror. It is desirable that it is present or configured to be higher than the lower end of the room mirror.

  In order to facilitate the attachment of the camera unit to the rearview mirror, it is desirable that the fixing means elastically holds the rearview mirror in the vertical direction.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to provide a camera unit for a driving recorder that can capture not only images outside the vehicle but also images inside the vehicle.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a case where the camera unit 1 for a driving recorder is attached to the automobile V. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the driving recorder camera unit 1 when viewed from the inside of the vehicle and the outside of the vehicle, respectively. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the camera unit 1 for driving recorder.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a camera unit 1 for a driving recorder according to the present embodiment is attached to a room mirror M in a vehicle interior of a vehicle V, takes an image of the inside and outside of the vehicle, and does not show image data thereof. Output to the (driving recorder main body).

  More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, an in-vehicle camera 2 that captures the interior of the vehicle, an exterior camera 3 that captures the exterior of the vehicle, and a casing 4 that houses the exterior camera 3 and the interior camera 2. And a fixing means 5 for fixing the casing 4 to the rear mirror M.

  The in-vehicle camera 2 is, for example, a CCD camera that images in-vehicle situations and outputs in-vehicle situation data (moving image data or still image data) indicating the images. The in-vehicle camera 2 of the present embodiment includes a plurality of lenses 21 and a semiconductor optical sensor 22 such as a CMOS sensor that converts light collected by the lenses 21 into an electrical signal. And the connector provided in the fixed board | substrate 33 for fixing the vehicle camera 2 to a casing and the connector provided in the wiring board 6 mentioned later are connected by wiring.

  The vehicle exterior camera 3 is, for example, a CCD camera that images a vehicle exterior situation and outputs vehicle exterior situation data (either moving image data or still image data) indicating the image. The vehicle exterior camera 3 of the present embodiment includes a plurality of lenses 31 and a semiconductor optical sensor 32 such as a CMOS sensor that converts light collected by the lenses 31 into an electrical signal. The outside camera 3 is fixed to a wiring board 6 described later by an outside camera mounting portion 61 described later.

  The casing 4 is substantially L-shaped in a side view, and in a state where the camera unit 1 is attached to the rearview mirror M, a main body portion 41 disposed on the back side of the rearview mirror M, and the main body portion 41. And an in-vehicle camera housing portion 43 provided at the lower end portion of the main body portion 41. The in-vehicle camera housing portion 42 extends from the upper end portion to the vehicle inner side and is disposed above the room mirror M.

  The main body 41 accommodates a wiring board 6 to which wirings from the in-vehicle camera 2 and the in-vehicle camera 3 are electrically connected. A vehicle exterior camera mounting portion 61 for fixing the vehicle exterior camera 3 is provided at the vehicle exterior lower end portion of the wiring board 6.

  The vehicle exterior camera mounting portion 61 includes a base portion 611 that is fixed to the wiring board 6, a movable holding portion 612 that holds the vehicle exterior camera 3 and is rotatably attached to the base portion 611 in the vertical direction. It has. The installation angle of the outside camera 3 can be adjusted by an angle adjustment mechanism such as an angle adjustment hole provided in the base portion 611 and an engaging claw provided in the movable holding portion. As a result, a predetermined position outside the vehicle can be imaged without being affected by the position of the room mirror M.

  The in-vehicle camera accommodating portion 42 accommodates and fixes the in-vehicle camera 2. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the in-vehicle camera accommodating portion 42 fixes the fixed substrate 33 to which the in-vehicle camera 3 is fixed, and the side periphery of the outside camera 3. Fix it in close contact with the surface. The in-vehicle camera accommodating portion 42 protrudes from the upper end portion of the main body portion 41 to the inside of the vehicle. That is, the casing 4 is structured to be caught by the room mirror M, and the in-vehicle camera 2 is placed on the room mirror M. Thereby, since the gravity center of the camera unit 1 moves to the room mirror M side, the force received in the direction (downward) from which the camera unit 1 is removed can be reduced.

  The vehicle exterior camera accommodating portion 43 accommodates the vehicle exterior camera 3 attached to the wiring board 6, and the lower end portion of the exterior mirror M is the lower end portion of the room mirror M when the camera unit 1 is attached to the room mirror M. It is comprised so that it may be above the lower end part of the room mirror M. In the present embodiment, the lower end portion of the outside camera housing portion 43 is substantially the same height as the lower end portion of the rearview mirror M. That is, when the driver sees the rearview mirror M, the vehicle exterior camera accommodating portion 43 is hardly seen. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the camera unit 1 from blocking the driver's view as much as possible.

  The fixing means 5 elastically holds the room mirror M in the vertical direction, and is provided on the surface of the main body portion 41 opposite to the surface on which the vehicle exterior camera storage portion 43 is provided. Specifically, it comprises a first holding element 51 fixedly provided at the upper part of the opposite surface and a second holding element 52 provided at the lower part of the opposite surface so as to be slidable. The sandwiching elements 51 and 52 are made of resin, and the sandwiching surfaces 51a and 52a with the rearview mirror M are subjected to uneven processing. As described above, since the holding is elastically held in the vertical direction and the holding surfaces 51a and 52a of the holding elements 51 and 52 are uneven surfaces, they can be attached to various types of room mirrors M. It becomes extremely easy.

  According to the driving recorder camera unit 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above, not only the outside of the vehicle but also the inside of the vehicle can be photographed. It will be possible to carry out with certainty using the video.

  Further, the in-vehicle camera accommodating portion 42 is disposed above the rearview mirror M, that is, the casing 4 has a substantially L shape in which the in-vehicle camera accommodating portion 42 extends from the main body portion 41, and the rearview mirror M Since it has a hooked shape, the center of gravity of the camera unit 1 can be moved to the room mirror M side, and the camera unit 1 can be made difficult to come off the room mirror M even in a vibrating vehicle. From this, the fixing (attaching) force of the fixing means can be weakened, the fixing means 5 can be simplified, and attachment / detachment from the room mirror M can be facilitated.

  Furthermore, since the in-vehicle camera accommodating portion 42 is disposed above the room mirror M, the angle of view of the in-vehicle camera 2 is not blocked by the room mirror M, and the angle of view of the in-vehicle camera 2 can be widened. . In addition, the camera unit 1 is located between the rearview mirror M and the windshield, and the lower end portion of the outside camera housing portion 43 is connected to the lower end portion of the rearview mirror M while effectively utilizing the dead space in the vehicle. Since they are almost the same height, it is possible to prevent the driver's view as much as possible.

  Further, the fixing means 5 elastically holds the room mirror M and can be attached with one touch.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to members corresponding to the above-described embodiment.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the fixing unit 5 is a mechanism that holds the room mirror M in the vertical direction. However, the fixing unit 5 may be bonded using an adhesive or the like.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the fixing means 5 fixes the camera unit 2 to the rearview mirror M substantially vertically, and is, for example, a plastic attachment for making the camera unit 2 substantially vertical. 51 and an adhesive member 52 such as a double-sided tape provided on the front vertical surface 51a and the rear inclined surface 51b of the attachment 51 may be provided. If it is such, regardless of the size of the room mirror M, for example, the camera unit 2 can be mounted even with a large room mirror M. Further, the rear inclined surface 51b of the attachment 51 can be processed in accordance with the shape of the rear surface of the room mirror M, and can be applied to various room mirrors M.

  Further, the driving recorder main body may have detection means such as an acceleration sensor and a position sensor. In this case, it is conceivable to incorporate the detection means in the camera unit 1, but the camera unit 1 is attached to the room mirror M, and particularly the acceleration sensor is greatly affected by vibration. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a driving recorder main body that is separate from the camera unit 1 and fix the driving recorder to a vehicle main body such as a windshield or a dashboard. The acceleration sensor is configured by using, for example, a piezoresistive effect, and senses 1 to 3 dimensions (for example, front and rear, left and right, and top and bottom in the case of 3 dimensions) acting on the vehicle. The position sensor is, for example, a GPS receiver that senses the position of the automobile V by catching radio waves from a plurality of satellites.

  In addition, some or all of the above-described embodiments and modified embodiments may be combined as appropriate, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. .

The typical front view showing the case where the camera unit for driving recorders concerning one embodiment of the present invention is attached to the car. The perspective view at the time of seeing from the vehicle inside of the camera unit in the embodiment. The perspective view at the time of seeing from the vehicle outer side of the camera unit in the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a camera unit in the same embodiment. The figure which shows the fixing means of the camera unit in other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

M ... room mirror 1 ... driving recorder camera unit 2 ... in-vehicle camera 3 ... out-vehicle camera 4 ... casing 41 ... main body 42 ... in-vehicle camera housing 43 ... Outside camera housing part 5 ・ ・ ・ Fixing means 6 ・ ・ ・ Wiring board

Claims (3)

A camera outside the car that takes pictures outside the car,
An in-vehicle camera that captures the interior
A casing for housing the outside camera and the inside camera;
Fixing means for fixing the casing to a rearview mirror,
The casing is
A main body disposed on the back side of the room mirror;
An in-vehicle camera accommodating portion that extends from the upper end of the main body to the inside of the vehicle and is disposed above the room mirror;
A camera unit for a driving recorder, comprising: an outside camera housing portion provided at a lower end portion of the main body portion.   The lower end portion of the vehicle exterior camera housing portion is configured to be substantially the same height as the lower end portion of the rearview mirror or higher than the lower end portion of the rearview mirror. Item 6. A camera unit for a driving recorder according to Item 1.   3. The camera unit for a driving recorder according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means elastically holds the room mirror from above and below.