JP2008529446A - Pan / tilt camera device with auxiliary camera - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pan / tilt camera apparatus including an auxiliary camera. The pan / tilt camera apparatus of the present invention includes an auxiliary camera module including two cameras arranged so that two adjacent image incident lines are parallel to each other while scanning a wide area including an imaging area of the main camera. Yes. The pan / tilt camera apparatus further includes a camera mounting frame 120 and a camera housing 500. The camera mounting frame 120 has a first surface 122a and a second surface 122b that form a fixed angle. The camera housing 500 has a housing space 530 that houses the main camera module, the auxiliary camera module, and the image coupling circuit unit. The camera housing is formed with an opening for securing the field of view of the main camera module and the auxiliary camera module.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a pan / tilt camera device, and more particularly, to a pan / tilt camera device to which an auxiliary camera is attached to expand a function.

  The pan / tilt camera is a camera that is pan-driven and tilt-driven in order to secure a wider monitoring range with one camera. Pan-tilt cameras are used in various places for purposes such as keeping an eye on intruders in banks, public buildings, private houses, etc. or instantly recognizing dangerous situations encountered by children in kindergartens.

  Such an image of a corresponding place taken by the pan / tilt camera is transmitted to a central control room or the like and monitored by a person who monitors it, and is generated in the monitoring area by the person who monitors or automatically pan / tilt the camera. Operates in a manner that recognizes intrusion or danger situations. However, since such a pan-tilt camera has a narrow imaging range of the main camera, there is a problem that it is difficult to grasp an intruder and a monitoring situation at a glance in the monitoring area.

  Among the application fields of pan-tilt cameras, an automatic intrusion alarm system that automatically detects an intruder with an image signal at a monitoring location, automatically sounds an alarm, and pans and tilts the camera according to the movement path of the intruder to automatically track and shoot. In other cases there are other problems. The intrusion alarm system has an intrusion detection sensor embedded in the monitoring area to detect when an external person has intruded and drive the camera toward the detection area to track it, or process the image signal in frame units. Compared with the current image and the previous image stored in the frame memory, the system recognizes the change in the image and senses whether or not an intruder has invaded, and tracks it. Is done.

  However, in the former case, if there are multiple intruders in the monitoring area, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to drive the camera due to signals received from a large number of embedded sensors. In the latter case, the monitoring area is narrow. Problems with the effectiveness of intrusion detection occur. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for a pan / tilt camera apparatus having a wider monitoring area.

  The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems can provide a wider monitoring area for the person to be monitored, and can quickly cope with intruder monitoring by driving the main camera to the intrusion area quickly. An object of the present invention is to provide a pan / tilt camera device including an auxiliary camera.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a pan / tilt camera apparatus that can be displayed on a screen without any special software processing by an auxiliary camera composed of two or more cameras for field of view expansion. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a camera housing that can be used by simply connecting an auxiliary camera to a housing equipped with a conventional main camera, and is easy to apply in the field.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a monitoring camera device for monitoring a monitoring area, which is formed by a camera module, an image combining circuit unit, and a pan / tilt driving unit, along the scanning direction of the main camera module. It operates and scans a wide area including the imaging area of the main camera, and includes two cameras, and the two adjacent image incident lines of these two cameras are parallel to each other. It has an auxiliary camera module in which two cameras are arranged, and a first surface and a second surface forming a fixed angle, and a lens unit of the camera is arranged on the first surface and the second surface. A housing space for housing the camera mounting frame formed with the through holes, the main camera module, the auxiliary camera module, and the image coupling circuit unit. When, it provides a pan-tilt camera apparatus that includes a camera housing having an opening for viewing secure the main camera module and the auxiliary camera module.

  Preferably, each camera lens unit has an optical distortion rate of 15% or less.

  Further, the auxiliary camera module is attached to a pan driving shaft, and includes a plurality of the auxiliary camera modules. Each auxiliary camera module has two cameras, and two adjacent cameras of the two cameras are provided. The two cameras are arranged so that the two image incident lines are parallel to each other.

  In addition, a plurality of the auxiliary camera modules are attached to the opposite sides with respect to the pan driving shaft. In this case, each auxiliary camera module includes a first surface and a second surface forming a certain angle. The first surface and the second surface are respectively formed with through holes in which camera lens units are arranged.

  The pan / tilt camera apparatus further includes a protective frame having an opening and attached to the camera housing for protecting the auxiliary camera module.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to overcome the limit of the conventional pan / tilt camera device. For example, by providing a wider monitoring area to the monitoring person, the main camera can be driven to the intrusion area quickly and the intruder monitoring can be effectively handled. The auxiliary camera module for extending the field of view of the main camera is composed of two or more cameras, but the images of these cameras can be displayed on the screen without special software processing.

  In addition, since the present invention can also attach an auxiliary camera module to the housing for housing the main camera of the pan / tilt camera device, the camera housing of the present invention is simple to be combined with the main camera at the site and easy to be applied at the site. .

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a pan / tilt camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the camera apparatus of the present invention is supported on a support column 440. The pan drive shaft 430 rotates with the same axis center as the support column 440, and the tilt is coupled to the pan drive shaft in a tiltable manner. An arm 420 is included. Tilt arm 420 is coupled to pan drive shaft 430 by shaft 410.

  The camera housing 500 attached to the tilt arm 420 has a camera housing space therein, and has an opening opened on one side. Inside the housing 500, a main camera module 200 and an auxiliary camera module 100 for photographing the outside through an opening are provided. Further, an auxiliary camera module 100a equivalent to the auxiliary camera module 100 is mounted on the pan driving shaft. The auxiliary camera module 100a captures an area behind the main camera module 200.

  The main camera module 200 may include a zoom lens (not shown) in a normal camera lens system, and may be used in a camera having the same form as a main camera used in a normal pan / tilt camera.

  The auxiliary camera module 100 is arranged so as to supplement the visual field of the main camera module 200. Therefore, the auxiliary camera module 100 overlaps with the imaging area of the main camera module 200 at least partially, and the auxiliary camera module 100 captures an area wider than the imaging area of the main camera module 200. More preferably, the auxiliary camera module 100 should be arranged so that the imaging area of the main camera module 200 is located at an intermediate fulcrum of the imaging area of the auxiliary camera module 100.

  Images captured by the main camera module 200 and the auxiliary camera module 100 are combined by the image combining circuit unit 300 provided in the housing 500 and transmitted to the display. The image combining circuit unit 300 is provided to represent images captured by the main camera module 200 and the auxiliary camera module 100 on a single display.

  The image combining circuit unit 300 can display only the image of the main camera module 200 on the monitor, or can display only the images of the front auxiliary camera module 100 and the rear auxiliary camera module 100, respectively.

  The image combining circuit unit 300 displays the image (M) of the main camera module 200 and the image (S) of the front auxiliary camera module 100 or the rear auxiliary camera module 100a on a single screen in a PIP (picture in picture) system (see FIG. 1 (see screen (A)), the main camera module 200 image (M) and the front and rear auxiliary camera modules 100 and 100a images can also be displayed in the PIP system (see screen (B) in FIG. 1).

  In contrast, the image combining circuit unit 300 can display the images of each camera by a selector method. For example, while the main camera module 200 image is being displayed, the rear auxiliary camera modules 100 and 100a are displayed. It can be switched to an image (see screen (C) in FIG. 1) or can be switched to an image of the front auxiliary camera module 100 (see screen (D) in FIG. 1).

  2 and 3 are views illustrating an auxiliary camera module according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 2 and 3, the auxiliary camera module 100 includes two cameras 110a and 110b). Each camera 110a, 110b) constituting the camera module may be a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) type or CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) type camera.

  Each of the cameras 110a and 110b includes lens units 112a and 112b, imaging elements 114a and 114b, and wiring boards 116a and 116b. The lens units 112a and 112b of the camera module can have a field angle of 90 ° at the maximum when a wide-angle lens is used. In this way, when the lens has a 90 ° field of view, the auxiliary camera module of the present invention can take a 180 ° panoramic image.

  Each camera 110a, 110b constituting the auxiliary camera module 100 of the present invention is held by a camera mounting frame 120. The camera mounting frame is provided with one through-holes 125a and 125b on the first and second surfaces 122a and 122b, respectively, so that the lens units 112a and 112b of the respective cameras protrude outside the frame 120. The angles forming the first and second surfaces of the camera mounting frame are set in consideration of an appropriate camera arrangement for achieving the object of the present invention, as will be described later.

  The camera frame 120 is provided with a fixing member 122 for attaching an arbitrary support structure. The fixing member 122 includes a screw home 124 and is firmly fixed to the support structure with a bolt or the like.

  The cameras 110a and 110b are installed on the mounting frame 120 by an appropriate method. As shown in the drawing, the wiring boards 116a and 116b of the cameras 110a and 110b and the first and second surfaces 122a and 122b of the mounting frame 120 may be attached by fixing members such as washers 118a and 118b and bolts 117a and 117b. it can. In this embodiment, the washer 118a, 118b is preferably made of an elastic material such as an O-ring. Such an elastic material is advantageous for precisely controlling the two cameras 110a and 110b so as to form a desired arrangement angle.

  Referring to FIG. 3, each camera 110a, 110b has an imageable region, that is, an angle of view, but the angle of view is represented by an image incident line (see dotted arrows) on the drawing. . The lens units 112a and 112b of each camera can have a field angle of 90 ° at the maximum when using a wide-angle lens. Each camera includes lens units 112a and 112b and image sensors 116a and 116b (image sensors).

  The auxiliary camera module 100 of the present invention is configured such that the distance between two adjacent image incident lines I1 and I2 of two adjacent cameras 110a and 110b is constant, that is, the two image incident lines are substantially parallel. It is arranged to become. Such an arrangement prevents the overlapping phenomenon of images obtained by each camera module.

  In the present invention, the meaning that the image incident lines are substantially parallel naturally includes a completely parallel state mathematically, and includes a state in which the image incident lines do not overlap each other even if not completely parallel state. For example, in such a state, the image incident lines are not completely parallel, but the images do not overlap at a normal monitoring distance, that is, the intersection angle formed by two adjacent image incident lines (the intersection angle on the extension line of the incident lines). ) Is less than 5 °.

  In the present invention, since the distance between the two image incident lines I1 and I2 depends on the size of the lens units 112a and 112b, the distance can be maintained at several millimeters or less with the current state of the art. Therefore, the portion of the auxiliary camera module 100 according to the present invention that is not photographed at an angle of view that the auxiliary camera module 100 can observe is small enough to be ignored.

  With the arrangement of the cameras, the auxiliary camera module 100 according to the present invention hardly overlaps the images incident from the two cameras 110a and 110b. Therefore, the two images obtained from the two cameras can be simply combined. One panoramic image can be obtained. Also, the blind spot formed between the angles of view of the two cameras 110a and 110b is so small that it can be ignored.

  Conventional cameras also exhibit a very high optical distortion rate. For example, on the basis of a 1/3 inch CCD camera, the conventional camera exhibits an optical distortion rate of −80% at a maximum image HT (IMAGE HEIGHT) of 2.99 mm. In the case of a conventional lens, the reciprocal (−0.19) of the focal length from the retrofocus type (retrofocus type) to the front group (lens group arranged in front of the diaphragm) and the rear group (between the diaphragm and the CCD element). Since there is a very large difference from the reciprocal (0.17) of the focal length of the arranged lens group), the optical distortion inevitably increases.

  In such an optical distortion, there is a monitor distortion of about −26.7% (corresponding to 1/3 of the optical distortion rate), and this causes distortion in the image as it goes to the periphery. It is necessary to correct the optical distortion and display the image.

  However, in the present invention, since the distortion rate of the optical lens is limited to 15% (including 5% of the monitor distortion), the image of each camera constituting the camera module can be displayed as one panoramic image even without separate image processing. can do.

  Since there are various methods for minimizing optical distortion, various techniques can be used to obtain a desired distortion rate. However, this is outside the scope of the present invention and will not be described in detail. However, lens distortion can be minimized by adjusting the power of the front group and the rear group. For example, when the power of the front group is set to -0.24 and the power of the rear group is set to +0.183 with a retrofocus type, the optical distortion rate is set based on the image HT 2.99 mm of a 1/3 inch CCD standard camera- It can be maintained at about 10%.

  The right side of FIG. 1 shows the auxiliary camera module 100 inside the camera housing 500, the auxiliary camera module 100a that is installed on the pan drive shaft and captures the rear area of the main camera, and the captured images of the main camera module 200 are image coupling circuit units FIG. 6 is a view exemplarily showing that images are displayed simultaneously by 300. An image (M) obtained by the main camera module 200 is displayed at the upper end of the screen, and an image (S) obtained by the auxiliary camera module 100 is displayed at the lower end of the screen.

  From the drawing, it can be seen that the image (M) of the main camera module 200 shows a part of the image (S) of the auxiliary camera module 100.

  According to the present invention, the same auxiliary camera module 100 as described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 can be used to watch a wider area than an image obtained by a normal pan / tilt camera. Accordingly, not only intruder monitoring and tracking are easy, but also providing a wide range of images to the person to be monitored, it is easy to drive the main camera module 200 to a desired point by pan-tilt driving.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a camera housing used in a pan / tilt camera apparatus equipped with an auxiliary camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the camera housing 500 includes an accommodation space 530 for accommodating a camera therein, and one side of the accommodation space 530 is opened to ensure a field angle of the camera accommodated therein. Opening 512 is provided.

  The auxiliary camera module 100 described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5 is attached to a part of the camera housing space 530. The main camera module 200 is mounted in an empty space above the auxiliary camera module 100 in the housing 500.

  The auxiliary camera module 100 is fixed to the housing body 510 by a fixing member 122) as described in connection with FIGS. The housing 500 includes a housing body 510 and a protective cover 520 for protecting the auxiliary camera module 100 accommodated in the housing 500. An image coupling circuit (not shown) is provided inside the housing.

  The pan / tilt camera housing of the present invention described in connection with FIG. 4 is equipped with a main camera module 200 distributed in the market, and an image signal line (not shown) of the main camera module 200 is connected to an image coupling circuit. The pan / tilt camera apparatus of the present invention can be configured.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing a protective frame 130 for protecting the auxiliary camera module 100 attached to the pan / tilt camera housing of FIG. The protective frame 130 is mounted on the first and second surfaces 122a and 122b of the mounting frame 120 formed on the auxiliary camera module 100, and includes an opening 132 so that the lens units 122a and 122b secure an external visual field. ing.

  By adopting such a camera housing 500, it is possible to prevent the auxiliary camera module 100 from being damaged due to weather or the like. Of course, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will recognize that the protective frame 130 may be manufactured integrally with the frame 120 of the auxiliary camera module 100.

  FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a pan / tilt camera apparatus having an auxiliary camera module according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the camera apparatus of the present invention is supported on a support column 440, and is coupled to the pan drive shaft 430 and the pan drive shaft 430 so as to be tiltable with the same axis center as the support column 440. A tilt arm 420 is included. The tilt arm 420 is coupled to the pan driving shaft by a shaft 410.

  A camera housing 500 is attached to the tilt arm 420. The camera housing 500 includes a camera housing space therein, and the main camera module 200 and the image coupling circuit unit 300 are provided in the housing space.

  Unlike the camera apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1, the camera apparatus of this embodiment has auxiliary camera modules 100 b and 100 c attached to a pan driving shaft 430. More specifically, a pair of auxiliary camera modules are attached to the pan drive shaft 430. Each auxiliary camera module 100b, 100c includes two cameras 110a, 110b having an arrangement as described in connection with FIGS.

  As described above, the auxiliary camera modules 100b and 100c have been described as being mounted on the pan driving shaft 430. However, any person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may be able to mount the auxiliary camera module on the support column 440. It is understandable. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the auxiliary camera modules 100d and 100e are mounted on the support column 440.

  FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the auxiliary camera module of FIG. Referring to FIG. 8, the auxiliary camera module 100b is installed in an opening formed at a predetermined position of the pan driving shaft 430. Therefore, the auxiliary camera module 100b rotates as the pan driving shaft 430 rotates. In this embodiment, the auxiliary camera module 100b does not necessarily have to be attached to the pan drive shaft 430, and can be attached to the outside of the pan drive shaft.

  In this embodiment, the auxiliary camera module 100b is installed so as to be tiltable with respect to the pan driving shaft 430. For this purpose, the pan drive shaft 430 is connected to a tilt drive unit 600 including a drive motor and a speed reducer, and a conversion device that converts the rotational motion of the motor into a linear motion, and the tilt drive unit is tilt-driven. A tilt arm 610 is provided.

  According to the present embodiment, the auxiliary camera module is installed at a symmetrical position of the pan drive shaft 430 and is tilt-driven so that monitoring in the direction opposite to the gaze direction of the main camera becomes possible. It has the advantage of being able to monitor 360 ° in all directions.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, this is merely an example and does not limit the present invention. If the present invention has ordinary knowledge in the field to which the present invention belongs, the present invention will be described. Various modifications and applications not exemplified above are possible without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. For example, the embodiment has described the case where the auxiliary camera module is composed of two cameras. The number of cameras to be configured is not limited here.

  More than two cameras can be provided in the camera module to monitor a wider monitoring area or to provide better image quality. Accordingly, it should be construed that such differences in modification and application are included in the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a pan / tilt camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a perspective view of an auxiliary camera module attached to a pan / tilt camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the auxiliary camera module of FIG. 2 attached to a pan / tilt camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a camera housing used in a pan / tilt camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a view showing a protective frame attached to the pan / tilt camera housing of FIG. 4 to protect the auxiliary camera module. It is a figure which shows the pan-tilt camera apparatus which has the auxiliary camera by other Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the pan-tilt camera apparatus which has the auxiliary camera by other Example of this invention. FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of an auxiliary camera module mounting portion of the pan / tilt drive device illustrated in FIG. 7.

Claims (7)

In a monitoring camera device for monitoring a monitoring area, which is formed by a camera module, an image coupling circuit unit, and a pan / tilt driving unit,
It operates along the scanning direction of the main camera module, and scans a wide area including the imaging area of the main camera, and includes two cameras, and two adjacent images incident on these two cameras An auxiliary camera module in which the two cameras are arranged so that the lines are parallel to each other;
A camera mounting frame having a first surface and a second surface forming a constant angle, each of the first surface and the second surface having a through-hole in which a camera lens unit is disposed;
A camera housing having a housing space for housing the main camera module, the auxiliary camera module, and the image coupling circuit unit; and an opening for securing a field of view of the main camera module and the auxiliary camera module. A pan-tilt camera device.   2. The pan / tilt camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each camera lens unit has an optical distortion rate of 15% or less.   The auxiliary camera module is attached to a pan driving shaft and includes a plurality of the auxiliary camera modules. Each auxiliary camera module has two cameras, and two adjacent images of the two cameras. 2. The pan / tilt camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two cameras are arranged so that incident lines are parallel to each other.   4. The pan / tilt camera apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of the auxiliary camera modules are attached to opposite sides with respect to the pan driving shaft.   Each auxiliary camera module includes a camera mounting frame having a first surface and a second surface forming a fixed angle, and a through-hole in which a camera lens unit is disposed on the first surface and the second surface. The pan / tilt camera apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the pan and tilt camera apparatuses is formed.   2. The pan / tilt camera apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a protective frame having an opening and attached to the camera housing for protecting the auxiliary camera module.   The pan / tilt camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a protective cover is provided on an upper surface of the camera housing.

Images