JP2010069988A - Camera mounting structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera mounting structure on a vehicle body which is optimum for the chipping countermeasures. <P>SOLUTION: A front grill of a vehicle comprises a grill base, and a grill molding mounted on the grill base to cover a part of a front side of the grill base. A camera cover part 40 for accommodating a camera 6 therein and supporting it is integrally provided on an upper end center of the grill molding. The camera cover part 40 has a flange part 44 which has an opening 46 in front of the accommodated camera 6, and is arranged opposite to an upper edge of a front end face 64 of the camera 6, and a swollen part 41 arranged opposite to a lower edge of the front end face 64 of the camera 6. The camera 6 is fixed to the grill base via a bracket 70. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera mounting structure for a vehicle body.

In a vehicle, a camera for imaging the front of the vehicle body may be attached to a front grill (sometimes referred to as a radiator grill) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-271715 A

  When the camera is installed on the front grill in this way, pebbles or the like that the preceding vehicle jumps up may fly toward the camera, and the camera may be damaged by hitting the camera. In particular, as the size of the stone increases, the mass increases, so the impact increases and the damage to the camera also increases.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a camera mounting structure that is optimal for measures against chipping.

The camera mounting structure according to the present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a support portion (for example, a camera cover portion 40 in an embodiment to be described later) that houses and supports a camera (for example, a camera 6 in an embodiment to be described later) is a grill (for example, to be described later). The support portion is provided integrally with the front grille 2) in the embodiment, and the support portion has an opening (for example, an opening 46 in the embodiment described later) in front of the accommodated camera and faces the outer edge of the front end of the camera. The camera mounting structure is characterized by having a protective portion (for example, a bulging portion 41 and a flange portion 44 in the embodiments described later).
By configuring in this way, the opening can be narrowed by the protection portion, so that it is possible to prevent a large stone from entering the support portion and to reduce the probability that a pebble or the like hits the camera.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the protection portion is provided at an upper part and a lower part of the opening.
With this configuration, only the vertical width of the opening can be reduced without reducing the horizontal width of the opening.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, a rib defining the position of the camera (for example, 47 to 49 in the embodiments described later) is provided on the inner surface of the support portion. It is provided.
By configuring in this way, the accuracy of the mounting position of the camera with respect to the grill is relieved.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the grill includes a grill base (for example, a grill base 3 in an embodiment described later), and the grill base. A grill molding (for example, a grill molding 4 in an embodiment to be described later) that covers at least a part of the front surface and is attached to the grill base, and the support portion is provided integrally with the grill molding, The camera is fixed to the grill base.
With such a configuration, it is not necessary to provide a fixing portion for fixing the camera in the grill molding.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 4, the support portion is provided integrally with an upper end portion of the grill molding.
With this configuration, the camera installation position can be increased.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent a large stone from entering the support portion and to reduce the probability that a small stone or the like hits the camera, thereby reducing damage to the camera due to chipping. be able to.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since only the vertical width of the opening can be reduced without reducing the horizontal width of the opening, the angle of view in the horizontal direction of the camera can be widely used.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, the accuracy of the camera mounting position with respect to the grill is improved, so that the shooting direction of the camera can be made to exactly match the preset direction.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since it is not necessary to provide the fixing portion for fixing the camera in the grill molding, the design of the grill molding is not impaired.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 5, since the installation position of a camera can be made high, it can make it difficult to receive chipping.

Embodiments of a camera mounting structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of FIGS. In the following description, the front and rear are the same as the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and the left and right are the same as the vehicle width direction of the vehicle body.
The vehicle shown in FIG. 2 is a front engine vehicle, and a front grill 2 for introducing air to the engine room is attached to the center of the front end of the vehicle body 1. In the engine room behind the front grill 2, an engine, a radiator for cooling the engine (both not shown) and the like are accommodated.

  FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the front grille 2. The front grille 2 is attached so as to cover a resin grill base 3 and a part of the front side of the grill base 3, and is painted metallic. A resin grille molding 4 and a resin emblem 5 attached to the approximate center of the grill base 3 and coated with a metallic tone are formed. A camera 6 for photographing the front and left and right of the vehicle body 1 is attached to the front grill 2 above the emblem 5. An image captured by the camera 6 is subjected to predetermined image processing and displayed on a display (not shown) in the vehicle, so that external information necessary for driving support can be provided to the occupant.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to 5, the grill base 3 includes a frame 10 that forms the outer periphery of the grill base 3, an emblem mounting seat portion 11 that is formed substantially at the center of the grill base 3, and the frame 10. The upper and lower two-level horizontal beam portions 14 and 15 that are horizontally stretched between the left and right end portions 12 and 13 and the emblem mounting seat portion 11, the frame 10 and the horizontal beam portions 14 and 15, and the upper and lower horizontal beam portions 14 and 15. And a plurality of vertical crosspieces 16 that vertically connect the frame 10, and the inside of the frame 10 is formed in a lattice structure by the horizontal crosspieces 14, 15 and the vertical crosspieces 16, so that the outside air is brought into the engine room. It is possible to introduce to. Also, the frame 10 is formed with attachment portions 17 and 18 to the vehicle body 1, and the grill base 3 is attached to the vehicle body skeleton portion (not shown) via the attachment portions 17 and 18 as appropriate fixing means such as bolts. It is fixed by.

The emblem mounting seat portion 11 has a cylindrical shape with a substantially rectangular cross section, protrudes forward from the vertical wall portion 21 of the upper end portion 20 of the frame 10, and its front end portion is closed. As shown in FIG. 1, the emblem 5 is fixed to the front end face 22 of the emblem mounting seat portion 11.
The upper surface of the protrusion part which protrudes ahead from the lower edge of the vertical wall part 21 of the upper end part 20 in the frame 10 is continued to the upper surface 23 of the emblem mounting seat part 11 (see FIG. 1). The protrusion is not shown in FIG. 3 because it is covered with the grill molding 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, the lower end of the vertical wall portion 21 of the upper end portion 20 of the frame 10 has a substantially rectangular shape for camera insertion at a position located above the center of the emblem mounting seat portion 11. A hole 24 is formed. Further, on the rear surface of the vertical wall portion 21, bosses 25, 25 for camera attachment are formed on the left and right outer sides of the hole 24 so as to protrude rearward.

The grill molding 4 includes an upper cover portion 30 that covers the protruding portion of the upper end portion 20 of the frame 10 of the grill base 3, a middle cover portion 31 that covers the front surface of the horizontal rail portion 14 above the grill base 3, and the grill base 3. A lower cover portion 32 that covers the front surface of the lower horizontal rail portion 15, a seat side surface cover portion 33 that covers the outer surface of the emblem mounting seat portion 11 of the grill base 3, and left and right ends of the frame 10 of the grill base 3 12 and 13 are provided with end cover portions 34 and 34 that cover the edge portions of the upper and lower cover portions 30, 13 and the lower cover portion 32. The upper surface 35 of the upper cover portion 30 is continuous with the upper surface 36 of the seat side surface cover portion 33.
The front end of the seat side cover 33 is open so as to expose the front end face 22 of the emblem mounting seat 11, and the folded portion 50 (see FIG. 1) formed in the vicinity of the opening end is an emblem mounting seat. 11 is fitted on the front end of the outer surface. Further, an opening is provided between the upper cover part 30 and the middle cover part 31 and between the middle cover part 31 and the lower cover part 32 so that air can flow.

At the center of the upper surface 36 of the seat side cover 33 in the grill molding 4, a camera cover (supporting portion) 40 is formed integrally with the upper surface, and the camera 6 is accommodated inside the camera cover 40. Yes.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the camera 6, a substantially cylindrical head 61 having a lens 60 at the front end projects forward from a main body 62 having a substantially rectangular cross section, and is connected to a cable (see FIGS. 4 and 5) 69. The connector portion 63 is configured to protrude rearward from the main body portion 62.

  The camera 6 is configured to be attached to the front grill 2 via a metal bracket 70. The bracket 70 has a front plate portion 71 disposed on the back portion of the main body portion 62 through the connector portion 63, arm portions 72, 72 extending rearward from the left and right ends of the front plate portion 71, and each arm portion 72. , 72 and base portions 73, 73 extending outward at a right angle. Each base portion 73 is provided with a tapping insertion hole 74.

  The camera 6 has a heat shield sheet 80 sandwiched between the back surface of the main body 62 and the front plate portion 71 of the bracket 70, and the connector 63 is penetrated through the heat shield sheet 80 and the front plate portion 71. The part 71 is fixed to the bracket 70 by screwing to the main body part 62. The heat shield sheet 80 will be described in detail later.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the camera 6 attached to the bracket 70 has a hole 24 in the grill base 3 together with the heat shield sheet 80 and the arm portion 72 from the back side of the grill base 3 with the head 61 in front. The base portions 73 and 73 of the bracket 70 are abutted against the bosses 25 and 25 of the grill base 3, and the tapping 75 inserted into the holes 74 of the base portions 73 is screwed into the bosses 25. As shown in FIG.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the camera 6 projects forward from the vertical wall portion 21 of the upper end portion 20 of the frame 10 of the grill base 3 and is positioned above the upper surface 23 of the emblem mounting seat portion 11. .

  The camera cover 40 is formed so as to cover the outside of the camera 6 so as not to block the use angle of view of the camera 6 positioned in this way. Here, the use angle of view of the camera 6 is not an angle of view that can be taken by the camera 6 due to its performance, but is necessary for obtaining external information necessary for driving support by performing image processing on an image taken by the camera 6. Say the correct angle of view.

Hereinafter, the camera cover unit 40 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 7 to 10. The camera cover portion 40 is connected to a bulging portion (protection portion) 41 that is bent slightly upward from the vicinity of the front end of the upper surface 36 of the seat portion side surface cover portion 33, and to the left and right rear ends of the bulging portion 41. A pair of left and right standing wall portions 42, 42 bent upward from the upper surface 36 of the portion 33, a top plate portion 43 connecting the upper ends of the both standing wall portions 42, 42, and a front edge of the top plate portion 43 And a flange portion (protection portion) 44 that bends and extends downward. There is no upper surface 36 on the inner side surrounded by the standing wall portions 42 and 42 and the bulging portion 41, and is surrounded by the camera cover portion 40 of the grill molding 4 and the upper surface 23 of the emblem mounting seat portion 11 of the grill base 3. The camera is housed in a space 45 (hereinafter referred to as a camera housing portion).
The rear ends of the standing wall portions 42 and 42 and the rear end of the top plate portion 43 are located close to the vertical wall portion 21 of the upper end portion 20 of the frame 10 of the grill base 3, and are outside the hole 24 of the vertical wall portion 21. Placed in.

  Further, the left and right end portions of the flange portion 44 are connected to the standing wall portions 42, 42, and the central portion 44a of the flange portion 44 protrudes slightly downward from the left and right end portions. The front end of the camera cover portion 40 is open, and the opening 46 is formed by being surrounded by the upper edge of the bulging portion 41, the front edges of the standing wall portions 42 and 42, and the lower edge of the flange portion 44. And open so as to go around the front end portions of the upright wall portions 42 and 42.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the front end surface 64 of the head 61 of the camera 6 is positioned so as to be in contact with the inner surfaces of the bulging portion 41 and the flange portion 44. As described above, the bulging portion 41 only overlaps the outer peripheral edge of the head 61 and does not overlap the lens 60, but the collar portion 44 overlaps not only the outer peripheral edge of the head 61 but also the lens 60 of the camera 6. . However, the flange portion 44 is dimensioned so as not to interfere with the use angle of view of the camera 6. The reason why the collar portion 44 that overlaps with the lens 60 is provided on the upper side is that the outside world information at a very high place is less necessary as driving support information, and even if the upper angle of view is cut, the use angle of view is not affected. is there. On the other hand, the external environment information in the horizontal direction is highly necessary as driving support information, and it is desirable to obtain external information as wide as possible in the left-right direction. Therefore, in order to avoid narrowing the angle of view in the left-right direction, the camera cover The opening 46 of the portion 40 is provided so as to go around the front end portions of the standing wall portions 42 and 42.

  As shown in FIG. 1, ribs 47 projecting rearward are provided on the inner surface of the bulging portion 41, and the left and right standing wall portions 42, 42 and the top plate portion 43 are connected as shown in FIG. 9. Ribs 48 and 48 projecting diagonally inward are provided on the inner surfaces of the corners, and ribs 49 and 49 projecting horizontally inward are provided on the lower end inner surfaces of the left and right standing wall portions 42 and 42. . The ribs 47 to 49 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the head 61 of the camera 6 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 10 when the camera 6 is inserted into the camera housing 45 through the hole 24 of the grill base 3. The ribs 48 and 48 are in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the main body 62 of the camera 6 and the upper left and right corners, and the ribs 49 and 49 are the outer peripheral surface of the main body 62 of the camera 6 and are It contacts the lower part of the side. Thereby, when the camera 6 is inserted into the camera housing part 45, the position of the camera 6 is defined, the camera 6 can be accurately positioned, and the mounting posture of the camera 6 in the camera housing part 45 is set in advance. Therefore, the mounting position accuracy is improved.

Thus, since the mounting position accuracy of the camera 6 can be increased, the shooting direction of the camera 6 can be accurately matched with a preset direction.
As a procedure for attaching the camera 6, the grill molding 4 is attached to the grill base 3, and the camera 6 attached to the bracket is inserted into the camera housing portion 45 through the hole 24 of the grill base 3 and the rib 47 as described above. After the positioning by ˜49, the bracket 70 is fixed to the boss 25 of the grill base 3 by the tapping 75.

The heat shield sheet 80 mounted between the back surface of the main body 62 of the camera 6 and the front plate 71 of the bracket 70 is formed of an elastic body, and has a thickness of about 0.4 to 0.6 mm, for example. A rubber sheet (for example, silicon rubber) is used. The heat shield sheet 80 has a shape similar to that of the cross section of the camera housing portion 45 orthogonal to the front-rear direction in a state before being housed in the camera housing portion 45, and the size thereof is the cross section of the camera housing portion 45. The size is slightly larger than that. When the heat shield sheet 80 is inserted into the camera housing portion 45 together with the camera 6 and the bracket 70 as described above, the outer peripheral portion is bent backward by elasticity, and as a result, as shown in FIG. The outer peripheral portion of the seat 80 is the inner peripheral portion of the camera housing portion 45 (that is, the inner surfaces of the standing wall portions 42 and 42 of the camera cover portion 40, the inner surface of the top plate portion 43, and the emblem mounting of the grill base 3. Close contact with the upper surface 23) of the seat 11 without a gap. That is, the heat shield sheet 80 blocks between the outer peripheral portion of the camera 6 and the inner peripheral portion of the camera housing portion 45 and partitions the camera housing portion 45 into two front and rear rooms.
In the state where the bracket 70 is fixed to the boss 25 of the grill base 3, the heat shield sheet 80 is located behind the ribs 47 to 49 of the camera cover 40.

According to the camera mounting structure configured as described above, the flange portion 44 and the bulging portion 41 are provided above and below the front end of the camera cover portion 40 so that the vertical width of the opening 46 is narrowed. Can be prevented from entering the camera cover 40, and the probability that a pebble or the like hits the camera 6 can be reduced. Thereby, damage to the camera 6 due to chipping can be greatly reduced.
In particular, in this embodiment, since the collar portion 44 is disposed so as to face a part of the lens 60 of the camera 6, it is possible to reduce the probability that pebbles and the like hit the lens 60 and to prevent chipping of the lens 60. As extremely effective.

Furthermore, since the camera cover 40 is provided on the upper surface 36 of the seat side cover 33 in the grill molding 4, the installation position of the camera 6 can be increased and chipping can be made difficult.
Further, by providing the flange portion 44 and the bulging portion 41 above and below the front end of the camera cover portion 40, only the vertical width of the opening 46 can be reduced without reducing the horizontal width of the opening 46. The angle of view can be widely used, and the view angle of use can be prevented from being affected.

Further, since the camera 6 is fixed to the grill base 3 via the bracket 70, the grill molding 4 does not have to be provided with a fixing portion (boss) for fixing the camera 6, and the design of the grill molding 4 is improved. It will not be damaged.
Moreover, while the camera 6 is fixed to the grill base 3 via the bracket 70, the camera 6 is mounted in the camera cover 40 by the ribs 47 to 49 provided in the camera cover 40 of the grill molding 4. Since the positional accuracy is improved, the photographing direction of the camera 6 can be accurately matched with a preset direction. As a result, a desired use angle of view can be obtained with certainty.

  In addition, according to the camera mounting structure of this embodiment, the interior of the camera housing portion 45 is partitioned into two front and rear rooms by the heat shielding sheet 80 which is in close contact with the inner peripheral portion of the camera housing portion 45 without any gap. Since the head 61 and the main body 62 of the camera 6 are accommodated in the front camera accommodating portion 45, for example, when a running vehicle stops due to a temporary stop or the like, as shown in FIG. Even when heat blown back from the engine is radiated to the front grille 2 side, the heat shielding sheet 80 can block the heat. As a result, the blowback heat of the engine is not radiated forward from the heat shield sheet 80, and the blowback heat can be prevented from directly hitting the head 61 and the main body 62 of the camera 6. Thereby, the temperature rise of the camera 6 due to the blow back heat from the engine can be prevented, and it is possible to prevent the camera 6 from being affected by heat damage such as a decrease in performance and durability.

[Other Examples]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.
For example, in the embodiment described above, the camera cover 40 is provided on the upper surface 36 of the seat side cover 33 in the grill molding 4, but the camera cover 40 may be provided on the lower surface of the seat side cover 33. It is.

It is sectional drawing of the camera attachment structure concerning this invention. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle that employs a camera mounting structure according to the present invention. It is a perspective view of the front grill of the vehicle. It is the perspective view which looked at the said front grille before camera mounting from the back side. It is the perspective view which looked at the front grille after camera wearing from the back side. It is a perspective view of a camera and a bracket before being mounted on the front grill. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the camera cover part of the said front grille. It is a front view which expands and shows the said camera cover part. It is a rear view which expands and shows the said camera cover part. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the rib provided in the inner surface of the said camera cover part, and a camera.

Explanation of symbols

2 Front grill (grill)
3 Grill base 4 Grill molding 6 Camera 40 Camera cover part (support part)
41 Swelling part (protection part)
44 Buttocks (Protection Section)
46 opening 47-49 rib

Claims (5)

  A support portion that accommodates and supports the camera is provided integrally with the grill, and the support portion has an opening in front of the accommodated camera and is disposed to face the outer edge of the front end of the camera. A camera mounting structure having a protective part.   The camera mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the protection part is provided at an upper part and a lower part of the opening.   The camera mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein a rib defining a position of the camera is provided on an inner surface of the support portion.   The grill is configured to include a grill base and a grill molding that covers at least a part of the front surface of the grill base and is attached to the grill base, and the support portion is provided integrally with the grill molding, The camera mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the camera is fixed to the grill base.   The camera mounting structure according to claim 4, wherein the support portion is provided integrally with an upper end portion of the grill molding.

Images