JP2012056480A - Vehicle rear view apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a vehicle rear view apparatus that can view the rear of a vehicle and can be easily attached and detached when the vehicle does not have costly display functions such as a display for a car navigation system or a dedicated display.SOLUTION: The vehicle rear view apparatus includes: a rear camera portion 15 photographing the rear of the vehicle; a projector portion 17 projecting photographed images by the rear camera portion; a control unit 16 controlling the rear camera portion and projector portion; a casing 100 integrally holding the projector portion and control unit; and attachment and detachment member 104 detachably attaching the casing to any position within an attachable region in the vehicle. A photographing direction of the rear camera portion 15 and a projection direction of the projector portion 17 are independently adjustable and the projector portion 17 projects and displays the photographed images by the rear camera portion 15 to the image projection portion that can be set before a driver's seat 2.

Description

  The present invention relates to an automobile rear observation apparatus.

  In order to check the presence of obstacles behind the vehicle when the vehicle is in the back and to check the rear when parking, the rear of the vehicle is photographed with the rear camera, and the captured image is displayed on the display installed on the dashboard. Thus, a back monitor system that enables rearward visual recognition is known.

  In a conventionally known back monitor system, a liquid crystal display for car navigation or a dedicated display is used as a display for displaying a photographed image of the rear camera. Therefore, it is necessary to use a car navigation or dedicated display for system introduction. There was a problem that the cost of introduction was high.

  Also, since the rear camera requires dedicated wiring to the display, the rear camera must be installed at a dealer or a dealer with a wiring factory, such as a dealer, where the user installs the rear camera. There was a problem that it was difficult to do.

  In view of the circumstances described above, the present invention realizes an automotive rear observation apparatus that can be monitored backwards and can be easily mounted and removed by a user, even in an automobile that does not have an expensive display function such as a car navigation system or a dedicated display. Let it be an issue.

The automotive rear observation apparatus of the present invention includes a rear camera unit, a projector unit, a control unit, a casing, and an attaching / detaching unit.
The “rear camera unit” is a part that captures the back of the automobile.
The “projector unit” is a part for projecting an image captured by the rear camera unit.
“Control means” is means for controlling the rear camera section and the projector section. The control means includes a power supply circuit.

The “casing” integrally holds the rear camera unit, the projector unit, and the control means.
“Attachment / detachment means” is means for detachably attaching the casing to an arbitrary position within the attachable region inside the automobile.

The vehicle rear observation apparatus according to claim 1 has the following characteristics.
The shooting direction of the rear camera unit and the projection direction of the projector unit can be adjusted independently.
The projector unit projects and displays the image captured by the rear camera unit on the “image projection unit that can be set in front of the driver's seat”.

  It is preferable that the “rear camera unit” in the rear observation apparatus for an automobile according to claim 1 is capable of wide-angle photographing (claim 2).

  The vehicle rear observation device according to claim 1 or 2 can have “a detachable screen member in front of the driver's seat inside the vehicle” (claim 3).

  As described above, the rear camera unit, the projector unit, and the control means are held by the same casing, and the casing is detachably attached to “any position within the attachable region inside the automobile”.

  The casing is attached to the inside of the automobile by means of attaching and detaching means, but the attachment position must be able to photograph "the rear of the automobile" by the rear camera part held in the casing, so the installation position of the casing is said to be "totally arbitrary" Do not mean.

  In addition, since the projector unit projects and displays the photographed image on the “image projection unit that can be set in front of the driver's seat”, the image taken by the rear camera unit must be able to be projected onto the image projection unit.

  That is, the position where the casing is attached must be capable of photographing the rear of the vehicle by the rear camera unit and projecting the photographed image to the “image projection unit that can be set in front of the driver's seat” by the projector unit. An area satisfying such a condition is an “attachable area inside the automobile”. Such a region is not necessarily a wide region, but is not limited to a predetermined position in the automobile, and has a certain degree of freedom.

  In addition, since the shooting direction of the rear camera unit and the projection direction of the projector unit can be adjusted independently, for example, an image projection unit is set in front of the driver's seat in an automobile, and the set image projection unit A casing is attached to a position where projection is possible, the positional relationship between the projector unit and the image projection unit is determined, and in this state, the shooting direction of the rear camera unit can be set to “a direction in which the rear of the vehicle can be shot”. If the rear camera unit is capable of wide-angle shooting as in claim 2, the degree of freedom in setting the shooting direction of the rear camera unit is increased.

  The image projection unit can be provided with a dedicated screen member, for example, “inclinable” on the dashboard, and can stand up against the dashboard and project a photographed image on the screen when performing rearward observation. .

  Moreover, instead of doing in this way, for example, a member provided in advance in front of the driver's seat of an automobile, such as a sun visor or a rearview mirror, can be used as the screen member.

  If the sun visor is used as a screen member, the sun visor can be used and image projection can be performed with the surface facing the interior of the automobile as the “projection surface (screen)”.

  If a rearview mirror is used, when rearward observation is performed, an image can be projected by attaching a separately prepared screen member to the mirror surface of the rearview mirror.

  The orientation of the dedicated screen member, sun visor, rearview mirror, etc. can be adjusted to make it easy to see, and in this state, the mounting position and projection direction of the projector unit can be determined so that image projection is performed.

  As described above, in the automobile rear observation apparatus of the present invention, the rear camera unit and the projector unit are integrated by the casing. However, an apparatus in which the electronic camera and the projector are integrated is known from Patent Document 1. Therefore, it can be used for a combination part of a rear camera unit and a projector unit.

  Moreover, although the apparatus which uses a projector in a motor vehicle is described in patent document 2, observation of the back of a motor vehicle cannot be performed in the thing of the same literature description.

As described above, the automotive rear observation apparatus of the present invention can perform rearward observation without mounting a liquid crystal display such as a car navigation system. In addition, the wiring between the rear camera unit and the display becomes unnecessary, and the observation apparatus can be easily installed.
Since the casing is detachable from the automobile body, theft can be prevented by removing the casing and storing it in the dashboard when not in use.

It is a figure for demonstrating one Embodiment of the back observation apparatus for motor vehicles. It is a figure for demonstrating a casing. It is a figure for demonstrating the system of the back observation apparatus for motor vehicles.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of an automobile rear observation apparatus.
In FIG. 1, the code | symbol 1 shows "the motor vehicle main body which uses the back observation apparatus for motor vehicles."
Reference numeral 2 indicates a “driver's seat”, and reference numeral 3 indicates a “driver”.

Reference numeral 10 indicates “vehicle rear observation means”, reference numeral 11 indicates a sun visor, reference numeral 12 indicates a remote controller, and reference numeral Ob indicates an obstacle (child in the figure) located behind the vehicle body 1.
The casing 10 stores a rear camera unit, a projector unit, and control means.

  FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the “external structure” of the vehicle rear observation means 10.

  A “casing” denoted by reference numeral 100 is held by a U-shaped holding member 101, and the elevation angle and depression angle shown in FIG. 2A can be adjusted by adjusting the angle adjustment knob 102.

  The holding member 101 is attached to the suction cup 104 by a leg portion 103, and the holding member 101 is rotatable about the customer portion 103 with respect to the leg portion 103.

  Therefore, the casing 100 is provided with a degree of freedom of rotation about the leg 103 and a degree of freedom of rotation about the angle adjustment knob 102, thereby enabling a “wide range of orientations”.

  The casing 100 includes a rear camera unit and a projector unit, and the rear camera unit can be adjusted in position with respect to the casing 100, and “position adjustment” can be performed by adjusting the position. It has become.

  On the other hand, the projector unit is integrated with the casing 100, and the projection direction can be adjusted by adjusting the rotation of the casing 100 as described above.

As shown in FIG. 1, the casing 100 is attached to the rear glass surface in the automobile body 1 by a suction cup 104. By the rotation adjustment of the casing 100, the projection direction of the projector unit is directed toward the sun visor 11 so that an image can be projected onto the sun visor 11.
Of course, if the rear observation is possible, the installation position of the casing 100 may be a ceiling portion or the like.

  In FIG. 1, the rear camera unit can take a picture of the rear side of the automobile body 1 from an overhead view by adjusting the position with respect to the casing 100.

When the power of the rear camera unit is turned on by the remote controller 12 by the driver 3, the rear camera unit captures an image of the rear of the vehicle, and the obstacle Ob captured by the rear camera unit is projected onto the sun visor 11 by the projector unit. The
That is, the projected image is displayed on the sun visor 11 that can be visually recognized by the driver 3, and the driver 3 can visually recognize the image of the “rear blind spot” while sitting on the seat 2.

  When the power is turned on by the remote controller 12, the power can be automatically turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed to reduce power consumption.

  In the system diagram shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 15 denotes a rear camera unit, reference numeral 16 denotes a main control circuit, reference numeral 17 denotes a projector unit, reference numeral 18 denotes a power supply circuit, and reference numeral 19 denotes a “remote control receiving unit” that receives a signal from the remote controller 12. Is shown.

  The rear camera unit 15 includes an “imaging lens and an image sensor”. A CCD, CMOS, or the like is used as the image sensor.

The state behind the automobile is imaged on the light receiving surface of the image sensor by the imaging lens.
The main control circuit unit 16 includes a processor 161 such as a microcomputer, DSP, ASIC, etc., ROM 162, RAM 163, and other peripheral circuits (not shown), and receives image data input from the rear camera unit to receive image data. Processing is performed, and “image data to be projected” is transmitted to the projector unit 17 and the projector unit 17 is controlled by a control signal.

  The projector unit 17 includes a light source 171 such as “LED or cathode tube” driven by the main control circuit 16, an image display unit 172 such as liquid crystal, and a projection lens 173 that projects an image.

  Each module in the rear camera unit 15 is supplied with power from a power supply circuit 18 including a battery and a power supply IC.

  The remote control receiver 19 communicates an ON / OFF signal of the rear camera unit 15. This communication is performed by infrared communication or short-range wireless communication.

The main control circuit 16, the power supply circuit 18, the remote controller 12 and the remote control receiving unit 19 constitute “control means”.
Since the casing 100 is attached to and detached from the automobile body by the suction cup 104, it is easy to attach and remove. Therefore, when riding the vehicle, it can be used as a “back monitor” by attaching a vehicle rear observation device, and when getting off, the casing can be removed from the vehicle body and stored in the dashboard, etc. Can be protected.

1 Car body
2 seats
3 Drivers
10 Automotive rear observation system
15 Rear camera section
16 Main control circuit
17 Projector section
100 casing
104 Suction cup (detachment means)

JP 2006-180154 A JP 2008-174212 A

Claims (3)

A rear camera that captures the back of the car,
A projector unit that projects an image captured by the rear camera unit;
Control means for controlling these rear camera unit and projector unit,
A casing for holding the rear camera unit and the projector unit and the control means together;
Detachable means for detachably attaching the casing to an arbitrary position within the attachable area inside the automobile,
The shooting direction of the rear camera unit and the projection direction of the projector unit can be adjusted independently, and the projector unit captures an image captured by the rear camera unit in an image projection unit that can be set in front of the driver's seat. A rear observation apparatus for automobiles, characterized by projecting and displaying. The vehicle rear observation device according to claim 1,
A rear observation apparatus for automobiles, wherein the rear camera section is capable of wide-angle photography. The vehicle rear observation device according to claim 1 or 2,
A rear observation apparatus for an automobile, comprising a screen member detachable in front of a driver seat inside the automobile.

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