JP2014071252A - In-vehicle camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an in-vehicle camera for facilitating the extraction of a frame member while achieving miniaturization.SOLUTION: The in-vehicle camera includes: a frame member 4 in which a substrate assembly body 3 for processing an image imaged via a lens 2 is stored; and a front case 51 in which the frame member 4 is stored so as to be freely inserted and extracted. An engagement part 6 for fixing the frame member 4 to the front case 51 in a state that the frame member 4 is stored is disposed between the fitting parts of the frame member 4 and of the front case 51. An operation part 7 for adding a pressing force F to release the engagement of the engagement part 6 in a state that it is protruded from the front case 51 is disposed closer to the rear end side than the engagement part 6 of the frame member 4. The frame member 4 is divided between the engagement part 6 and the operation part 7 into an engagement part side frame 41 and an operation part side frame 42, and the operation part side frame 42 is freely fitted into the engagement part side frame 41 so as to be overlapped therewith.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted camera in which a substrate assembly for image processing is housed in a frame member, and the frame member is housed in an outer case so as to be freely inserted and removed.

  Conventionally, an in-vehicle camera such as a back camera has a substrate assembly that processes an image captured through a lens. The substrate assembly is stored inside a frame member, and the frame member is used as an outer case. It is common to house and protect. In this case, by storing the frame member so as to be freely inserted into and removed from the outer case, the frame member can be taken out and repaired after the in-vehicle camera is assembled.

  By the way, when the frame member is accommodated in the outer case in this way, it is necessary to provide an engaging portion between the frame member and the outer case and fix the accommodated frame member to the outer case. In this case, the frame member and the outer case have a male and female fitting structure in which the frame member is male and the outer case is female.

  An example of such a male-female fitting structure is a connector disclosed in Patent Document 1. This connector has a male connector and a female connector, and these male connector and female connector are fitted to each other.

  The male connector is provided with a lock arm having a resilient force in the radially outward direction, and a locking projection is provided on the outside of the lock arm. The female connector is provided with an engagement hole on the side wall thereof for releasably engaging the locking projection. These engaging projections and engaging holes serve as engaging portions, and when the male connector is fitted to the female connector, the engaging projections engage with the engaging holes by the elastic force of the lock arm. The male connector is fixed to the female connector so that it cannot be easily pulled out.

  On the other hand, in order to take out the male connector from the female connector, by pressing the operating portion provided at the base of the lock arm against the elastic force of the lock arm, the locking projection is released from the engagement hole, The male connector can be removed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-6812

  However, in the connector of Patent Document 1, when the male connector is taken out from the female connector, the operation portion of the lock arm needs to protrude outward from the female connector.

  That is, when such a male and female fitting structure of a connector is applied to a fitting structure between a frame member of an in-vehicle camera and an outer case, the operation portion provided on the male frame member is used as the outer case. It will be projected from. For this reason, a vehicle-mounted camera will enlarge by the part which the operation part of a frame member protrudes from an outer side case.

  Therefore, in view of the conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle camera capable of easily taking out a frame member while achieving downsizing.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a frame member comprising an operation unit side frame and an engagement side frame for accommodating a substrate assembly for processing an image picked up through a lens, and inserting and removing the frame member. An outer case that is freely accommodated, an engagement portion that is provided on the engagement portion side frame, and that is engaged with the outer case when the frame member is accommodated, and is provided on the operation portion side frame, and is elastic in the vertical direction. An operation unit that can be deformed, wherein the operation unit side frame can be fitted from the outside of the engagement unit side frame, and the operation unit side frame is pulled out from the outer case to dispose the operation unit. In the exposed state, the engagement portion can be released by pressing the operation portion.

  According to a second means of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera according to the first means, the operation part side frame can be accommodated in the outer case together with the engagement part side frame by being pushed into the outer case. It is.

According to a third means of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera of the first means, the second opposing wall of the operation side frame is disposed outside the first opposing wall of the engaging portion side frame, and the first A part of the opposing wall and the second opposing wall are superposed.

  According to a fourth means of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera of the first means, the frame member is formed of a metal plate so as to electrically shield the substrate assembly.

According to the first means of the present invention, by applying a pressing force to the operation part of the operation part side frame forming a part of the frame member, the male frame member housed in the female outer case is obtained. The engaging portion provided between the engaging portion side frame forming a part of the frame member and the engaging portion of the outer case is released and can be taken out. The operation unit side frame can be fitted from the outside of the engagement unit side frame.
Therefore, when the frame member is taken out from the outer case, the operating portion can be exposed from the outer case by pulling out the operating portion side frame from the engaging portion side frame. In this state, the engaging portion is engaged. The pressing force to be released can be easily applied to the operation unit. Thereby, taking out of the frame member can be facilitated.

  According to the second means of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first means, the operation side frame can be accommodated in the outer case by being pushed into the outer case. By doing so, the space occupied by the operation unit can be eliminated except when a pressing force is applied to the operation unit, and the in-vehicle camera can be reduced in size.

According to the third means of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first means, the second opposing wall of the operation part side frame is disposed outside the first opposing wall of the engaging part side frame, and A part of it is polymerized. As a result, the pressing force applied to the operation portion of the operation portion side frame can be transmitted to the engagement portion side frame, and thus the engagement portion, and the engagement can be reliably released.

  According to the fourth means of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first means, the frame member is formed of a metal plate so as to electromagnetically shield the substrate assembly. Thereby, a frame member can be used also as a shield board of a board | substrate assembly, and reduction of a number of parts can be aimed at.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of an in-vehicle camera according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view in the middle of assembling the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a completed state of the frame member and the outer case of the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention in a shortened state of the frame member. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an assembled state of the frame member and the outer case of the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention in an extended state of the frame member. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion I in FIG. FIG. 7 shows the internal structure of the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention with the outer case removed, with the frame member shortened, wherein (a) is a perspective view and (b) is a cross-sectional view. FIG. 8 shows the internal structure of the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention with the outer case removed, with the frame member extended, (a) is a perspective view, and (b) is a cross-sectional view. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion II in FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the engagement unit side frame and the operation unit side frame of the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention arranged side by side. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram comparing the lengths of the in-vehicle camera according to the present invention shown in (a) and the in-vehicle camera not applied with the present invention shown in (b).

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an in-vehicle camera 1 according to this embodiment. The in-vehicle camera 1 is attached to the rear side of an automobile and is used as a back camera for monitoring a rear view. In addition, the vehicle-mounted camera 1 shall demonstrate in FIG. 1 the X direction where the lens 2 mentioned later is arrange | positioned as a front end side, and the reverse Y direction is a rear end side.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle-mounted camera 1 includes a lens 2 and a substrate assembly 3 that processes an image captured through the lens 2. The board assembly 3 creates a video signal of a captured image and transmits the video signal to a monitor (not shown) disposed on an instrument panel or the like in front of the driver's seat.

  The lens 2 has a rotary handle 21 for focusing, and the focus can be adjusted by rotating the rotary handle 21. The light that has passed through the lens 2 is imaged on an image pickup device (not shown) provided on the substrate assembly 3.

  The board assembly 3 has a two-stage structure in which two printed boards 31 and 32 on which electronic components for image processing are mounted. The board assembly 3 is composed of the frame member 4. The lens 2 is held inside and the lens 2 is held at the tip of the frame member 4.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the frame member 4 is housed inside the casing 5 while holding the lens 2 and housing the substrate assembly 3. The casing 5 includes a front case 51 as an outer case and a rear case 52 that closes the rear end of the front case 51. The front case 51 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a rectangular cross section, and the frame member 4 is accommodated inside the front case 51 so as to be freely inserted and removed.

  Then, after the frame member 4 is accommodated in the front case 51 in this way, the rear end of the front case 51 is closed by the rear case 52, and the front case 51 and the rear case 52 are detachable at their four corners by screws 53. Fixed. In addition, a cylindrical portion 54 (see FIG. 2) through which a cable (not shown) for taking out an image signal to the outside is inserted is provided on the rear end surface of the rear case 52.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an opening 51a for fitting the lens 2 is formed at the front end of the front case 51. When the frame member 4 is housed in the casing 5, the lens 2 is opened 51a. Is exposed to the outside.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an engaging portion 6 that fixes the frame member 4 accommodated in the front case 51 is provided between the fitting portions of the frame member 4 and the front case 51. The engaging portion 6 includes a pair of engaging holes 61 formed in the first opposing walls 4 a and 4 b of the frame member 4 and a pair of engaging protrusions 62 protruding from the opposing inner surface of the front case 51. Composed.

  At this time, the first opposing walls 4a and 4b of the frame member 4 in which the engagement holes 61 are formed have elastic force in the widening direction. As a result, when the frame member 4 is inserted into the front case 51, when the positions of the engagement holes 61 and the engagement protrusions 62 are matched, the engagement holes 61 become the engagement protrusions 62 as shown in FIG. The engaging portion 6 is engaged by being engaged. Thus, when the engaging portion 6 is in the engaged state, the frame member 4 is fixed to the front case 51, and the frame member 4 can be prevented from easily coming out of the front case 51.

  Further, the frame member 4 is positioned on the rear end side of the engagement hole 61 and has a pressing force F (see FIG. 5) for releasing the engagement of the engagement portion, that is, the first of the frame member 4. An operation portion 7 is provided for applying a pressing force F in the width reducing direction to the opposing walls 4a and 4b. As a result, by applying a pressing force F so that both sides of the operation portion 7 are sandwiched between fingers, the first opposing walls 4a and 4b are bent in the width reducing direction, and the engagement holes 61 are detached from the engagement protrusions 62. The joint 6 can be disengaged.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the frame member 4 is divided between the engagement portion 6 and the operation portion 7, and the front end side engagement portion side frame 41 and the rear end side operation portion side frame 42 are divided. It is configured. The operation unit side frame 42 can be fitted so as to overlap from the outside of the engagement unit side frame 41. Hereinafter, a state in which the operation unit side frame 42 is fitted into the engagement unit side frame 41 (see FIG. 7) is a shortened state of the frame member 4, and a state in which the operation unit side frame 42 is pulled out from the engagement unit side frame 41. (See FIG. 8) will be described as an extended state of the frame member 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the engaging portion side frame 41 has an annular front end surface 412 in which a holding port 411 of the lens 2 is formed at the center, and the edge portion of the front end surface 412 has been described above. The first opposing walls 4 a and 4 b are bent toward the rear end direction, that is, toward the operation unit side frame 42. In addition, a pair of projecting portions 413 project from the tip surface 412 with a predetermined projecting amount at an edge portion that is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the first opposing walls 4a and 4b.

  On the other hand, the operation unit side frame 42 has a rear end surface 421 facing the front end surface 412 of the engagement unit side frame 41, and from the edge corresponding to the above-described first opposing walls 4a and 4b of the rear end surface 421. The pair of second opposing walls 4 c and 4 d are bent toward the distal end direction, that is, toward the engaging portion side frame 41. These second opposing walls 4c and 4d are configured to overlap the outer sides of the first opposing walls 4a and 4b of the engaging portion side frame 41 in a shortened state of the frame member 4, and the second opposing walls 4c. The 4d base is the operation unit 7 described above. As a result, when a pressing force F is applied to the operating portion 7 in order to release the engaging portion 6, the pressing force F is transmitted to the first opposing walls 4a and 4b via the second opposing walls 4c and 4d. And these 1st opposing walls 4a and 4b can be bent in the width reduction direction.

  In addition, the rear end surface 421 has a pair of side walls 422 bent toward the front end direction, that is, toward the engaging portion side frame 41 at an edge portion that is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the second opposing walls 4c and 4d. Has been. At this time, the distal end portion of the side wall 422 is positioned in the vicinity of the distal end of the protruding portion 413 of the engaging portion side frame 41 in a shortened state of the frame member 4. Thereby, the electromagnetic shielding effect mentioned later is heightened.

  7A, when the substrate assembly 3 is housed in the frame member 4 and the frame member 4 is shortened, the operation unit side frame 42 and the engagement unit side frame 41 serve as the substrate. The outside of the assembly 3 is covered. At this time, the operation unit side frame 42 and the engagement unit side frame 41 are formed of a metal plate such as a stainless plate or an aluminum plate so that the frame member 4 can exhibit the electromagnetic shielding function of the board assembly 3. It is.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the second facing walls 4c and 4d of the operation unit side frame 42 are formed in a substantially U shape by forming a notch 424 cut out at the tip at the center in the width direction. Yes. On the other hand, a protruding piece 415 protruding in the width direction is provided at the tip of the first opposing walls 4a, 4b of the engaging portion side frame 41.

  At this time, the notch width W1 of the notch 424 is formed to be narrower than the width W2 of the first opposing walls 4a and 4b of the engaging portion side frame 41. Accordingly, when the second opposing walls 4c and 4d of the operation unit side frame 42 are overlapped on the outside of the first opposing walls 4a and 4b of the engaging unit side frame 41, both side edges E1 of the notch 424 are provided. (Indicated by the hatched portion in the figure) is superimposed on the outside of both side edges E2 (indicated by the hatched portion in the figure) of the first opposing walls 4a, 4b, and the pressing force F applied to the operating portion 7 is applied to the first opposing wall It can be efficiently transmitted to the walls 4a and 4b.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the operation unit side frame 42 is engaged with the engagement unit side frame 41 at the maximum drawing position of the operation unit side frame 42 between the engagement unit side frame 41 and the operation unit side frame 42. A locking portion 8 to be stopped is provided.

  The locking portion 8 includes a hooking portion 81 formed by folding the U-shaped tip portions of the second opposing walls 4c and 4d of the operation portion side frame 42 inward, and the first portion of the engaging portion side frame 41. It is comprised by the protrusion piece 415 provided in the opposing walls 4a and 4b. At this time, in the portion where the hook portion 81 is formed, the tip portion width W3 of the notch portion 424 is made larger than the width W2 of the first opposing walls 4a and 4b of the engaging portion side frame 41, so that the hook portion 81 is The first opposing walls 4a and 4b are positioned outside both sides in the width W2 direction. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, when the operation unit side frame 42 is pulled out, the hook portion 81 is hooked on the protruding piece 415 to be in a locked state (see FIG. 9), and the operation portion beyond that. The side frame 42 is prevented from being pulled out.

  Accordingly, when the in-vehicle camera 1 of the present embodiment is used with the camera mounted, the frame member 4 is accommodated inside the casing 5 in which the front case 51 and the rear case 52 are coupled as shown in FIG. ing. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the frame member 4 is in a shortened state in which the operation unit side frame 42 is fitted to the outside of the engagement unit side frame 41.

  Next, when it is necessary to take out the frame member 4 from the in-vehicle camera 1 for repair or adjusting the focus of the lens 2, first, the screw 53 is removed and the rear case 52 is removed from the front case 51. Then, the rear end portion of the operation unit side frame 42 in the shortened state is picked up with a finger or the like and pulled out until the locking portion 8 is locked, as shown in FIGS. In this state, the operation portion 7 protrudes outward from the rear end of the front case 51, and the engagement portion 6 can be disengaged by applying a pressing force F to the operation portion 7.

  Thus, the frame member 4 can be easily taken out from the front case 51 by disengaging the engaging portion 6. Then, by removing the lens 2 and the substrate assembly 3 from the frame member 4, the focus adjustment of the lens 2 and the repair of the substrate assembly 3 can be performed.

  As described above, according to the in-vehicle camera 1 of the present embodiment, the frame member 4 is accommodated in the front case 51 so as to be freely inserted and removed, and the accommodated state of the frame member 4 is maintained by the engagement of the engaging portion 6. It has become so. Then, by applying a pressing force F to the operation portion 7 provided on the frame member 4, the engagement portion 6 can be disengaged, and the frame member 4 can be taken out from the front case 51. Yes. At this time, the frame member 4 is divided between the engaging portion 6 and the operating portion 7 provided on the rear end side of the engaging portion 6, so that the engaging portion side frame 41 and the operating portion side frame are divided. 42, and the operation unit side frame 42 can be fitted so as to overlap the engagement unit side frame 41.

  Therefore, the entire length of the frame member 4 can be shortened by fitting the operating portion side frame 42 into the engaging portion side frame 41. Thereby, since the amount by which the shortened frame member 4 protrudes from the front case 51 can be reduced in the use state of the in-vehicle camera, the down-sizing of the in-vehicle camera 1 can be achieved.

  That is, FIG. 11 shows the in-vehicle camera 1 to which the present invention is applied (the figure (a)) and the in-vehicle camera 1a to which the invention is not applied (the figure (b)) in the length of the front case 51. It is the same and compared.

  In the in-vehicle camera 1 shown in FIG. 6A, the frame member 4 is shortened, so that the amount of the frame member 4 protruding from the front case 51 is small. Even when the rear case 52 is attached, the entire length of the casing 5 is increased. The length is getting shorter. On the other hand, in the in-vehicle camera 1a of FIG. 5B, the operation unit 7 is largely protruded from the front case 51 when the frame member 4 is not divided. It is necessary to cover part 7. For this reason, the length of the casing 5 as a whole becomes longer, and the in-vehicle camera 1a in (b) becomes longer by α as compared with the in-vehicle camera 1 in (a). In other words, the vehicle-mounted camera 1 of the present invention can be reduced in size by α as compared with the vehicle-mounted camera 1a to which the present invention is not applied.

  On the other hand, when the frame member 4 is taken out from the front case 51, the operation portion 7 can be protruded outward from the front case 51 by pulling out the operation portion side frame 42 from the engagement portion side frame 41. Thus, although the frame member 4 is normally in a shortened state, the operation portion 7 can be protruded greatly from the front case 51 when the frame member 4 is taken out. The pressing force F to be released can be easily applied to the operation unit 7. Thereby, taking out of the frame member 4 can be facilitated while achieving miniaturization of the vehicle-mounted camera 1.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the locking portion 8 that locks the operating portion side frame 42 to the engaging portion side frame 41 in the pulling direction is provided between the engaging portion side frame 41 and the operating portion side frame 42. It is provided. As a result, when the operation part side frame 42 is pulled out from the front case 51, the locking part 8 is locked to the engagement part side frame 41 to prevent further pulling out, and the operation part side frame 42 comes out. Can be prevented. Therefore, it is not necessary to adjust the pulling force of the operation unit side frame 42, and the pulling operation of the operation unit side frame 42 can be simplified.

  Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the frame member 4 is formed of a metal plate so as to electrically shield the board assembly 3. Thereby, the frame member 4 can be used also as a shield plate of the board assembly 3, and it is not necessary to provide the shield plate as a separate part, so that the number of parts can be reduced.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, although the vehicle-mounted camera 1 of the present embodiment has been described by taking a back camera as an example, it may be a camera that monitors, for example, the field of view in front of the vehicle or the side of the vehicle, or the interior of the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car-mounted camera 2 Lens 3 Board | substrate assembly 4 Frame member 4a, 4b 1st opposing wall 4c, 4d 2nd opposing wall 41 Engagement part side frame 42 Operation part side frame 5 Casing 51 Front case (outer case)
52 Rear case 6 Engagement part 7 Operation part 8 Locking part F Pressing force

Claims (4)

A frame member comprising an operation unit side frame and an engagement unit side frame for accommodating a substrate assembly for processing an image captured through a lens inward;
An outer case for accommodating the frame member so as to be freely inserted and removed;
An engagement portion provided on the engagement portion side frame and engaged with the outer case in the accommodated state of the frame member;
An operation unit provided on the operation unit side frame and elastically deformable in a vertical direction;
An in-vehicle camera equipped with
The operation unit side frame can be fitted from the outside of the engagement unit side frame, and the operation unit side frame is pulled out from the outer case, and the operation unit is exposed to press the operation unit. An in-vehicle camera characterized in that the engagement portion can be disengaged.   The in-vehicle camera according to claim 1, wherein the operation unit side frame can be accommodated in the outer case together with the engagement unit side frame by pressing the operation unit side frame into the outer case.   A second opposing wall of the operating portion side frame is disposed outside the first opposing wall of the engaging portion side frame, and a part of the first opposing wall and the second opposing wall are overlapped. The in-vehicle camera according to claim 1, wherein   The in-vehicle camera according to claim 1, wherein the frame member is formed of a metal plate so as to electrically shield the substrate assembly.

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