JP2017081274A - On-vehicle camera cover structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle camera cover structure capable of effectively preventing reflection light incident into a lens with the minimal installation space.SOLUTION: An on-vehicle camera cover structure 100 is equipped with a cover 108 which stores an on-vehicle camera 106 having lenses 122 and 124 opposite to a wind shield glass 104 of a vehicle 102 and attached to a top surface 122 in a vehicle cabin. The cover 108 is equipped with an opening 150 and an elastic shade 160. The shade 160 has a generally horizontal lower wall 166 extending from a lower side of the opening 150 toward the wind shield glass 104, and two side walls 168 and 169 extending from both side in a vehicle width direction of the opening 150 toward the wind shield glass 104. Front ends 180 and 181 of the two side walls 168 and 169 are inclined along the wind shield glass 104.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle camera cover structure that includes a lens that has a lens facing a windshield glass of a vehicle and includes a cover that accommodates an in-vehicle camera attached to a top surface of a vehicle interior.

  An in-vehicle device such as an in-vehicle camera may be attached to the top surface of the interior of a vehicle such as an automobile. The in-vehicle camera is attached to the top surface in the vicinity of the windshield glass in order to image the front of the vehicle during traveling.

  An instrument panel is located below the windshield glass. Since the instrument panel is made of resin, it has a glossy surface. Therefore, the light that has passed through the windshield glass is easily reflected by the instrument panel. The light reflected by the instrument panel is further reflected on the inner side of the windshield glass (vehicle compartment side) and enters the lens of the in-vehicle camera, thereby causing a so-called reflection phenomenon.

  In particular, in recent years, with the trend of expanding the cabin space, there is a vehicle type in which the windshield glass is inclined in a more vertical posture, and the length of the instrument panel in the vehicle front-rear direction is shortened. For these reasons, the decoration applied to the front of the instrument panel by reflection of light is easily reflected on the windshield glass, and the reflection is remarkable. Reflection may interfere with the image recognition process, and thus should be prevented as much as possible. Thus, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an in-vehicle camera that covers a lens with a hood extending in front of the lens to prevent reflection.

JP 2013-230815 A

  However, Patent Document 1 has a problem that a hood must be provided in addition to the in-vehicle camera, and a large installation space for the hood is required. In particular, when a stereo camera is used as a vehicle-mounted camera, the size of the hood increases because there are two lenses. As a result, in addition to a large installation space, there is a risk of increasing the weight and cost of the vehicle. In particular, the hood disclosed in Patent Document 1 is generally formed of a resin. However, since the surface of the hood formed of resin is also glossy, there is a possibility that light is reflected on the surface of the hood and even the reflected light is incident on the lens.

  In view of such problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle camera cover structure that can effectively prevent reflected light from entering a lens with a minimum installation space.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a typical structure of a cover structure for a vehicle-mounted camera according to the present invention is a cover that houses a vehicle-mounted camera that has a lens facing a windshield glass of a vehicle and is attached to the top surface of the vehicle interior. In the in-vehicle camera cover structure, the in-vehicle camera cover structure further includes an opening formed at a front end of the cover, through which the lens is exposed, and a part of light that is attached to the opening and enters the lens. A shade of an elastic body, and the shade includes a substantially horizontal lower wall extending from the lower side of the opening toward the windshield glass, and two substantially vertical side walls extending from both sides of the opening in the vehicle width direction toward the windshield glass. And having two continuous side walls at both ends in the vehicle width direction of the lower wall, and the front ends of the two side walls are inclined along the windshield glass And characterized in that it.

  According to the on-vehicle camera cover structure of the present invention, the shade has the substantially horizontal lower wall extending from the lower side of the opening to the windshield glass. With this lower wall, it is possible to prevent the light reflected from the instrument panel and further reflected from the inside of the windshield glass from entering the lens of the in-vehicle camera. The shade also has two side walls. The two side walls extend from both sides of the opening in the vehicle width direction toward the windshield glass, and are continuous with both ends of the lower wall in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the incidence of light from the side by these two side walls.

  According to the present invention, the front ends of the two side walls are each inclined along the windshield glass. This makes it possible to extend the shade to a position considerably close to the windshield glass. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to keep the installation space small even for shades of the same size.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the shade only has the lower wall and the two side walls, the structure of the shade can be simplified as compared with, for example, the hood of Patent Document 1.

  In addition, since the shade of the present invention is made of an elastic body, for example, rubber, it can prevent light from being reflected by the lower wall and the side wall. The fact that the shade is an elastic body is convenient for cleaning the windshield glass in front of the shade, for example. That is, in the case of Patent Document 1, for example, even if an attempt is made to clean the windshield glass on the front of the hood and clean it, the hood is made of resin and is hard, so the user puts his hand between the hood and the windshield glass, for example, It is difficult to clean the shield glass. However, since the shade of the present invention is elastically deformable, the user can easily clean the windshield glass by putting his hand between the shade and the windshield glass.

  Fine irregularities may be formed on the lens side surfaces of the lower wall and the two side walls. According to this configuration, fine irregularities are formed on the lens side surfaces of the lower wall and the two side walls, and so-called embossing is performed. Thereby, it can fully prevent that light reflects in a lower wall and a side wall.

  The shade further includes a substantially horizontal extension extending along the cover from the lower side of the opening to the side opposite to the lower wall, and a slit formed in the extension. The cover protrudes upward and forms a slit. It is preferable to have a protrusion that is inserted and fitted. By doing so, it is possible to firmly fix the shade to the cover. Thereby, for example, it is possible to prevent the shade from shifting and entering the field of view of the lens of the in-vehicle camera.

  In particular, in the present invention, as described above, it is easy for a user to put a hand between the lower wall of the shade and the windshield glass to clean the windshield glass. At this time, the shade is lifted upward. It takes power. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the shade from lifting up by fixing the extension part to the cover.

  The shade and the cover may be fixed by welding the protrusion to the shade. As a result, the shade can be more firmly fixed to the cover.

  The shade may further include an attachment portion attached along the edge of the opening, and the attachment portion may be inclined so that the opening widens from the in-vehicle camera side toward the windshield glass side.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent the shade attachment portion from entering the field of view of the in-vehicle camera while ensuring the thickness of the shade. As described above, according to the present invention, the shade is elastically deformed to facilitate wiping and cleaning the windshield glass in front of the shade. On the other hand, it is necessary for the shade to maintain its shape during normal times, that is, it preferably has a predetermined thickness. However, if the thickness of the shade is increased, the shape of the shade is maintained, but there is a possibility that the shade mounting portion enters the field of view of the in-vehicle camera. Therefore, the attachment portion of the shade is inclined so that the opening widens as it goes from the in-vehicle camera side to the windshield glass side. Thereby, while giving desired thickness other than an attaching part among shades and holding a shape, since the thickness of an attaching part can be reduced, it can prevent that the attaching part of a shade enters into the field of view of an in-vehicle camera. it can.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it is possible to provide the cover structure for vehicle-mounted cameras which can prevent effectively that reflected light injects into a lens with the minimum installation space.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the cover structure for vehicle-mounted cameras which concerns on this embodiment. It is the perspective view which looked at the cover structure for vehicle-mounted cameras of FIG. 1 from the vehicle interior. It is an expansion perspective view of the cover of FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of the cover of FIG. It is a figure which shows the mode of the cleaning of the windshield glass ahead of the shade of FIG. It is a B arrow view of the cover of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which melt | dissolved the projection part of FIG. 6 and welded the projection part to the shade.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the on-vehicle camera cover structure 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the on-vehicle camera cover structure 100 is viewed from outside the vehicle through the windshield glass 104 of the vehicle 102. Arrows U, F, and R shown in the drawings respectively indicate the upper side of the vehicle, the front side of the vehicle, and the right side of the vehicle.

  In FIG. 1, the in-vehicle camera cover structure 100 includes an in-vehicle camera 106 and a cover 108. The in-vehicle camera 106 is a stereo camera including a pair of left and right cameras 118 and 120, and includes lenses 122 and 124 that face the windshield glass 104 of the vehicle 102. The in-vehicle camera 106 is attached to the top surface 112 in the passenger compartment at the upper surface 116 thereof. The cover 108 accommodates such a vehicle-mounted camera 106. In the present embodiment, the cover 108 has a concave shape downward, and houses the in-vehicle camera 106 from below.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the in-vehicle camera cover structure 100 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the vehicle interior. As shown in FIG. 2, a rearview mirror 128 is disposed behind the vehicle-mounted camera cover structure 100. The in-vehicle camera cover structure 100 is disposed between the windshield glass 104 and the room mirror 128, and images the front of the vehicle with the in-vehicle camera 106 (FIG. 1), for example, during traveling.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the cover 108 of FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the cover 108 of FIG. FIG. 4 also shows an in-vehicle camera 106 that is not shown in FIG. 3 but actually exists. In FIG. 3, the cover 108 is made of resin and has a bottom surface 140, two side surfaces 142, 143, a front surface 144, and a rear surface 146. The side surfaces 142, 143, the front surface 144, and the rear surface 146 are continuous with the bottom surface 140 and rise upward. Thus, the cover 108 accommodates the in-vehicle camera 106 from below. Another member may be disposed between the cover 108 and the in-vehicle camera 106. For example, a shock-absorbing bracket or the like may be placed on the bottom surface 140 of the cover 108.

  In FIG. 3, two openings 150 and 152 are formed side by side on the front surface 144 that is the front end of the cover 108. The area of the opening 150 is larger than that of the lens 122, and the lens 122 of the in-vehicle camera 106 is exposed from the opening 150 as shown in FIG. Since the opening 152 has substantially the same configuration as the opening 150, the configuration of the opening 150 will be described as a representative and the description of the opening 152 will be omitted unless particularly necessary.

  As shown in FIG. 3, elastic shades 160 and 162 are attached to the openings 150 and 152, respectively. In this embodiment, the shades 160 and 162 are made of rubber and are formed by integral molding. Since the shade 162 is substantially similar to the shade 160, only the shade 160 will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the shade 160 has a mounting portion 164 along the edge 154 of the opening 150 of the cover 108. The shade 160 is attached to the opening 150 by engaging the attachment portion 164 and the edge 154 with the attachment portion 164 sandwiching the edge 154 of the opening 150. The attachment of the shade 160 to the opening 150 is not limited to engaging the attachment portion 164 of the shade 160 with the opening 150. For example, the shade 160 may be attached to the opening 150 by adhering or fixing the shade 160 to the edge 154 of the opening 150.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the shade 160 has a lower wall 166 and two side walls 168 and 169. As shown in FIG. 4, the lower wall 166 is substantially horizontal and extends toward the windshield glass 104 from the lower side of the opening 150, that is, from the lower end 172 of the front wall 170 of the mounting portion 164. As shown in FIG. 3, the two side walls 168, 169 are substantially vertical, and windshield glass 104 (FIG. 4) from both sides in the vehicle width direction of the opening 150, that is, from both ends 174, 175 of the front wall 170 of the mounting portion 164. ) Respectively. The side walls 168 and 169 are continuous with both ends 176 and 177 in the vehicle width direction of the lower wall 166, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the front ends 180 and 181 of the two side walls 168 and 169 are inclined at a predetermined angle θ1. The predetermined angle θ1 is substantially the same as the inclination angle θ2 of the windshield glass 104 (FIG. 1). Therefore, the front ends 180 and 181 of the two side walls 168 and 169 are inclined along the windshield glass 104 (FIG. 1).

  In the present embodiment, since the shade 160 has the lower wall 166, the light C reflected by the lower wall 166 from an instrument panel (not shown) and further reflected inside the windshield glass 104 enters the lens 122. It is possible to prevent so-called reflection. In particular, in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent light from entering from the side by the two side walls 168 and 169. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of reflection more fully. As described above, the shade 160 according to the present embodiment has a simple structure including the lower wall 166 and the two side walls 168 and 169 to block part of the light entering the lens 122 and prevent the occurrence of reflection.

  In the present embodiment, the front ends 180 and 181 of the two side walls 168 and 169 are inclined along the windshield glass 104, respectively. As a result, the lower wall 166 of the shade 160 can be extended to a position substantially close to the windshield glass 104, and the light C can be more sufficiently prevented from entering the lens 122.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state of cleaning the windshield glass 104 in front of the shade 160 in FIG. 4. The shade 160 of FIG. 5 is formed of an elastic body, and the lower wall 166 can be bent. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when the windshield glass 104 in front of the shade 160 becomes dirty, the user puts a finger 186 between the shade 160 and the windshield glass 104, and the shade 160 and the windshield with a cloth 189 or the like. The glass 104 can be wiped and cleaned. Further, after wiping and cleaning, the lower wall 166 returns to its original position by elastic force. This makes it possible to provide a shade 160 that is easier to use for the user.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, since the shade 160 is made of rubber, the gloss of the surface is reduced as compared with the case where the shade is formed of resin, for example. Thereby, reflection of light can be effectively prevented with a minimum number of processing steps. The shade 160 may be formed of any material having elasticity. For example, it may be made of silicon resin.

  In FIG. 3, the surface 187 on the lens 122 (FIG. 1) side of the lower wall 166 of the shade 160 and the two side walls 168 and 169 is formed with fine irregularities 188 as shown by oblique lines in FIG. Is given. Such embossing can more fully prevent light from being reflected by the lower wall 166 and the side walls 168 and 169.

  In FIG. 4, the shade 160 further has an extension 190. The extension portion 190 is a substantially horizontal portion that extends along the bottom surface 140 of the cover 108 from the lower side of the opening 150, that is, from the lower end 192 of the rear wall 178 of the attachment portion 164 to the side opposite to the lower wall 166.

  FIG. 6 is a view of the cover 108 in FIG. In FIG. 6, the shade 160 is viewed from the inside of the vehicle. The extension 190 has two slits 193 and 194 that are long in the vehicle front-rear direction. Further, on the bottom surface 140 of the cover 108, two projecting portions 196 and 198 that are projected upward from the bottom surface 140 at positions corresponding to the respective slits 193 and 194 are formed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. As a result, the protrusions 196 and 198 are inserted and fitted into the slits 193 and 194, respectively. The slits 193 and 194 and the protrusions 196 and 198 may have any shape. For example, the slits 193 and 194 and the protrusions 196 and 198 may have a longitudinal shape in the vehicle width direction.

  Thus, the shade 160 can be firmly fixed to the cover 108 by inserting the protrusions 196 and 198 into the slits 193 and 194. Thereby, for example, it is possible to prevent the shade 160 from shifting and entering the field of view D (indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 4) of the lens 122 of the in-vehicle camera 106.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 5, when a user puts a finger 186 between the lower wall 166 of the shade 160 and the windshield glass 104 and wipes the windshield glass 104, the shade 160 has a lifting force. . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to prevent the shade 160 from being lifted up by fixing the extension 190 to the cover 108. The extension 190 and the bottom surface 140 of the cover 108 may be fixed by, for example, bonding the extension 190 and the bottom surface 140 together.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing a state in which the protrusions 196 and 198 of FIG. 6 are melted and the protrusions 196 and 198 are welded to the shade 160. In FIG. 7, protrusions 196 and 198 are melted while being inserted through and fitted into slits 193 and 194 to fix the shade 160 and the cover 108. By doing in this way, it is possible to fix the shade 160 and the cover 108 more firmly.

  In FIG. 3, the attachment portion 164 of the shade 160 is formed along the entire edge of the opening 150, and is attached along the entire edge of the opening 150. As shown in FIG. 4, the attachment portion 164 includes a front wall 170 that contacts the windshield glass 104 side of the edge 154 of the opening 150, a rear wall 178 that contacts the vehicle-mounted camera 106 side of the edge 154 of the opening 150, and a front wall 170 and a lateral wall 179 connecting the rear wall 178. The attachment portion 164 is engaged with the edge 154 of the opening 150 by surrounding the edge 154 of the opening 150 in a U-shape with the front wall 170, the lateral wall 179, and the rear wall 178. The opening 150 side of the horizontal wall 179 is inclined toward the windshield glass 104 at a predetermined angle θ <b> 3 so that the opening 150 expands from the in-vehicle camera 106 side toward the windshield glass 104 side. The inclination angle θ3 is set such that the opening 150 is wider than the field of view D of the in-vehicle camera 106 as the opening 150 extends from the in-vehicle camera 106 side to the windshield glass 104 side.

  By inclining the opening side of the lateral wall 179 in this manner, it is possible to prevent the attachment portion 164 of the shade 160 from entering the field of view D of the in-vehicle camera 106 while securing the thickness of the shade 160. As described above, the shade 160 is elastically deformed to facilitate the wiping and cleaning of the windshield glass 104 in front of the shade 160. On the other hand, it is necessary for the shade 160 to maintain its shape during normal times, that is, it preferably has a predetermined thickness. However, as the thickness of the shade 160 is increased, the shape of the shade 160 is maintained, but the attachment portion 164 of the shade 160 may enter the field of view D of the in-vehicle camera 106. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the opening 150 side of the lateral wall 179 in the mounting portion 164 is inclined so that the opening 150 is widened from the in-vehicle camera 106 side to the windshield glass 104 side. Accordingly, a desired thickness is given to the shade 160 other than the mounting portion 164 to maintain the shape, and the thickness of the mounting portion 164 can be reduced, so that the mounting portion 164 enters the field of view D of the in-vehicle camera 106. It is possible to prevent.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, embodiment described above is a preferable example of this invention. Thus, other embodiments may be implemented or performed in various ways. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the detailed shape, size, configuration, and the like of the components shown in the accompanying drawings unless otherwise specified in the present specification. In addition, expressions and terms used in the present specification are for the purpose of explanation, and are not limited thereto unless otherwise specified.

  Therefore, it is obvious for those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be conceived within the scope of the claims, and these naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for an in-vehicle camera cover structure that includes a lens that has a lens that faces a windshield glass of a vehicle and includes a cover that accommodates the in-vehicle camera attached to the top surface of the vehicle interior.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Cover structure for vehicle-mounted cameras, 102 ... Vehicle, 104 ... Windshield glass, 106 ... Vehicle-mounted camera, 108 ... Cover, 112 ... Top surface, 116 ... Upper surface of vehicle-mounted camera, 118, 120 ... Camera, 122, 124 ... Lens , 128 ... room mirror, 140 ... bottom face of the cover, 142, 143 ... side face of the cover, 144 ... front face of the cover, 146 ... rear face of the cover, 150, 152 ... opening, 154 ... edge of the opening, 160, 162 ... shade, 164 ... Mounting portion, 166 ... Shade lower wall, 168, 169 ... Shade side wall, 170 ... Front wall of mounting portion, 172 ... Lower end of front wall, 174, 175 ... Both ends of front wall, 176, 177 ... Lower wall 178: rear wall of the mounting portion, 179 ... lateral wall of the mounting portion, 180, 181 ... front end of the side wall, 186 ... user's finger, 187 ... The plane of the figure side, 188 ... unevenness, 189 ... fabric, 190 ... extension, 192 ... rear wall of the lower end, 193, 194 ... slits, 196, 198 ... protrusion,

Claims (5)

In the in-vehicle camera cover structure including a cover for housing the in-vehicle camera that has a lens facing the windshield glass of the vehicle and is attached to the top surface of the vehicle interior, the in-vehicle camera cover structure further includes:
An opening formed at a front end of the cover and exposing the lens;
An elastic shade that is attached to the opening and shields part of the light entering the lens;
The shade is
A substantially horizontal lower wall extending from the lower side of the opening toward the windshield glass;
Two substantially vertical side walls extending from both sides of the opening in the vehicle width direction toward the windshield glass, and two side walls continuous to both ends of the lower wall in the vehicle width direction,
A vehicle camera cover structure, wherein front ends of the two side walls are inclined along the windshield glass.   The in-vehicle camera cover structure according to claim 1, wherein fine irregularities are formed on the lens-side surfaces of the lower wall and the two side walls. The shade is further
A substantially horizontal extension extending along the cover from the lower side of the opening to the opposite side of the lower wall;
A slit formed in the extension,
The in-vehicle camera cover structure according to claim 1, wherein the cover has a protruding portion that protrudes upward and is fitted into the slit.   The in-vehicle camera cover structure according to claim 3, wherein the shade and the cover are fixed by welding the protrusion to the shade. The shade further includes an attachment portion attached along an edge of the opening;
The in-vehicle camera cover structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the attachment portion is inclined so that the opening is widened from the in-vehicle camera side toward the windshield glass side. .

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