JP2022157942A - electronic mirror system - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable a driver to check the rear after power of an electronic mirror system is turned off.SOLUTION: An electronic mirror system 1 includes: an imaging part 3 which is attached to a protruding body 20 protruding in a vehicle width direction relative to a side surface of a vehicle and captures images of the rear; a control unit which causes a display part to display the images captured by the imaging part 3; a rotation mechanism 27 which rotates the protruding body 20 to a storage position to store the protruding body 20 located at the imaging position, where the imaging part 3 captures the images of the rear, when the system is powered off; and a mirror surface part 25 which is attached to the protruding body 20 so as to face the rear when the protruding body 20 is located in the storage position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to electronic mirror systems.

In recent years, instead of side mirrors, an electronic mirror system has been proposed in which an image pickup unit picks up an image of the rear of the vehicle and displays the picked-up image on a display unit inside the vehicle (see Patent Document 1 below).

JP 2020-19351 A

Since the electronic mirror system uses an electronic device, the captured image is not displayed on the display unit when the power of the system is turned off. Therefore, when the driver gets out of the vehicle, the system power is off, making it difficult for the driver to check behind.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to enable the driver to check the rear even after the power of the electronic mirror system is turned off.

In one aspect of the present invention, an imaging unit that is attached to a projecting body projecting in a vehicle width direction from a side surface of a vehicle and captures an image of the rear, and control for displaying an image captured by the imaging unit on a display unit. a rotating mechanism for rotating the projecting body to a retracted position in order to store the projecting body positioned at an imaging position where the imaging unit captures an image of the rear when the system is powered off; and a mirror surface part attached to the projecting body so as to face rearward when positioned at the retracted position.

Also, the direction in which the mirror face portion faces may intersect the direction in which the imaging portion faces.

Further, when the projecting body is positioned at the imaging position, the mirror portion may face downward.

Further, the control unit rotates the projecting body to the retracted position by the rotation mechanism in conjunction with detection of the power off by the detection unit. It is also possible to let

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it is effective in the driver|operator being able to check behind even after the power supply of an electronic mirror system is turned off.

1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of an electronic mirror system 1 according to one embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining mounting positions of imaging units 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of a projecting body 20; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of a projecting body 20;

<Configuration of electronic mirror system>
A configuration of an electronic mirror system according to one embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of an electronic mirror system 1 according to one embodiment. The electronic mirror system 1 is mounted on a vehicle and used as a substitute for side mirrors. The electronic mirror system 1 captures an image of the rear of the vehicle and displays the captured image on the display unit. As a result, the driver of the vehicle can check the rear of the vehicle, which is a blind spot, while driving, for example. The electronic mirror system 1 has a plurality of imaging units 3 and 4, a plurality of display units 5 and 6, a detection unit 8, and a control device 10, as shown in FIG.

The imaging units 3 and 4 are provided on both sides of the vehicle and capture images of the rear of the vehicle. The imaging units 3 and 4 are, for example, wide-angle cameras and include imaging elements. The imaging units 3 and 4 output captured images to the control device 10 .

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the mounting positions of the imaging units 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. The imaging unit 3 is attached to the left side surface of the vehicle 100 as shown in FIG. 2 and images the left rear of the vehicle 100 . Specifically, the imaging unit 3 is attached to a protrusion 20 that protrudes from the left side surface of the vehicle 100 in the vehicle width direction. The imaging unit 4 is attached to the right side surface of the vehicle 100 and images the right rear of the vehicle 100 . Specifically, the imaging unit 4 is attached to a protrusion 30 that protrudes from the right side surface of the vehicle 100 in the vehicle width direction. The detailed configuration of the projecting bodies 20 and 30 will be described later.

The display units 5 and 6 are provided inside the vehicle and display the captured images captured by the imaging units 3 and 4 . For example, the display unit 5 displays an image captured by the imaging unit 3 and the display unit 6 displays an image captured by the imaging unit 4 . The display units 5 and 6 are liquid crystal displays, for example. The display unit 5 is arranged near the imaging unit 3 in the vehicle, and the display unit 6 is arranged near the imaging unit 4 .

A detector 8 detects the state of the electronic mirror system 1 . For example, the detection unit 8 detects power-off and power-on of the electronic mirror system 1 . In a vehicle equipped with the electronic mirror system 1, the power of the electronic mirror system 1 is turned off after a predetermined period of time after the engine is turned off. The detection unit 8 outputs the detection result to the control device 10 .

A control device 10 controls the operation of the electronic mirror system 1 . That is, the control device 10 causes the imaging units 3 and 4 to perform imaging, and causes the display units 5 and 6 to display the captured images. The control device 10 has a storage section 12 and a control section 14 .

The storage unit 12 includes, for example, ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage unit 12 stores programs and various data for the control unit 14 to execute.

The control unit 14 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 14 controls operations of the electronic mirror system 1 by executing programs stored in the storage unit 12 . For example, the control unit 14 causes the display units 5 and 6 to display captured images captured by the imaging units 3 and 4 .

By the way, since the electronic mirror system 1 uses electronic devices such as the imaging units 3 and 4 and the display units 5 and 6, the captured images are not displayed on the display units 5 and 6 when the power of the system is turned off. Therefore, when the driver gets out of the vehicle, the system power is off, making it difficult for the driver to check behind.
On the other hand, in this embodiment, although the details will be described later, the projecting bodies 20 and 30 are provided with a mirror surface portion in addition to the imaging units 3 and 4, and when the power of the system is turned off, the mirror surface portion moves backward. The protrusions 20 and 30 can be rotated so as to face the . As a result, even when the system power is turned off and the captured images are not displayed on the display units 5 and 6, the driver of the vehicle can easily navigate behind the vehicle by looking at the image reflected on the rear-facing mirror surface. You can get out of the vehicle safely.

<Detailed configuration of projecting body>
A detailed configuration of the protrusions 20 and 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. Since the projecting bodies 20 and 30 have the same configuration, the projecting body 20 to which the imaging section 3 is attached will be described below as an example.

3 and 4 are schematic diagrams for explaining the configuration of the projecting body 20. FIG. FIG. 3 shows the protrusion 20 positioned in the imaging position, and FIG. 4 shows the protrusion 20 positioned in the retracted position. The projecting body 20 is arranged at a position where a vehicle mirror is installed. The projecting body 20 has a housing 22, a mirror portion 25, and a rotating mechanism 27, as shown in FIG.

The housing 22 is a portion forming the skeleton of the projecting body 20, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape here. An imaging unit 3 is arranged inside the housing 22 . The housing 22 is rotatable between the imaging position shown in FIG. 3 and the storage position shown in FIG. The housing 22 is positioned at the retracted position by rotating so as to flip up from the imaging position.

The imaging position shown in FIG. 3 is a position where the imaging unit 3 images the rear. At the imaging position, the rear surface 23a of the housing 22 is parallel to the vertical direction. An opening is formed in the rear surface 23a so that the imaging unit 3 can image the rear. The retracted position shown in FIG. 4 is a position in which the projecting body 20 is retracted. At the retracted position, the projecting body 20 projects less from the side of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the housing 22 is positioned at the imaging position when the power of the electronic mirror system 1 is on, and is positioned at the storage position when the power of the electronic mirror system 1 is off. .

The mirror surface portion 25 is formed in a flat plate shape. The mirror surface portion 25 is attached to a position different from the attachment position of the imaging portion 3 on the projecting body 20 . Specifically, the mirror surface portion 25 is attached to the bottom surface 23b of the housing 22, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the direction in which the mirror surface portion 25 faces intersects the direction in which the imaging portion 3 faces. Here, the direction in which the mirror surface portion 25 faces is orthogonal to the direction in which the imaging portion 3 faces.

When the projecting body 20 is positioned at the imaging position (FIG. 3), the imaging section 3 faces the rear of the vehicle, and the mirror surface section 25 faces downward. When the mirror surface portion 25 faces downward, even if light is incident on the mirror surface portion 25, it is reflected on the road surface, so that the reflected light can be prevented from adversely affecting surrounding vehicles, pedestrians, and the like.
On the other hand, when the projecting body 20 is positioned at the retracted position (FIG. 4), the mirror surface portion 25 faces the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, when the projecting body 20 is positioned at the retracted position, the situation behind the vehicle is reflected on the mirror surface portion 25 . Therefore, the driver of the vehicle can check the rear of the vehicle by looking at the mirror surface portion 25 when the projecting body 20 is positioned at the retracted position.

The mirror surface portion 25 is provided over substantially the entire area of the bottom surface 23b here. In this case, since the mirror surface portion 25 having a large area can be arranged, a wide range behind the vehicle can be confirmed by the mirror surface portion 25 when the projecting body 20 is positioned at the second position. In addition, it is not limited to the above, and the mirror surface portion 25 may be provided in a partial area of the bottom surface 23b.

The rotating mechanism 27 rotates the protruding body 20 positioned at the image capturing position where the image capturing unit 3 captures an image of the rear to the retracted position. Specifically, the rotation mechanism 27 rotates the protrusion 20 from the imaging position to the storage position when the system is powered off. Therefore, when the power of the system is turned off, the driver of the vehicle can immediately check the rear with the mirror surface portion 25 . Note that the rotating mechanism 27 rotates the projecting body 20 from the storage position to the imaging position when the power of the system is turned on.

The rotating mechanism 27 has, for example, a motor, and rotates the projecting body 20 by driving the motor. The rotating mechanism 27 retracts the projecting body 20 so as to flip up the projecting body 20, for example. As an example, the rotating mechanism 27 has a rotating shaft provided in a direction that intersects the vertical direction, and the projecting body 20 rotates about the rotating shaft so as to flip up. The configuration of the rotating mechanism 27 is not limited to the above, and may be another configuration.

The control unit 14 of the control device 10 controls rotation of the projecting body 20 by the rotation mechanism 27 . For example, the control unit 14 causes the rotation mechanism 27 to rotate the projecting body 20 to the retracted position in conjunction with detection of power-off by the detection unit 8 . At this time, the controller 14 also rotates the projecting body 30 to the retracted position. Thus, when the system is powered off, the protrusions 20, 30 automatically pivot from the imaging position to the retracted position.

<Effects of this embodiment>
The electronic mirror system 1 of the above-described embodiment includes a rotating mechanism 27 that rotates the projecting body 20 to the retracted position when the power of the system is turned off, and a rotating mechanism 27 that projects backward when the projecting body 20 is positioned at the retracted position. and a mirrored portion 25 attached to the body 20 .
As a result, when the electronic mirror system 1 is powered off and the protruding body 20 is positioned at the retracted position, the mirror surface portion 25 faces rearward. Therefore, even if the electronic mirror system 1 is turned off and the image picked up by the imaging unit 3 is not displayed on the display unit 5, the driver can easily see behind the vehicle by looking at the image reflected on the mirror surface unit 25. can be confirmed. As a result, the driver can exit the vehicle safely.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist thereof. be. For example, all or part of the device can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in arbitrary units. In addition, new embodiments resulting from arbitrary combinations of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment caused by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment.

1 electronic mirror system 3, 4 imaging unit 5, 6 display unit 8 detection unit 14 control unit 20 projecting body 25 mirror surface unit 27 rotation mechanism

Claims (4)

an imaging unit attached to a projecting body projecting in the vehicle width direction from the side surface of the vehicle and capturing an image of the rear;
a control unit for displaying a captured image captured by the imaging unit on a display unit;
a rotation mechanism that rotates the projecting body to a retracted position in order to store the projecting body positioned at an imaging position where the imaging unit captures an image of the rear when the system is powered off;
a mirror portion attached to the projecting body so as to face rearward when the projecting body is positioned at the retracted position;
an electronic mirror system. The direction in which the mirror face portion faces intersects the direction in which the imaging portion faces,
The electronic mirror system of claim 1. When the projecting body is positioned at the imaging position, the mirror face faces downward.
The electronic mirror system of claim 1. Further comprising a detection unit for detecting power off of the system,
The control unit causes the rotation mechanism to rotate the projecting body to the retracted position in conjunction with detection of the power off by the detection unit.
The electronic mirror system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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