JP3033389B2 - Vehicle image display device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display apparatus for a vehicle, which can change a field of view of a camera by rotating a camera unit rotatably attached to a front end portion of a hood of a vehicle as required. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When approaching an intersection with poor visibility, a pair of CCDs for capturing images in the left and right directions on a bumper of a vehicle in order to minimize the amount of heading of the vehicle and to confirm left and right safety. An image display device for a vehicle in which a camera (shown in FIG. 7) is installed has already been filed by the applicant (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-40965).

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 11 denotes a bumper of a vehicle, and a pair of CCD cameras 13a and 13b are fixed to the center of a protruding upper surface 12 of the bumper 11 so that the lens surfaces face 45 degrees forward. .

The images captured by the CCD cameras 13a and 13b are displayed on a display (not shown) provided in the vehicle interior, and are used for confirming safety on the left and right when the vehicle enters an intersection with poor visibility. I have.

[0005]

By the way, a pair of CCs
Since the D cameras 13a and 13b are fixed to the bumper 11, the field of view of the CCD camera 13a is
The field of view of the camera 13b was the area 21b.

When a vehicle equipped with a pair of CCD cameras 13a and 13b having such a field of view is driven into a T-shaped intersection with poor visibility as shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle is controlled by the field of view of the CCD cameras 13a and 13b. By displaying certain areas 21a and 21b on the display, the left and right safety can be surely confirmed.

However, as shown in FIG. 10, a vehicle is moved from a branch line 32 which intersects the main line 31 at an acute angle.
Before entering the vehicle, the vehicle stops temporarily and the CCD camera 13a, 1
Even if the left and right images are displayed on the display by 3b,
Since the displayed areas are 33a and 33b, it was not possible to display the image of the area indicated by the broken line 34 necessary for safety confirmation.

For this reason, when entering the main line 31 from the branch line 32 of the road as shown in FIG. 10, it is necessary to increase the cue amount of the vehicle and to confirm the safety in the area shown by the broken line 34. The work was troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a required left and right safety check by minimizing a cue amount of a vehicle regardless of the shape of a road with poor visibility. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular image display device.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An image display for a vehicle according to the present invention.
The apparatus includes: a first imaging unit that captures an image of the right side of the vehicle;
The second imaging means for capturing the image of the left side of the vehicle is integrated with the second imaging means.
Camera unit to the end of the hood of the vehicle.
Actuators can be used to capture left and right images
The first and second imaging means.
Display left and right images captured by the display means
Together with the turtle made by the actuator
The rotation of the roller unit is controlled by a controller.

[0011]

[Function] A camera unit is attached to the tip of the hood of the vehicle.
Since the camera unit is rotatably provided by the actuator , the camera unit is rotated to obtain a necessary field of view. For this reason, it is possible to take a safety check of the left and right even in a bad road shape of any prospect is needed to head out of the vehicle in the minimum.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image display device for a vehicle, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the vehicle showing the installation location of the camera unit, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the installation of the camera unit, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 41 denotes a CCD camera unit. The CCD camera unit 41 includes a pair of CCD cameras 42a and 42b. CCD
42a and 42b are installed so that their optical axes are orthogonal to each other, and each lens surface is in the right 45 ° direction and the left 4
5 degrees (here, the CCD camera 42 when the CCD camera unit 41 is facing the front of the vehicle)
The fields of view a and 42b are shown as areas A and B in FIG. 2, respectively).

The video signals picked up by the CCD cameras 42a and 42b are output to CCD camera controllers 43a and 43b, respectively. Monitors 44a and 44b are connected to the CCD camera controllers 43a and 43b via signal lines a and b, respectively, and the monitors 44 are controlled by the CCD camera controllers 43a and 43b.
A video around the vehicle is displayed on a and 44b. In addition,
The monitors 44a and 44b are installed on the right and left sides of an instrument panel (not shown), respectively.

As will be described later, the CCD camera unit 41 is mounted on the hood so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction.
5 is performed. The actuator 45 has a built-in motor, and the rotation of the rotating shaft 46 of the motor is transmitted as the amount of horizontal rotation of the CCD camera unit 41.
A camera driving controller 47 is connected to the actuator 45 via control lines c and d. The amount of rotation of the actuator 45 in the horizontal direction is controlled by a signal via the control lines c and d. You.

The controller 47 has a rotary switch 4 for designating the direction of rotation of the CCD camera unit 41.
An operation signal from the control switch 8 is input (the rotary switch has a neutral position, a left rotation position, and a right rotation position). Further, a vehicle speed pulse detected by a vehicle speed sensor 49 is input to the controller 47,
Steering wheel detected by steering wheel angle sensor 50
Steering angle is input. The controller 47 is composed of a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits. The controller 47 outputs a control signal to the actuator 45 in response to an operation signal of the rotary switch 48, and outputs a control signal in the direction designated by the rotary switch 48. It has a control function of rotating the CCD camera unit 41, determines the vehicle speed pulse detected by the vehicle speed sensor 49, and uses the steering wheel angle sensor 50 to determine whether the vehicle is in a stopped state. At least a control function is provided for outputting a control signal to the actuator 45 in order to rotate the CCD camera unit 41 in conjunction with the rotation direction when the rotation is detected.

As shown in FIG. 3, the CCD camera unit 41 is rotatably attached to the tip of the hood 51 of the vehicle. This CCD camera unit 4
The mounting structure 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. FIG.
, 61 is an engine hood, 62 is a hood 5
1 shows the tip portion. A through hole 63 is drilled near the distal end 62 of the bonnet 51, and a base plate 64 is fixed to the back surface of the distal end 62 where the through hole 63 is drilled. The base plate 64 has a through hole 65 at a position corresponding to the through hole 63 described above. The through hole 63 and the through hole 63 formed at the distal end 62 are connected to the actuator 45. The rotating shaft 45a penetrates,
It is taken out above the tip part 62.

A transmission mechanism (not shown) for transmitting the rotation of the rotation shaft 45a to the horizontal rotation of the CCD camera unit 41 is built in the CCD camera unit 41. Note that the CCD camera unit 41 is attached to the tip portion 62 of the bonnet 51 so as to be rotatable with respect to the tip portion 62 at a distance from the surface of the tip portion 62.

Further, the base plate 64 has a base on the back surface.
One end of a bellows 66 is fixed so as to cover the periphery of the plate 64. Inside the bellows 66, there is a CCD camera 4
2a, 42b and CCD camera controllers 43a, 43
b and signal lines a and b, respectively, and control lines c and d for connecting the actuator 45 and the controller 47.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described. First, rotation switch 4
8 is in the neutral position, the CCD camera unit 4
The field of view of the CCD cameras 42a and 42b mounted on the camera 1 is the area A and B in FIG. As described above, the field of view in which the rotary switch 48 is in the neutral position is effective in protruding the front end of the vehicle and checking the safety in the left-right direction when the vehicle enters a perpendicular T-shaped road as shown in FIG. That is, the right or left images picked up by the CCD cameras 42a and 42b are sent to the CCD camera controllers 43a and 43b, respectively. Under the control of the controllers 43a and 43b, the right and left images in front of the vehicle are displayed on the monitor 44a. , 44b
Respectively.

By the way, as shown in FIG.
The case where the branch line 72 is connected to 1 at an acute angle Θ and the vehicle enters the main line 71 from the side of the branch line 72 with poor visibility will be described. In this case, if the rotary switch 48 remains in the neutral position, the CCD camera 42a,
In the case of 42b, the images on the right and left sides in front of the vehicle in the areas A and B are only displayed on the monitors 44a and 44b. In this state, safety confirmation cannot be performed for the vehicles on the right and left sides of the main line 71.

Then, the rotation switch 48 is operated to the right rotation position. The operation of the rotation switch 48 is detected by the controller 47, and the controller 47 outputs a right rotation signal to the actuator 45 via the control lines c and d. As a result, the motor built in the actuator 45 rotates, and the rotation rotates the rotation shaft 46, thereby rotating the CCD camera unit 41 rightward. Therefore, the field of view of the CCD cameras 42a and 42b changes to the areas A 'and B', and the images of the areas A 'and B' are displayed and output on the monitors 44a and 44b. For this reason, under the road conditions shown in FIG.
When entering the vehicle, the vehicle can be made to cue, and the safety on the left and right can be reliably confirmed.

The above operation has been described with respect to an example in which the driver directly operates the rotation switch 48 to rotate the CCD camera unit 41. However, the CCD camera unit 41 may be automatically rotated. That is, under the road condition shown in FIG. 5, the controller 47 detects the head slightly from the branch line 72 and stops, and then slightly rotates the steering wheel. To the right. Therefore, the images of the areas A 'and B' are automatically displayed on the monitors 44a and 44b.

In the above embodiment, the CCD cameras 42a and 42b are installed in the CCD camera unit 41 so that the optical axes thereof are orthogonal to each other.
As the size of the D camera unit 41 increases, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the CCD cameras 44a and 44b are set in parallel in the CCD camera unit 41,
a and 44b are converted into prisms 81a and 81b, respectively.
You may make it input via b.

In the above embodiment, the CCD camera unit 41 is always protruded from the front end of the hood.
The hood has a recess for accommodating the CCD camera unit 41, and the CCD camera unit 4
The CCD camera unit 41 is made to protrude from the hood by an actuator that gives up and down motion to the
The D camera unit 41 may be stored in the recess.

[0026]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the camera unit is rotatably attached to the front end of the bonnet, and the camera unit is rotated as required, so that any road with poor visibility can be used. It is possible to provide a vehicular image display device capable of confirming required left and right safety while minimizing a cue amount of a vehicle even in a shape.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the field of view of the CCD camera by oblique lines.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the vehicle showing an installation location of the camera unit.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing how the camera unit is attached.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an installation place of a conventional CCD camera.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a field of view of a conventional CCD camera.

FIG. 9 is a view showing the field of view of a conventional CCD camera when the head is located at a T-shaped intersection.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a field of view when entering a main line from a branch line that intersects the main line at an acute angle.

[Explanation of symbols]

41: CCD camera unit, 42a, 42b: CCD
Cameras 43a, 43b ... CCD camera controller,
44a, 44b monitor, 45 actuator, 46
... Rotating axis, 47 ... Controller for driving camera, 48 ... Rotation switch, 49 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 50 ... Handle angle sensor.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tetsushi Omuro 5-33-8 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (72) Inventor Tadao Tanaka 5-33-8 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Mitsubishi Motors (56) References JP-A-3-239642 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 1/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first imaging hand for capturing an image of a right side of a vehicle.
The step and the second image pickup means for picking up an image of the left side of the vehicle.
The camera unit to the front end of the hood
Enables capturing images in the left and right direction of the vehicle and activates
The left and right images taken by the first and second image pickup means are provided rotatably by a heater.
An image is displayed by a display means, and
Control the rotation of the camera unit
An image display device for a vehicle, which is controlled by a roller .