JP3453253B2 - Multi-directional imaging camera device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multidirectional image pickup camera device for picking up multiple directions such as left and right directions outside a vehicle, and more particularly to a multidirectional image pickup camera device capable of picking up multiple directions at once by one camera. Related to the improvement of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when an automobile is approaching an intersection, it is necessary to confirm the safety by recognizing the presence of another vehicle regardless of the presence of a traffic light. However, in places with poor visibility,
It was difficult to check the road conditions on the left and right. Therefore, a multidirectional imaging camera device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-109447 has been proposed. This known device is provided with a case C, a cover D, a mirror E, a lens F, a lens mount G, a substrate H, and windows I and J as shown in FIG. Ray L from
Is reflected by a mirror E, the reflected light is received by a lens F, and an image is formed on a CCD element M on a substrate H. As a result, this multi-directional image pickup camera device has a right and left angle θ1 of the automobile. , Θ2 are imaged.

However, the above structure has a problem that an illusion occurs even though no light is actually incident. A state in which this illusion occurs will be described with reference to FIG. 7. For example, at night, a light ray L from a light source N such as a headlight of another vehicle in the left direction passes through a window I on the left side and a mirror E.
When the light ray L is incident on the top K of the mirror, the light ray L is reflected by the mirror E, the reflected light ray is received by the lens F, and an image is formed on the CCD element M. As a result, the image of the light source N is displayed in the left image a as shown in FIG. At this time, if there is no light source in the right direction, nothing should be originally displayed in the right image b shown in the figure, but the strong light ray L of the light source N incident through the left window I is reflected by the mirror E. When it is incident on the top K of the image, it is also displayed as a illusion in the right image b as shown in the figure. This is because due to the nature of the CCD element, when a particular pixel is irradiated with strong light, the charge of that pixel overflows into the surrounding pixels, and an image as if light was incident on the surrounding pixels can be obtained. In the above case, in the CCD element M to which the reflected light of the light ray L is incident, the charge of the pixel at the left image a position corresponding to the reflected light position at the top of the mirror E overflows, and the adjacent right image b position It is thought that this is due to the influence on the pixels of.

When the top of the mirror E is rounded due to a processing problem, if light is incident on this top,
Since light is diffracted here, left and right images overlap each other in the central portion of the image, resulting in a double image as shown in FIG.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and a first object thereof is to prevent an illusion caused by overflow of light, and a second object is to prevent double copying. It was done.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 arranges a mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces in front of a lens in a case, and allows light to enter through a window formed in the case. In a multidirectional imaging camera device in which light rays from a plurality of directions reflected by a mirror are received by a lens and formed into an image on an image sensor, a lens mount that supports the lens is provided, and a light that connects the center of the lens and the top of the mirror is provided. The light shield that blocks the incident light outside the axis reflected by the mirror of the axis is formed integrally with the lens mount, and the light shield
At the optical axis mirror that connects the center of the lens to the top of the mirror.
The light shield is formed on the top of the mirror by projecting inward from the reflection optical axis.
Since the reflection is prevented, the diffraction phenomenon at the top of the mirror is prevented, whereby the overflow of light based on the reflected light at the top of the mirror can be prevented, and the illusion is prevented from being reflected on the surface having no incident light.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the light-shielding portion formed on the lens mount has a surface parallel to the reflection optical axis of the mirror of the optical axis connecting the lens center and the mirror top. It has a feature.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, the light shielding surface is
It is characterized by being extended to near the window of the case.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lens mount.
In addition, a holding portion for the mirror is formed .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lens mount.
In addition, it is characterized in that a shielding portion that shields the line of sight from the window is formed.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, 1 is one case,
2 is the other case, 3 is a mirror, 4 is a lens, 5 is a lens mount, 6 is a substrate, 7 is an image sensor, 8 is a filter,
9 is a vibration-proof rubber, 10 is a packing, and 11 is a spacer.

[0012] First one case 1 are those formed by opaque member, forming a predetermined storage box in combination with the other of the case 2. A packing 10 is attached to the joint surface of the two cases 1 and 2 to ensure watertightness.

The other case 2 has left and right windows 21,2.
The other parts except 2 are opaque. For example, the left and right windows 21 and 22 formed of transparent acrylic resin may be formed by insert molding in a non-translucent member, or after the other case 2 is formed of transparent acrylic resin, the left and right windows 21 and 22 may be formed. It is formed by using an appropriate means such as applying black coating to the other portions except the above.

The mirror 3 has a V-shaped cross section,
After molding with synthetic resin, aluminum vapor deposition is applied to the two reflecting surfaces 31 and 32 to form mirror surfaces. These two reflective surfaces 31,
A ridge line 33 extending vertically is present at the apex of the space 32. Further, rectangular projections 36, 3 engaging with a lens mount 5 described later are provided at the center of the rear portions of the upper and lower surfaces 34, 34 of the mirror 3.
6 is projected.

The lens 4 is a reflection surface 3 of the mirror 3.
The light rays reflected by 1 and 32 are condensed, and the focal point thereof is set on the surface of the image sensor 7 described later. The lens 4 is mounted on the substrate 6 on which the image pickup device 7 is mounted by using a lens mount 5 described later.

The lens mount 5 has the lens 4 fitted therein, a filter 8 for blocking light having a wavelength other than visible light, and a lens holding portion 51 for holding the spacer 11, and the upper and lower sides of the lens 4. Thus, the mirror holding portions 52, 52 are extended, and the mirror holding portions 52, 52 are formed with rectangular notches 53, 53 at the tips. The rectangular protrusions 3 of the mirror 3 are formed in the rectangular notches 53, 53.
6, 36 are engaged to position and hold the mirror 3. In addition, the light-shielding portion 5 is provided from both sides of the lens 4 of the lens mount 5.
4 is integrally molded. The light shielding portion 54 is formed such that the surface 54a is located on the reflection optical axis Lr of the mirror 3 of the optical axis Lc connecting the center of the lens 4 and the top of the mirror 3, and the tip end thereof is located on the left and right sides of the other case 2. The windows 21 and 22 extend to the vicinity of the rear edges.

Further , the substrate 6 connects the five plate-like portions 61 to 65 via a flexible connecting portion so that the substrate 6 can be folded, and in addition to the lens mount 5 supporting the lens 4, the image pickup device 7 is also provided. Is mounted and is configured to be electrically connectable to an AV device (not shown) in the vehicle compartment. A box-shaped vibration-proof rubber 9 is attached between the substrate 6 and the case 2,
The substrate 6 is elastically supported.

The image pickup device 7 is a device for converting the light imaged on the surface of the device into an electric image signal, and a CCD device is adopted in this embodiment.

The multi-directional imaging camera device of the above configured in this manner the first embodiment, the front of the automobile, for example, is attached near the bumper, and set toward the light receiving direction of the lens 4 to the rear of the vehicle, the left The reflecting surface 31 is directed to the left of the vehicle, and the reflecting surface 32 on the right is directed to the right. In this way, when the light receiving direction of the lens 4 is set to the rear of the automobile, the image formed on the surface of the image pickup device 7 and the image displayed on the AV device are images that are not horizontally reversed, that is, images that are visually observed. , Visibility is excellent.

[0020] Next will be described the operation of the first embodiment.
For example, at night, as shown in FIG. 1, a light ray L from a light source N such as a headlight of another vehicle in the left direction is transmitted from a window 2 on the left side.
When the light ray L enters through the lens 1, the light ray L is reflected by the reflection surface 31 on the left side of the mirror 3, and the reflected light ray is received by the lens 4 and is focused on the image pickup element. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, a half image of the light source N, that is, the headlight is displayed in the left image a. At this time, since there is no light source in the right direction, nothing is projected on the right side.

Further , the lens 4 receives light rays from the range indicated by the angle θ1 on the left side and the angle θ2 on the right side through the respective reflection surfaces 31 and 32 of the mirror 3, and the surface of the image pickup device 7 is shown in FIG. As shown in, the left image a from the angle θ1 on the left side and the right image b from the angle θ2 on the right side are imaged. Further, since the light shielding portion 54 integrally formed with the lens mount 5 is formed so that the surface 54a is located on the reflection optical axis Lr of the mirror 3 of the optical axis Lc connecting the center of the lens 4 and the top of the mirror 3. Even when light is incident on the top of the mirror 3 from only one of the left and right windows 21 and 22, the light from the back side of the light shielding portion 54 is blocked and does not reach the top of the mirror 3, and the amount of incident light is reduced accordingly. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the generation of an illusion due to the overflow of charges due to the light reflected on the top of the mirror 3.

Further , the light shielding portion 54 in this embodiment is
The window 21 formed in the case 2 from the tip of the lens holding portion 51,
22 as a plane extending toward
Since the positional relationship with the optical axis Lr is determined by “a”, when the lens mount 5 is molded by resin, sagging is likely to occur like a corner portion and the molding precision is poor, and thus positioning is not difficult. The light L incident on the top of the mirror 3 can be limited.

Next, FIG. 4, a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 will be described. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the lens mount and the mirror including the light shielding portion. That is, the lens mount 150 according to the present embodiment is the same in that the lens 4 is fitted therein and the filter 8 and the spacer 11 are provided inside, but the light shield 154 is provided at the base 157 of the lens mount 150.
Extends in the axial direction of the lens 4 and has its tip surface 154a.
Is an optical axis Lc connecting the center of the lens 4 and the top of the mirror 130.
The mirror 130 side from the reflection optical axis Lr of the mirror 130,
That is, it is formed so as to project inside the imaging range and parallel to the reflected light axis Lr. Further, in the present embodiment, the mirror holding portions 152, 152 are extended from above and below the lens holding portion 151, and the holding portions 152 are formed with notches 153, 153 from the front end on the left and right, and at the center portion. A tongue piece 155 having flexibility is formed, and this tongue piece 1 is formed.
55 is provided with a hole 156 with which a locking claw 138 of the mirror 130 described later is engaged. 157 is the notch 15
3, 153 and a tongue piece 155, which are positioning bosses that protrude from between the tongue piece 155 and come into contact with the inner surface of the case 2. Further, reference numeral 158 denotes the window 2 at a portion from the light shielding portion 154 to the mirror 130.
The shields are integrally formed with the lens mount 150 so as to be located inside the upper and lower edges of the windows 1 and 22, and the substrates 6 and other internal components in the cases 1 and 2 cannot be seen from the outside of the windows 21 and 22. This is a blind member.

The mirror 130 is basically the same as that in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, two positioning protrusions parallel to the optical axis of the lens 4 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces 134 and 134 of the mirror 130, respectively. Article 136, 136, 136, 1
36, and a locking claw 138 for locking the lens 4 mount in the center,
138 are formed.

Reference numeral 100 denotes a partitioning member, which is for optically blocking between the two reflecting surfaces 131 and 132 of the mirror 130 to prevent light rays from going around and preventing illusion from occurring. It is provided on the lens mount 150 between the ridgeline 133 and the lens 4. That is, the partition member 100 is a cylindrical base portion 101 fitted around the lens holding portion 151 of the lens mount 150.
Is located between the lens 4 and the mirror 130, and the ridge line 13
3 and a partition plate portion 102 extending along the lens optical axis. Therefore, the light ray L incident from the left window 21
1 is a light ray L which is reflected only by the left reflecting surface 131, is reflected by the inner surface of the right window 22 and is reflected by the right reflecting surface 132.
2 is blocked by the partition plate portion 102. Similarly, a light ray incident from the right window 22 is reflected only by the right reflection surface 132, is not reflected by the inner surface of the left window 21 and does not go around to the left reflection surface 131.

In the second embodiment, the lens mount 15
The lens 4 is attached to 0, and then the base 101 of the partition member 100 is attached to the lens holding portion 151 of the lens mount 150.
Fitted on the outer circumference, and finally two positioning protrusions 1 of the mirror 3
36, 136, ... Mirror holders 152, 152,
By fitting into the notches 153, 153, ... By engaging the locking claws 138, 138 with the holes 156, 156, these respective parts are sub-assembled before assembly into the case, Assembling workability is improved.

In the second embodiment, the lens 4 receives the light rays from the range indicated by the angle θ1 on the left side and the angle θ2 on the right side through the reflecting surfaces 131 and 132 of the mirror 130, and the image sensor 7 of the image pickup element 7 is detected. A left image a from the left angle θ1 and a right image b from the right angle θ2 are formed on the surface,
At this time, the light-shielding portion 15 integrally formed with the lens mount 150
4 is an optical axis L connecting the center of the lens 4 and the top of the mirror 130
Since it is formed so as to project inward from the reflection optical axis Lr of the mirror 130 of c, this projecting portion forms a black shadow in the middle of the left image a and the right image b as shown in FIG. This serves as the boundary line c. Further, when the top of the mirror 130 is rounded due to a processing problem, light is diffracted at this top in the related art, and the left and right images are overlapped at the center of the image, resulting in double copying. However, as in the present embodiment, the boundary line c is formed on the top of the mirror 130.
Since there is no reflected light at this part, no light diffraction phenomenon occurs.

In the second embodiment, the light-shielding portion 154 extends in the axial direction of the lens 4 from the base portion 157 of the lens mount 150. Therefore, when the lens mount 150 is resin-molded, the mold is moved in the axial direction of the lens. Since it can be moved to, the mold structure becomes simple.

In the first embodiment, the light-shielding portion extending from the tip of the lens holding portion to the opening edges of the windows 21 and 22 connects the center of the lens 4 and the top of the mirror 3 to the optical axis Lc of the optical axis Lr reflected by the mirror 3. Although the surface 54a is formed so as to be located above, the surface 54a may project to the inside of the imaging range from the reflected optical axis Lr as in the light shielding portion of the second embodiment, or conversely, The tip surface 154a of the light shield 154 of the second embodiment may be formed so as to be located on the reflected optical axis Lr as in the first embodiment.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment structure, provided with a partition member as shown in the second embodiment, the mirror 3
The two reflecting surfaces 31 and 32 are optically blocked to prevent light rays from going around, or a shielding portion is provided to provide the windows 21 and 21.
(2) You may make it blindfold so that the substrate inside the cases 1 and 2 and other internal components cannot be seen from the line of sight from the outside.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces is arranged in front of the lens in the case, and the light enters from a window formed in the case and is reflected by the mirror from a plurality of directions. In a multi-directional image pickup camera device configured to receive light rays with a lens and form an image on an image pickup element,
A lens mount that supports the lens is provided, and a light blocking portion that blocks incident light from the outside of the reflection optical axis from the mirror of the optical axis connecting the lens center and the mirror top is integrally formed with the lens mount, and the light blocking portion is The optical axis connecting the center of the lens and the top of the mirror is formed to project inward from the optical axis reflected by the mirror.
By making the light-shielding part imprinted on the top of the mirror,
The incident light on the top of the mirror, that is, the incident light on the specific pixel at the boundary between the left image and the right image is reduced to prevent the light from overflowing on this specific pixel, and the illusion is displayed on the surface without the incident light. Can be prevented. Also, this imprinted part forms a black shadow in the middle of the left image and the right image, which acts as a boundary line, so when the top of the mirror is rounded due to processing problems, Diffraction of light occurs at this top, and the left and right images overlap in the central part of the image, resulting in double copying.Because the boundary line at the top of the mirror eliminates the reflected light at this part, Double copy can be reliably prevented without the occurrence of diffraction phenomenon.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the light-shielding portion formed on the lens mount has a surface parallel to the reflection optical axis of the mirror of the optical axis connecting the lens center and the mirror top. The tip of the light-shielding portion can be formed as a surface instead of a line, and when the light-shielding portion is formed integrally with the lens mount, precision in molding can be easily obtained. Therefore, it is possible to surely reduce the incident light on the top of the mirror, so that it is possible to more surely prevent the illusion.

Furthermore, the invention of claim 3, wherein the light shielding surface,
By extending to the vicinity of the window of the case, internal components such as the substrate can be covered with this light-shielding surface, and these internal components cannot be seen even when the inside is looked into from the window, so that the appearance quality is improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the holding portion for the mirror is formed on the lens mount, each optical system member of the lens, the mirror, and the image pickup device is positioned through the lens mount, so that the respective positions are set. Accuracy and assembly workability are improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the lens mount is provided with a shielding portion that shields the line of sight from the window.
The light-shielding portion can cover the built-in components such as the substrate, and even when the inside is looked into from the window, these built-in components are not visible, so that the appearance quality is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a video image captured by the device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1, showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a video image captured by the device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1, showing a known multi-directional imaging camera device.

8 is an explanatory diagram of an image showing a state in which an illusion is reflected by the device of FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an image showing a state of double copying.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 cases 3,130 mirror 4 lenses 5,150 lens mount 7 Image sensor 21,22 windows 52,152 Mirror holder 54,154 Light-shielding part 158 Shield

Front page continuation (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03B 15/00 B60R 1/00-1/04 B60R 1/08-1/12 H04N 5/222-5/257 H04N 7 / 18

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces is arranged in front of a lens in a case, and light rays from a plurality of directions that are incident from a window formed in the case and reflected by the mirror are received by the lens and are imaged by an image sensor. In a multi-directional imaging camera device configured to form an image, a lens mount that supports a lens is provided, and a light blocking portion that blocks incident light outside a reflection optical axis of a mirror of an optical axis that connects the lens center and the mirror top is used as a lens. It is formed integrally with the mount, and the light-shielding part is in the lens center.
And the top of the mirror that connects the top of the mirror
A multi-directional image pickup camera device, characterized in that it is formed so as to project to the side and a light-shielding portion is reflected on the top of the mirror . 2. The light-shielding portion formed on the lens mount has a surface parallel to the reflection optical axis of the mirror of the optical axis connecting the lens center and the mirror top. Multi-directional imaging camera device. 3. The multidirectional imaging camera device according to claim 2, wherein the light-shielding surface extends to near the window of the case. 4. The multidirectional imaging camera device according to claim 1 , wherein a holding portion for the mirror is formed on the lens mount . 5. A lens mount for blocking the line of sight from a window.
The multidirectional imaging camera device according to claim 1, wherein a concealing portion is formed.