JP4465261B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus used in a monitoring system, for example, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus capable of controlling the position of a pan head or zoom using an operating device.

In a monitoring system, an electric pan head integrated imaging apparatus that can change an imaging range by controlling a pan head or the like using an external operation device is widely used. If such an imaging device is used, the operator can obtain a monitoring image of a desired imaging range from one imaging device. In addition, an imaging apparatus has been proposed in which an imaging range for frequent imaging is registered in advance as a preset point, and when the preset point is selected, an operation state of the imaging range registered in advance is set (for example, , See Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-23443

  However, in general, in this type of imaging apparatus, when a power failure occurs during imaging, the apparatus is started in an initialized operation state when power supply is restored. That is, it does not return to the operation state immediately before the power failure in which the operator has adjusted the imaging range for monitoring. For this reason, even if an instantaneous power failure occurs, the operator needs time and effort to adjust from the operation state initialized when power supply is restored to the operation state immediately before the power failure. In addition, since the preset point only returns to a previously registered position, it is necessary to manually adjust the operation state immediately before the power failure.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and the purpose thereof is to quickly restore the imaging operation state immediately before the power failure when the power failure occurs and the power supply is restored. It is another object of the present invention to provide an imaging apparatus that can resume imaging immediately before a power failure.

  In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention operates with power supplied from a power supply unit, and changes the imaging operation state including an imaging range to image a target. And means for detecting the recovery. When a power failure is detected by the detection means, information representing the imaging operation state immediately before the power failure is detected is stored in the memory. When the recovery of the power supply unit is detected by the detection means, the imaging operation state is restored to the state immediately before the power failure is detected based on the information indicating the imaging operation state stored in the memory. It is a thing.

  With this configuration, even when an unexpected power failure occurs, when the power supply is restored, the operation state immediately before the power failure is surely restored. As a result, it is possible to save time and effort for adjusting from the operation state initialized at the time of power supply restoration to the operation state immediately before the power failure, as in the conventional imaging device. For this reason, the operator can quickly restart the monitoring operation performed before the power failure.

The present invention is also characterized by having the following configuration.
When the memory is composed of a non-volatile memory with a finite number of repeated writes, the power supply unit includes power storage means for holding power supply for a certain time after a power failure. Then, only when the power failure is detected by the detection means for a certain time or longer, information indicating the imaging operation state immediately before the power failure is detected is stored in the nonvolatile memory. Thereby, since the number of times of writing to the nonvolatile memory can be suppressed, the nonvolatile memory can be used for a longer period of time.

  In short, the present invention provides an imaging device that can quickly resume imaging immediately before a power failure by reliably restoring the imaging operation state immediately before the power failure when a power failure occurs and the power supply is restored. is there.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a monitoring system using an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes an imaging device 1, an operation device 2, and a display device 3. The imaging apparatus 1 is installed in a place where a monitoring target can be imaged, and is configured by, for example, a camera platform integrated camera integrated with an electric camera platform that performs pan / tilt operations. The operation device 2 and the display device 3 are provided in a monitoring room or the like that is monitored by an operator, and are connected to the imaging device 1 via cables. The operator controls and monitors the imaging position of the imaging device 1 by operating various buttons provided on the operation device 2 while confirming the captured image by the imaging device 1 on the display device 3 such as a television monitor. .

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the imaging apparatus 1. The imaging apparatus 1 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 10 such as a microprocessor as a main control unit. A RAM 11, a pan head control unit 12 and a lens control unit 13 are connected to the CPU 10, and a voltage detection unit 17, a secondary power supply unit 19 and an EEPROM 20 are further connected.

  The pan head control unit 12 controls the electric pan head unit 14 based on a control signal input from the operation device 2 under the control of the CPU 10. By this control, the pan / tilt operation of the camera unit 15 provided in the electric head unit 14 is performed. The lens control unit 13 controls the zoom position of the zoomed lens unit 16 provided in the camera unit 15 in accordance with a control signal from the operation device 2. The operation information of the electric camera platform 14 and the lens control unit 13 is always stored in the RAM 11 under the control of the CPU 10. The image data captured by the camera unit 15 is converted into a video signal, and then output to the display device 3 via a cable.

  On the other hand, the EEPROM 20 is composed of a non-volatile memory and is used for storing an operation state immediately before the occurrence of a power failure. The power supply unit 18 supplies power to each unit based on the commercial power output. The voltage detection unit 17 detects the presence or absence of power supply by the power supply unit 18 under the control of the CPU 10. For example, an electric double layer capacitor is used for the secondary power supply unit 19, and is always charged by power supply from the power supply unit 18. When power supply from the power supply unit 18 is stopped, the stored secondary power supply unit 19 supplies power to the CPU 10, RAM 11, and EEPROM 20.

Next, the operation of the imaging device 1 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure and contents of the location information storage process when a power failure occurs, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure and contents of the operation state restoration process when the power failure is restored.
In step S <b> 3 a, the CPU 10 of the imaging device 1 detects the voltage value supplied from the power supply unit 18 to the CPU 10 by the voltage detection unit 17. It is determined whether or not a power failure has occurred based on the voltage value detected in step S3b. If it is determined by this determination that a power failure has occurred, the process proceeds to step S3c, where the position information of the pan head control unit 12 and the lens control unit 13 stored in the RAM 11 is read, and the read position information is read out. Store in the EEPROM 20. On the other hand, if a power failure is not detected in step S3b, the process proceeds to step S3a, and the voltage value detection process is performed at regular time intervals.

  As described above, when a power failure occurs, the power supply from the power supply unit 18 stops, but the power supply from the secondary power supply unit 19 supplies power to the CPU 10, RAM 11 and EEPROM 20 for a certain period of time. Storage processing can be executed. Note that the power outage in the determination in step S3b is a power outage of a certain time or more, and if the power outage is short, such as a momentary interruption, the position information is retained in the RAM 11 by the power supply from the secondary power supply unit 19, and therefore the EEPROM 20 The storage process is not performed.

  Then, the power failure is restored, and the CPU 10 of the imaging device 1 detects the power supply from the power supply unit 18 by the voltage detection unit 17 in step S4a. Then, in step S4b, the electric head control unit 12 and the lens control unit 13 perform initialization and operation check. As a result, the electric pan head control unit 12 confirms the pan / tilt operation and the lens control unit 13 confirms the operation range of the zoom operation, and then returns to the origin position.

  Next, in step S4c, the EEPROM 20 is accessed to check whether or not position information is written, and it is determined whether or not a power failure has occurred before. If it is determined that there has been a power failure in the EEPROM 20 and a power failure has occurred, the process proceeds to step S4d, and the location information immediately before the occurrence of the power failure stored in the EEPROM 20 is read. In step S4e, the CPU 10 controls the electric pan head unit 14 and the zoomed lens unit 16 according to the read position information. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4c that there is no power failure and it is normally activated, the apparatus is activated in the state of the origin position made in step S4b.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the imaging apparatus 1 includes the secondary power supply unit 19 that is charged by the power supply unit 18 and the EEPROM 20. The secondary power supply unit 19 is connected to the CPU 10, RAM 11 and EEPROM 20, and power supply is continued for a certain time even when power supply from the power supply unit 18 is stopped due to a power failure. Thus, when the CPU 10 detects a power failure, the CPU 10 stores the position information of the electric camera platform 14 and the zoomed lens unit 16 stored in the RAM 11 in the EEPROM 20. Then, when detecting the recovery from the power failure, the CPU 10 reads the position information stored in the EEPROM 20 and restores the operation state immediately before the power failure according to the read position information.

  Therefore, according to this embodiment, even when an unexpected power failure occurs, when the power supply is restored, the operation state immediately before the power failure is surely restored. Thereby, it is possible to save labor and time for adjusting the operation state initialized at the time of power supply restoration to the operation state before the power failure as in the conventional imaging apparatus. For this reason, the operator can quickly resume the monitoring performed before the power failure.

  Although the number of times of writing is limited in the EEPROM 20, the writing process to the EEPROM 20 is performed only when a power failure occurs for a certain time or more excluding a short-time power failure such as a momentary interruption, so that it can be used for a longer period of time.

  When the memory is composed of a non-volatile memory with a finite number of repeated writes, the power supply unit includes power storage means for holding power supply for a certain time after a power failure. Only when the power failure is detected by the detection means for a certain time or longer, information indicating the imaging operation state immediately before the power failure is detected is stored in the nonvolatile memory.

  For this reason, since the number of times of writing to the nonvolatile memory can be suppressed, the nonvolatile memory can be used for a longer period of time, and an increase in cost can be prevented.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the position information of the pan head unit 14 and the zoomed lens unit 16 is stored in the EEPROM 20 when a power failure occurs, but various other settings such as white balance of the camera unit 15 are also possible. May be stored. In this way, it is possible to further restore the imaging operation state immediately before the power failure.

  In the above embodiment, the position information immediately before the power failure is stored in the EEPROM 20, but a hard disk or the like may be used. Moreover, the secondary power supply unit 19 can use a primary battery such as a dry battery or a button battery, or a rechargeable secondary battery. When these are used, since the battery capacity is larger than that of the electric double layer capacitor, the position information immediately before the power failure may be stored in the volatile memory. In addition, the configuration of the imaging apparatus 1, the position information storage process at the time of a power failure, and the procedure and contents of the operation state recovery process at the time of power failure recovery can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In short, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, you may delete some components among all the components shown by embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a monitoring system using an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the imaging apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the positional information storage process at the time of the power failure generation of the imaging device shown in FIG. 2, and its content. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation state restoration process at the time of a power failure restoration of the imaging device shown in FIG. 2, and its content.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pan head integrated imaging device, 2 ... Operation device, 3 ... Display apparatus, 10 ... CPU, 11 ... RAM, 12 ... Pan head control part, 13 ... Lens control part, 14 ... Electric pan head part, 15 ... Camera 16 is a zoom lens unit, 17 is a voltage detection unit, 18 is a power supply unit, 19 is a secondary power supply unit, and 20 is an EEPROM.

Claims (1)

A power supply unit comprising power supply means for supplying power to each component inside the imaging apparatus and power storage means for holding power supply for a certain time after a power failure;
Detecting means for detecting a power failure and restoration of the power supply means,
A lens that changes the angle of view of the imaging range;
Lens control means for controlling the zoom position of the lens;
A pan head for changing the imaging range by swiveling horizontally and vertically;
A pan head control means for controlling the turning motion of the pan head unit;
A first memory for storing imaging operation state information including at least a horizontal stop position information of the pan head, a vertical stop position information of the pan head, and a zoom position information of the lens at a normal time;
A non-volatile second memory that stores the imaging operation state information immediately before the power failure when a power failure of a certain time or more is detected by the detection means ;
When recovery of the power supply means is detected by the detection means , recovery that restores the imaging operation state to the state immediately before the power failure is detected based on the imaging operation state information stored in the second memory Control means ;
An imaging apparatus comprising:

Images