JP6064609B2 - Vehicle camera mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a vehicle camera.

There has been provided a technique for displaying an image obtained by imaging the rear of a vehicle with a monitoring camera on a display in a vehicle interior.
As a mounting structure for such a rear-view imaging surveillance camera, Patent Document 1 discloses a mounting hole at an upper portion of a license panel mounting recess that is covered with a garnish at a location of an outer panel of a tailgate that opens and closes a rear opening of a vehicle. And a camera to which the surveillance camera is attached through this attachment hole is shown.
Further, in Patent Document 2, a mounting opening is provided in a concave portion for mounting a license panel covered with a garnish at a position of an outer panel of a tailgate, and the monitoring camera is mounted in a state in which the monitoring camera is accommodated in the mounting opening. It is shown.

JP 2005-178441 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 05-80883

However, the above prior art has the following problems.
When there are the same vehicle model that has a surveillance camera attached and one that does not have a surveillance camera attached, the outer panel of the tailgate is provided with the aforementioned attachment holes and attachment openings. There are two types of outer panels that need to be manufactured.
Therefore, it is necessary to manage the stock of the two types of outer panels, which disadvantageously increases management costs.
Further, in the conventional technology, since only the surveillance camera alone is exposed outward from the outer panel of the tailgate, the surveillance camera is not conspicuous and does not look good.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is advantageous for reducing the management cost, and is also advantageous for improving the appearance of the tailgate because the presence of the surveillance camera is less noticeable. An object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle camera mounting structure according to the present invention includes an opening / closing body that opens / closes a rear opening of a vehicle, a lock mechanism that locks the rear opening with the opening / closing body, and the opening / closing An operating handle for releasing the lock provided on the body, and a monitoring camera for imaging the rear of the vehicle, a notch is provided in an intermediate portion in the vehicle width direction of the operating handle, It is arranged inside the notch and is assembled to the operation handle .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the surveillance camera is assembled to the operation handle, it is not necessary to provide an attachment hole or an attachment opening for attaching the surveillance camera to the outer panel of the tailgate, regardless of the presence or absence of the surveillance camera. The shape of the outer panel of the tailgate can be the same. Therefore, it is not necessary to manage the stock of the two types of outer panels, which is advantageous in reducing the management cost.
In addition, it is less noticeable than when the surveillance camera alone is assembled to the outer panel of the tailgate, which is advantageous in improving the appearance of the vehicle.
In addition, a single mold is common to both cars by attaching and detaching the convex part corresponding to the notch in both the car using the surveillance camera and the car not using the surveillance camera. This is advantageous for reducing the mold of the operation handle.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the surveillance camera can be assembled to the operation handle in a state where the direction of the imaging lens is adjusted to swing up and down.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the adjustment of the orientation of the imaging lens is performed between the housing and the operation handle, which is advantageous for easily and reliably adjusting the swing of the orientation of the imaging lens. Further, the surveillance camera is pivotally supported on the operation handle base so that the vehicle front side portion can swing in the vertical direction, and the vehicle rear side portion is engaged with the operation handle tip portion so as to be able to swing up and down. Therefore, the part on the vehicle rear side of the monitoring camera that performs the swing adjustment of the direction of the imaging lens and the operation handle tip are located away from the swing center of the monitoring camera. This is advantageous in easily adjusting the swing of the direction.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is advantageous to dispose the surveillance camera so that the swing adjustment is possible without increasing the number of parts. In addition, the wiring around the operation handle can be simplified, which is advantageous in reducing the wiring space.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, although the operation handle includes the monitoring camera, it is advantageous in smoothly operating the operation handle.

It is the perspective view which looked at the vehicle 2 to which the attachment structure 10 of the camera for vehicles of this Embodiment was applied from back. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1 when an operation handle 18 having a notch 1806 for assembling a monitoring camera 20 is used. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 2 when an operation handle 18 having a notch 1806 for assembling the monitoring camera 20 is used. It is a disassembled perspective view of the attachment structure 10 of the camera for vehicles when the operation handle 18 which has the notch 1806 which assembles | installs the monitoring camera 20 is used. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1 when an operation handle 18 that does not have a notch 1806 for assembling the monitoring camera 20 is used. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 2 when an operation handle 18 that does not have a notch 1806 for assembling the monitoring camera 20 is used. It is a disassembled perspective view of the attachment structure 10 of the vehicle camera at the time of using the operation handle 18 which does not have the notch 1806 which assemble | attaches the surveillance camera 20.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle to which a vehicle camera mounting structure (hereinafter referred to as a mounting structure) according to the present embodiment is applied, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mounting structure 10 includes a tailgate 12, a lock mechanism 14, a base 16, an operation handle 18, and a monitoring camera 20.
The tailgate 12 constitutes an opening / closing body that opens and closes the rear opening 4 of the vehicle 2.
The tailgate 12 includes a gate glass 1202, an unillustrated inner panel, and an outer panel 1204, and extends in the vehicle width direction via an unillustrated hinge provided at the rear portion of the roof panel 6. It is provided so as to be able to swing around the axis line.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a recess 22 for attaching the license plate 8 is formed at the center in the vehicle width direction of the outer panel 1204 positioned below the gate glass 1202. A garnish 24 (license garnish) that extends in the vehicle width direction and covers the upper portion of the recess 22 is provided at the location of the upper outer panel 1204.
An opening 1210 for attaching an operation handle is provided at a location of the outer panel 1204 located above the recess 22, and bolt insertion holes 1212 are provided on both sides of the opening 1210.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lock mechanism 14 locks the tailgate 12 in a state where the rear opening 4 is closed.
The lock mechanism 14 is a striker (not shown) provided in the tailgate 12, a latch mechanism (not shown) that is provided at the lower edge of the rear opening 4 and engages with the striker, and releases the striker by the latch mechanism. And an actuator 1402 that performs the operation.
When the latch mechanism is engaged with the striker, the state in which the rear opening 4 is closed by the tailgate 12 is locked, and the lock is released by the operation of the actuator 1402, and a solenoid or a motor can be used as the actuator 1402. There are various known mechanisms for the lock mechanism 14.

The base 16 is provided in the upper part of the recessed part 22 of the outer panel 1204 through the opening part 1210, as shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 4, the base 16 includes a main body portion 28 in which a rectangular plate-shaped concave portion 26 is formed, and a rectangular frame-shaped flange portion 30 provided around the main body portion 28.
As shown in FIG. 2, a bearing hole 2802 is provided on one side wall 28 </ b> A of the main body 28, and a bearing recess 2804 is provided on the other side wall 28 </ b> B of the main body 28.
The base 16 is attached to the outer panel 1204 in a state in which the main body portion 28 is inserted from the inside of the outer panel 1204 into the opening 1210 and the flange portion 30 is attached to the back surface (inner surface) of the outer panel 1204 with a bolt 32 and a nut. It is made by being fastened by 34.
Specifically, the bolt 32 attached to the garnish 24 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 1212 of the outer panel 1204 and the bolt insertion hole 3002 of the flange portion 30 and fastened with the nut 34, whereby the garnish 24 and the flange portion 30 are The outer panel 1204 is attached so as to sandwich it.
In a state where the base 16 is attached to the outer panel 1204, the seal member 38 is interposed between the back surface of the outer panel 1204 and the flange portion 30 around the main body portion 28.

The operation handle 18 is for releasing the lock of the lock mechanism 14.
The lock mechanism 14 is unlocked by driving the actuator 1402 based on the detection result of the operation of the operation handle 18.
The operation handle 18 is disposed in the concave portion 26 of the base 16 so as to be swingable between a lower limit position and an upper limit position, and is always biased to the lower limit position. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower limit position is regulated by the operation handle 18 coming into contact with the stopper 40 on the lower wall 28C of the main body 28, and the operation handle 18 comes into contact with the stopper 42 on the upper wall 28D of the main body 28. Thus, the upper limit position is regulated.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the operation handle 18 includes an operation handle base portion 1802 that is pivotally supported on the vehicle body side so as to be swingable in the vertical direction, and an operation handle tip portion 1804 that extends from the operation handle base portion 1802 to the vehicle rear side. And have.
The operation handle 18 has a length from the operation handle base 1802 to the operation handle tip 1804 and a width orthogonal to this length.
An open notch 1806 is provided on the operation handle base 1802 side in the middle of the operation handle 18 in the vehicle width direction.
The operation handle 18 includes a pair of leg portions 18A and 18B that face each other with the notch 1806 interposed between the notch 1806 and a connecting portion that connects between the ends of the pair of leg portions 18A and 18B on the operation handle tip 1804 side. 18C.
An operating handle side uneven structure 1810 for adjusting the swing of the monitoring camera 20 is provided in the connecting portion 18C.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an insertion hole 1812 through which the support shaft portion 46 of the lever member 44 passes is formed in one leg portion 18A of the pair of leg portions 18A, 18B. The support shaft portion 46 of the lever member 44 is fitted into the insertion hole 1812 by press fitting, and the lever member 44 is integrated with the operation handle 18. The support shaft portion 46 is inserted into the bearing hole 2802 of the side wall 28 </ b> A of the main body portion 28, is rotatably supported by the side wall 28 </ b> A, and serves as a swing shaft of the operation handle 18.

A support shaft portion 1814 located on the same axis as the support shaft portion 46 of the lever member 44 is formed to protrude from the other leg portion 18B of the pair of leg portions 18A and 18B.
The support shaft portion 1814 is rotatably supported by a bearing recess 2804 on the side wall 28 </ b> B of the main body portion 28, and serves as a swing shaft of the operation handle 18 together with the support shaft portion 46. The operation handle 18 is always urged to the lower limit position by the coil spring 50 wound around the support shaft portion 1814.
Accordingly, the operation handle 18 swings around the support shaft portions 46 and 1814, and the lever member 44 is configured to swing integrally with the operation handle 18.
Note that a bearing recess 1816 to be engaged with a casing 54 of the monitoring camera 20 described later is provided at a position opposite to the support shaft 1814 in the other leg 18B.

The surveillance camera 20 captures the rear of the vehicle 2 and generates a video signal. The video signal is supplied to a display device provided in the vehicle interior, so that the situation behind the vehicle 2 is displayed on the display device. Is displayed.
The monitoring camera 20 is assembled to the operation handle 18.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the monitoring camera 20 includes an image sensor 52, a casing 54 in which the image sensor 52 is housed, and an imaging lens 56 that captures a subject image.
The housing 54 includes a housing base portion 5402 that is swingably assembled to the operation handle 18 and a housing tip portion 5404 that is positioned in the opposite direction.
The imaging lens 56 is provided at the rear end of the housing 54 (the monitoring camera 20), and the optical axis of the imaging device 52 extends from the imaging lens 56 of the housing front portion 5404 to the rear of the vehicle 2.
2 and 4, a housing side bearing hole 5410 is formed in one side wall 54A of the pair of side walls 54A and 54B sandwiching the optical axis of the housing base 5402, and the other side wall 54B is formed in the other side wall 54B. A housing-side convex portion 5412 that protrudes outward on the same axis as the housing-side bearing hole 5410 is formed.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a housing side uneven structure 5414 that can be engaged with the operation handle side uneven structure 1810 is provided in the housing front portion 5404.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the housing 54 is disposed inside the notch 1806 of the operation handle 18, and an appropriate portion of the housing-side uneven structure 5414 and an appropriate portion of the operation handle-side uneven structure 1810 are engaged. The small-diameter shaft portion 4602 of the support shaft portion 46 is inserted into the housing-side bearing hole 5410, and the housing-side convex portion 5412 is engaged with the bearing concave portion 1816 so that the pair of leg portions 18A and 18B are assembled.
Therefore, the surveillance camera 20 is pivotally supported by the operation handle base 1802 so that the vehicle front side portion (housing base portion 5402) can swing in the vertical direction, and the vehicle rear side portion (housing front portion 5404) is the operation handle. It is engaged with the tip portion 1804 so as to be swingable up and down.
In a state in which the casing 54 is assembled to the operation handle 18, a portion facing downward of the casing 54 constitutes a portion where a finger is hung when operating the operation handle 18 together with a portion facing downward of the operation handle 18. Yes.
Note that the optical axis of the image sensor 52 is swing-adjusted by engaging an appropriate portion of the housing-side uneven structure 5414 and an appropriate portion of the operation handle-side uneven structure 1810.
That is, the orientation of the imaging lens 56 of the monitoring camera 20 can be adjusted to swing in the vertical direction by changing the engagement position between the monitoring camera 20 and the operation handle tip 1804.
The tip of the small diameter shaft portion 4602 is located inside the housing 54.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lever member 44 includes an arm portion 48 provided integrally with the support shaft portion 46 in addition to the support shaft portion 46.
The arm portion 48 swings integrally with the operation handle 18 via the support shaft portion 46, and presses the detection piece 5802 of the operation handle switch 58 for releasing the lock. The operation handle switch 58 is attached to the base 16.

The first wiring 60 for supplying power to the image sensor 52 and taking out an image signal from the image sensor 52 is from the tip of the small diameter shaft portion 4602 to the inside of the small diameter shaft portion 4602, the inside of the large diameter shaft portion 4604, and the arm portion. It is pulled out to the vehicle 2 side through the inside of 48.
In the figure, reference numeral 62 denotes a second wiring for extracting a detection signal from the operation handle switch 58, and reference numeral 64 denotes a connection connector provided in the first and second wirings 60 and 62.
The connection connector 64 is connected to a monitoring camera power supply circuit, a display device, and an ECU (not shown) via a relay cable (not shown).

Next, a method for using the monitoring camera 20 will be described.
When the operation handle 18 is not operated, the operation handle 18 is positioned at the lower limit position by the biasing force of the coil spring 50, and the monitoring camera 20 captures an area behind the vehicle 2 from below the operation handle 18. The image pickup signal is supplied to a display device in the passenger compartment.
Thereby, the image | video of the vehicle 2 back can be visually recognized in a vehicle interior.
When the tailgate 12 is opened, the operator touches the operation handle 18 including the housing 54 to swing the operation handle 18 from the lower limit position to the upper limit position against the urging force of the coil spring 50.
Then, the arm portion 48 swings integrally with the operation handle 18 and presses the detection piece 5802 of the operation handle switch 58. Accordingly, the ECU drives the actuator 1402 according to the detection result of the operation handle switch 58, so that the lock of the tailgate 12 by the lock mechanism 14 is released, and the tailgate 12 can be opened.

According to the present embodiment, since the surveillance camera 20 that captures the rear of the vehicle 2 is assembled to the operation handle 18 that unlocks the tailgate 12, the following effects can be obtained.
Since the surveillance camera 20 is assembled to the operation handle 18, there is no need to provide an attachment hole or an attachment opening for attaching the surveillance camera 20 to the outer panel 1204 of the tailgate 12. Therefore, the shape of the outer panel 1204 of the tailgate 12 can be made the same regardless of the presence or absence of the monitoring camera 20.
Therefore, it is not necessary to manage the stock of the two types of outer panels 1204, which is advantageous in reducing management costs.
Further, since the surveillance camera 20 is assembled to the operation handle 18, it is less noticeable than when the surveillance camera 20 alone is assembled to the outer panel 1204 of the tailgate 12, and is advantageous in improving the appearance of the vehicle 2. Become.

Further, the appropriate position of the housing-side uneven structure 5414 and the appropriate position of the operation handle-side uneven structure 1810 are engaged, so that the orientation of the imaging lens 56 is adjusted to swing. That is, the adjustment of the orientation of the imaging lens 56 is performed between the monitoring camera 54 and the operation handle 18, which is advantageous for easily and reliably adjusting the swing of the orientation of the imaging lens 56.
Further, the part of the monitoring camera 54 (casing-side uneven structure 5414) that performs the swing adjustment of the direction of the imaging lens 56 and the part of the operation handle 18 (operation handle-side uneven structure 1810) are from the center of swinging of the monitoring camera 54. Since it is located at a distant place, it is advantageous in easily adjusting the swing of the housing.

Further, a notch 1806 is provided in the center of the operation handle 18 in the vehicle width direction, and the monitoring camera 20 is disposed in the notch 1806. Therefore, in a case of a vehicle using the surveillance camera 20 and a case of a vehicle not using the surveillance camera 20, a single die is attached to both vehicles by attaching / detaching the convex portion corresponding to the notch 1806 to the die. This is advantageous in reducing the number of molds of the operation handle 18.
That is, an operation handle 18 having a notch 1806 for assembling the monitoring camera 20 and an operation handle 18 'not having the notch 1806 shown in FIGS. In a vehicle type that uses the operation handle 18 having the notch 1806 and does not use the surveillance camera 20, the operation handle 18 'that does not have the notch 1806 may be used.

  In many cases, the operation handle 18 is provided at the center in the vehicle width direction, and the monitoring camera 20 is attached to the center in the vehicle width direction by assembling the monitoring camera 20 to the operation handle 18. Thus, the image behind the vehicle 2 captured by the monitoring camera 20 is balanced in the vehicle width direction, which is advantageous in obtaining a good visual field behind the vehicle 2.

Further, a small-diameter shaft portion 4602 that forms a support shaft of the monitoring camera 20 is provided integrally with a support shaft portion 1814 of the lever member 44 that forms a support shaft of the operation handle 18.
Therefore, it is advantageous in arranging the monitoring camera 20 so that the swing adjustment is possible without increasing the number of parts.
Further, the wiring 60 of the image sensor 52 of the monitoring camera 20 is drawn out of the operation handle 18 using the support shaft portion 46 of the arm member 44 that forms the support shaft of the monitoring camera 20.
Therefore, the wiring around the operation handle 18 can be simplified, which is advantageous in reducing the wiring space.

  Further, since the housing 54 of the monitoring camera 20 constitutes a place where a finger can be hung together with the operation handle 18 when the operation handle 18 is operated, the operation handle 18 is provided even though the operation handle 18 includes the monitoring camera 20. This is advantageous for smooth operation.

  2 ... Vehicle, 4 ... Rear opening, 10 ... Camera camera mounting structure, 12 ... Tailgate (opening / closing body), 14 ... Lock mechanism, 18 ... Operation handle, 1802 ... Operation handle base, 1804 ... Operation handle tip, 1806 ... Notch, 1810 ... Operation handle side uneven structure, 20 ... Monitoring camera, 44 ... Lever member, 46 ... Support shaft, 48 ... Arm, 52 ... ... Image sensor 54... Case 54 A. Case base 54 B. Case tip 5414 Case uneven structure 58. Operation handle switch 60.

Claims (5)

An opening and closing body for opening and closing a rear opening of the vehicle;
A locking mechanism that locks the rear opening with the opening and closing body closed;
An operation handle provided on the opening / closing body to release the lock;
A surveillance camera for imaging the rear of the vehicle,
A notch is provided in an intermediate portion of the operation handle in the vehicle width direction,
The surveillance camera is disposed inside the notch and assembled to the operation handle.
A vehicle camera mounting structure characterized by that. The surveillance camera includes an imaging lens at a rear end thereof, and is assembled to the operation handle so that the orientation of the imaging lens can be adjusted to swing in the vertical direction.
The mounting structure for a vehicle camera according to claim 1. The operation handle has an operation handle base that is pivotally supported on the vehicle body side so as to be swingable in the vertical direction, and an operation handle tip that extends from the operation handle base to the vehicle rear side.
The surveillance camera is pivotally supported on the operation handle base so that the vehicle front side portion can swing in the vertical direction, and the vehicle rear side portion engages with the operation handle tip portion so as to be able to swing up and down. And
The orientation of the imaging lens of the monitoring camera can be adjusted by changing the engagement position between the monitoring camera and the operation handle tip.
The mounting structure for a vehicle camera according to claim 2 .
A support shaft portion that is rotatably supported on the vehicle body side, is rotatably coupled to the operation handle base portion and is rotatably coupled to the monitoring camera, and constitutes a support shaft of the operation handle and the monitoring camera; A lever member that is provided integrally with the support shaft portion and includes an arm portion that swings integrally with the operation handle and is capable of pressing an operation handle switch for releasing the lock;
The wiring of the surveillance camera is drawn out of the operation handle through the support shaft,
The vehicle camera mounting structure according to claim 3, wherein: The surveillance camera constitutes a place where a finger is hung together with the operation handle when operating the operation handle.
The vehicle camera mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the vehicle camera mounting structure is provided.

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