JPH06321009A - Vehicular image display - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a vehicular image display by which required safety ascertainment to both sides can be performed by minimizing the head pushing-out amount of a vehicular even if the road visibility is bad. CONSTITUTION:A vehicular image display is composed of a camera unit 41 rotatably attached to the front end of the bonnet of a vehicle, an actuator 45 for turning the camera unit, CCD cameras 42a, 42b placed on the camera unit, monitors 44a, 44b for displaying right and lest images picked up by first and second image pickup means and a controller 47 for controlling the turning movement of the camera unit carried out by the actuator.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle image display device capable of changing the field of view of a camera by rotating a camera unit rotatably attached to the front end of a hood of a vehicle as necessary. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When entering an intersection with poor visibility, a pair of CCDs for picking up left and right images on a bumper of a vehicle in order to minimize the amount of crawling out of the vehicle and check the 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. 40965/1992).

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

Images taken by these CCD cameras 13a and 13b are displayed on a display (not shown) provided in the passenger compartment, and are used to confirm the left and right safety when the vehicle enters an intersection with poor visibility. There is.

[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 area 21a and the CCD.
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 road with poor visibility as shown in FIG. 9, the field of view of the CCD cameras 13a and 13b is changed. By displaying certain areas 21a and 21b on the display, the left and right safety confirmation can be surely performed.

However, as shown in FIG. 10, the vehicle is moved from the main line 31 to the main line 31 from a branch line 32 intersecting the main line 31 at an acute angle.
Before approaching the vehicle, stop the vehicle temporarily and stop the CCD cameras 13a, 1
Even if the left and right images are displayed on the display by 3b,
Since the displayed areas are 33a and 33b, the image of the area indicated by the broken line 34 necessary for safety confirmation cannot be displayed.

Therefore, 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 of the area shown by the broken line 34. The work was troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to make sure the left and right safety confirmations required by minimizing the amount of heading out of a vehicle regardless of the road shape with poor visibility. An object of the present invention is to provide an image display device for a vehicle that can perform

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a camera unit rotatably attached to a front end of a hood of a vehicle, an actuator for rotating the camera unit, and a camera unit mounted on the camera unit. A first image pickup means and a second image pickup means, and a display means for displaying left and right images picked up by the first and second image pickup means,
It is composed of a controller for controlling the rotation of the camera unit made by the actuator.

[0011]

Since the camera unit is rotatably instructed on the bonnet, the camera unit is rotated in order to obtain a necessary field of view. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the required left and right safety confirmation by minimizing the heading-out amount of the vehicle regardless of the road shape with poor visibility.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vehicle image display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle image display device, and FIG. 2 is a CC.
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 mounting of the camera unit, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation. 6 is a diagram showing a modified example.

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

The image 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 monitor 44 is controlled by the CCD camera controllers 43a and 43b.
An image of the surroundings of 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.

By the way, as will be described later, the CCD camera unit 41 is mounted on the hood so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction, and the rotation thereof is performed by the actuator 4.
5 is performed. The actuator 45 has a built-in motor, and the rotation of the rotary 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, and the actuator 45 is controlled in the amount of horizontal rotation by a signal via the control lines c and d. It

By the way, the controller 47 has a rotary switch 4 for designating the rotational direction of the CCD camera unit 41.
The operation signal from 8 is input (this 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, and
Steering wheel detected by the steering wheel angle sensor 50
Steering angle is input. The controller 47 is composed of a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits, and outputs a control signal to the actuator 45 in accordance with an operation signal of the rotary switch 48 so that the controller 45 outputs the 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 from the state in which it is determined that the vehicle is in a stopped state, the steering wheel angle sensor 50 makes the steering wheel minute. When such rotation is detected, it has at least a control function of outputting a control signal to the actuator 45 to rotate the CCD camera unit 41 in conjunction with the rotation direction.

By the way, the CCD camera unit 41 is rotatably attached to the tip of the hood 51 of the vehicle as shown in FIG. This CCD camera unit 4
The mounting structure of No. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. Figure 4
, 61 is an engine hood and 62 is a hood 5.
1 shows the tip portion of 1. A through hole 63 is bored near the tip portion 62 of the bonnet 51, and a base plate 64 is fixed to the back surface of the tip portion 62 where the through hole 63 is bored. The base plate 64 has a through hole 65 formed at a position aligned with the above-mentioned through hole 63, and the through hole 63 formed in the through hole 65 and the above-mentioned tip portion 62 is connected to the actuator 45. The rotary shaft 45a penetrates,
It is taken out above the tip 62.

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

The bottom surface of the base plate 64 has a base.
One end of a bellows 66 is fixed so as to cover the periphery of the plate 64. Inside this bellows 66 is the CCD camera 4
2a, 42b and CCD camera controller 43a, 43
Signal lines a and b are connected to each other, and control lines c and d are connected to connect the actuator 45 and the controller 47.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention constructed as above will be described. First, rotation switch 4
With the camera 8 in the neutral position, the CCD camera unit 4
The field of view of the CCD cameras 42a and 42b mounted on the No. 1 is the areas A and B in FIG. In this way, the field of view of the rotary switch 48 in the neutral position is effective in the case where the vehicle tip portion is squeezed out and the left-right direction safety is confirmed when the vehicle enters the orthogonal T-shaped road as shown in FIG. That is, the right or left images captured by the CCD cameras 42a and 42b are sent to the CCD camera controllers 43a and 43b, respectively, and the front right and left images of the vehicle are monitored by the monitor 44a. , 44b
Are output respectively.

By the way, as shown in FIG.
A case will be described in which the branch line 72 is connected to the No. 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. In this case, if the rotary switch 48 remains in the neutral position, as described above, the CCD camera 42a,
In 42b, the images of the front right and left sides of the vehicle in the areas A and B, respectively, are only displayed on the monitors 44a and 44b. In this state, safety confirmation cannot be performed on the vehicles on the right and left sides of the main line 71.

Then, the rotary switch 48 is operated to move it to the clockwise 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 in which the actuator 45 is built rotates, the rotation shaft 46 rotates by the rotation, and the CCD camera unit 41 rotates to the right. Therefore, the field of view of the CCD cameras 42a and 42b is changed 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. Therefore, under the road conditions shown in FIG. 5, the driver can move from the branch line 72 to the main line 71.
When approaching the vehicle, the vehicle can be pulled out and the safety can be surely checked on the left and right.

In the above operation, the driver directly operates the rotary switch 48 to rotate the CCD camera unit 41. However, the CCD camera unit 41 can be automatically rotated. That is, under the road condition shown in FIG. 5, when the head is slightly moved from the branch line 72 to stop and the steering wheel is slightly rotated, the controller 47 detects that and the CCD camera unit 41 is automatically operated. To the right. Therefore, the images of the areas A'and B'are automatically displayed and output 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.
Since the size of the D camera unit 41 is increased, the size of
The CCD cameras 44a and 44b are installed in parallel in the CCD camera unit 41 as shown in FIG.
images to a and 44b are respectively reflected by the prisms 81a and 81a.
You may make it input via b.

Although the CCD camera unit 41 is always projected from the tip of the bonnet in the above embodiment,
The bonnet is provided with a recess for accommodating the CCD camera unit 41, and the CCD camera unit 4 can be used if necessary.
The CCD camera unit 41 is made to project from the bonnet by an actuator that gives a vertical movement to
You may make it accommodate the D camera unit 41 in a recessed part.

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the camera unit is rotatably attached to the tip of the bonnet, and the camera unit is rotated as necessary, so that any road with poor visibility can be obtained. It is possible to provide an image display device for a vehicle that can minimize the amount of heading out of the vehicle and can perform the required left and right safety confirmations even in the shape.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a field of view of the CCD camera with diagonal lines.

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

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the attachment of the camera unit.

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

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modified example 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 diagram showing a field of view of a conventional CCD camera when the head is cued at a T-shaped road.

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
... rotary shaft, 47 ... camera drive controller, 48 ... rotary switch, 49 ... vehicle speed sensor, 50 ... steering wheel angle sensor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Omuro 5-3-8, Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (72) Inventor Tadao Tanaka 5-33-8, Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Mitsubishi Automotive Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A camera unit rotatably attached to a front end of a hood of a vehicle, an actuator for rotating the camera unit, a first image pickup means and a second image pickup means mounted on the camera unit. Image pickup means, display means for displaying left and right images picked up by the first and second image pickup means, and a controller for controlling rotation of the camera unit made by the actuator. An image display device for a vehicle characterized by the above.