JPH0637802U - Filter with built-in ring heater - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] It has a function to remove frost, snow, condensation, etc. without impairing the function as a filter for protecting the camera, and facilitates installation on the camera. A filter 10 for protecting a lens of a vehicle rear monitoring camera has a ring-shaped heater 13 for preventing dew condensation built in between a first glass or optical filter 11 and a second optical filter or glass 12 facing each other. Stop it.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a filter with a built-in ring-shaped heater that is mounted on a vehicle rear monitoring camera or the like.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 When the vehicle driver is driving the vehicle or reversing the vehicle, the rear view can be confirmed by a door mirror or a fender mirror, by an inner mirror provided in the substantially central front portion of the vehicle interior, or by the vehicle. Although it is one of looking back and looking directly at the rear, it was impossible to completely confirm the rear view in either case. Recently, in order to eliminate rear blind spots that cannot be visually confirmed by the driver, rear spoilers, etc., have built-in rear monitoring cameras, and the images and obstacles captured by these cameras are displayed on the monitor TV display inside the vehicle. A device has been used in which the driver can confirm the safety confirmation at the rear by displaying it and confirming it.

An apparatus of this type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-92753. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, this device is composed of an image pickup means 20 for picking up a rear view arranged in the rear part of the vehicle and a display device 21 provided in the front part of the passenger compartment. The display means 21 is composed of a main circuit unit for converting the video signal obtained by the image pickup means into a video signal, and a monitor TV which is operated by the video signal via the control unit to display a rear view image. Has been done. The image pickup means 20 is composed of a daytime camera 31a for converting the rear view into a video signal and a nighttime camera 31b. Each of the cameras 31a and 31b comprises a lens 24 and a charge-coupled imager (CCD) 26, and the daytime camera 31a is designed to capture the rear view through the dimming filter 22 and the reflecting mirror 25. The night camera 31b is configured to capture the rear view through the cover glass 23 and the reflecting mirror 25 as described above. In addition, the light control filter 22 and the cover glass 23 are fitted in positions corresponding to the daytime camera 31a and the nighttime camera 31b in the front open portion of the housing containing the image pickup means.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Thus, in conventional rear-view cameras, the dimming filter or cover glass installed on the front of the housing via a reflector on the front of the lens is exposed to the outside air, but no measures are taken to prevent frost, snow, or condensation. Not considered. As a general measure to prevent dew condensation, a transparent conductive film such as an ITO film is provided on the front surface of the glass, and the transparent conductive film is energized as a resistance to function as a heater glass to remove snow, thaw, frost, and dew condensation. It is known that this can be done.

When a heater glass provided with a conductive film is used as glass for lens protection as a measure against dew condensation, there are the following problems. In other words, since the electric power of the heater changes depending on the area of the heater glass and the dimension between the electrodes, trying to equalize the electric power values imposes dimensional restrictions on the heater glass and the resistance value of the transparent conductive film to adjust the film thickness. Therefore, it may be necessary to change it, and this will affect the manufacturing conditions of the conductive film. Further, it is necessary to form an electrode for energizing the transparent conductive film, but it is difficult to draw out a lead wire from the electrode. Furthermore, when removing frost, snow, dew condensation, etc. over the entire glass, there is a design constraint such that the shape of the heater glass should be close to a rectangle. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and there are no design or manufacturing restrictions, the function as a filter for protecting a camera lens is not impaired, and the removal function can be easily controlled. The purpose is to provide a filter contained in a ring-shaped heater.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a lens protection filter for a vehicle rear monitoring camera, which is designed to prevent dew condensation between a first glass or optical filter and a second optical filter or glass that face each other. It is characterized by having a ring-shaped heater built-in. As the optical filter, one selected from a UV filter, a light control filter, a color temperature conversion filter, a special effect filter and an interference filter is used.

[0007]

[Action]

 By energizing the ring-shaped heater enclosed and sealed between the double glazings by the above means, the air sealed inside is also warmed. As a result, the temperature of the glass or optical filter is raised, and the temperature of the glass or optical filter is also raised by heat conduction by contact, so that frost, snow, dew condensation, etc. can be removed, and the rear view can be confirmed reliably. The removal rate can be adjusted by adjusting the power supply voltage applied to the ring-shaped heater.

[0008]

【Example】

 Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a dew condensation preventing filter according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the ring-shaped heater built-in filter 10 includes a ring-shaped heater 13 for preventing dew condensation between a first glass or optical filter 11 and a second optical filter or glass 12 which face each other. Built-in sealing. The ring-shaped heater 13 has a heating element 15 wound around an annular winding core 14. As the heating element 15, a self-temperature control type may be used. In that case, an automatic ON-OFF system using an outside air temperature sensor can be easily configured, and the electrode connection terminals of the ring-shaped heater 13 are configured by insert-fitting contact-type contactors, making it easy to replace the condensation prevention filter. I can do it.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the ring-shaped heater. A thin ring-shaped film 18, which is a heat-resistant insulator, is printed with a heating layer 17 containing carbon powder as a main component in a bent pattern. The case where the thin ring-shaped heater 16 described above is used is shown. Also in this case, an automatic ON-OFF system using an outside air temperature sensor can be easily configured by using a self-temperature control type heating element.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which the dew condensation preventing filter 10 of the present invention is attached to a rear monitoring camera. The rear monitoring camera includes a camera housing 5, a monitor unit 6, a control unit 7, and a power supply unit 8. The monitor unit 6, the control unit 7, and the power supply unit 8 are installed in the front cab of the vehicle, and the camera housing 5 is separated from the monitor unit 6, the power supply unit 8 and the control unit 7, and the rear spoiler at the rear of the vehicle. Etc. In the figure, 2 is a lens unit, 3 is a lens, and 4 is a CCD substrate.

A dew condensation prevention filter 10 is provided at the front of the camera housing 5 on the optical axis of the lens unit 2. This filter 10 has, for example, a glass on the subject side and an optical filter on the lens side, or an optical filter on the subject side and a glass on the lens side, and a ring-shaped heater 13 built-in between the filter and the peripheral portion. The heat-resistant sealing material is used for sealing, but the combination of the positions of the glass or the optical filter on the subject side is not limited. As the optical filter, a UV filter, a color temperature conversion filter, a dimming filter, an interference filter or a special effect filter is used.

With the above-mentioned structure, when the ring-shaped heater 13 built in and sealed between the first and second glass or optical filters 11 and 12 is energized, the air sealed inside is also heated and the glass or The temperature of the optical filter is raised, and the temperature of the glass or the optical filter is also raised by the conduction heat due to the contact with the ring-shaped heater 13, so that frost, snow, condensation, etc. can be easily removed. When the self-temperature control type is used for the heating element 15 of the ring-shaped heater, it can be automatically turned on and off by the outside air temperature sensor. In addition, the removal rate can be adjusted by adjusting the power supply voltage. Thus, the rear-view camera with a filter for preventing dew condensation operates as an all-weather type even in bad weather, and a rear-view image is displayed on the monitor TV in the driver's cab so that the driver can easily confirm the rear-view. You can drive safely. The shape of the glass or optical filter can be set arbitrarily according to the place of use, so there is no particular restriction in design or manufacturing. Further, since the ring-shaped heater 13 is set in accordance with the axis of the lens 3, there is no possibility that the heater will fall within the angle of view and the function as a camera lens protection filter will not be impaired.

[0013]

[Effect of device]

 According to the present invention, the following effects are achieved. 1. With the anti-condensation filter, it is possible to easily remove frost, snow, dew condensation, etc. on the front surface of the camera lens. As an all-weather camera, the rear-viewing camera is activated even when the weather conditions are bad to check the rear-view. You can drive safely. 2. In view of the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the camera, by incorporating a ring-shaped heater, a closed air layer having a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the heater element is interposed, so that abrupt temperature change is prevented and dew condensation is prevented. Hard to do. 3. Since the ring-shaped heater and the lens core of the camera coincide with each other, the heater does not exist within the angle of view of the camera, so that the function of the camera is not impaired. 4. Since the power supply connection terminal of the ring-shaped heater uses the insertion fitting contact, the dew condensation prevention filter can be easily replaced or retrofitted according to the usage situation. 5. Since the anti-condensation filter has a simple structure, it is not restricted by design and manufacturing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a filter having a ring-shaped heater according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing another embodiment of the ring-shaped built-in heater in FIG.

3 is a side view showing an example of a rear monitoring camera using the filter of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional vehicle rear monitoring camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Condensation Prevention Filter 11 Glass or Optical Filter 12 Optical Filter or Glass 13 Ring Heater 14 Winding Core 15 Heating Element 16 Thin Ring Heater 17 Heating Layer 18 Thin Ring Film

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 21, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A lens protection filter for a vehicle rear monitoring camera, wherein a ring-shaped heater for preventing dew condensation is arranged between a first glass or an optical filter and a second optical filter or a glass facing each other. A filter with a built-in ring-shaped heater. 2. The optical filter is one or two selected from a UV filter, a light control filter, a color temperature conversion filter, a special effect filter and an interference filter.
The filter having a ring-shaped heater according to claim 1, which is a kind of filter.