JPH0648247A - Car-mounting infrared image display - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a car-mounting IR image display that is able to recognize a state of road conditions in a long distance in the traveling direction at night and in the curved progressing direction. CONSTITUTION:An IR photographing means 10 is attached to a car, photographing an IR image to be seen from the car. Three photographing direction variable means 26 to 28 direct the IR photographing means 10 to a direction the car tries to advance according to the angle of a steering wheel. Each of displaying means 15 to 19 displays the IR image obtained by the infrared photographing means 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted infrared image display device, and more particularly to a vehicle-mounted infrared image display device for displaying an image picked up by an infrared camera to assist the driver in recognizing the situation.

In recent years, one of the causes of frequent traffic accidents is a lack of visual information at night or when lighting is poor.
At night or when the lighting was scarce and sufficient visual information could not be obtained, the headlights were turned on and the operation was performed while checking the information only on the brightly illuminated parts. The information from the headlights alone cannot completely grasp the situation in front of the vehicle, which prevents safe operation. Therefore, there is a demand for a device that secures the visual information obtained by the driver and assists the situation recognition.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when driving a car at night or in a dark place with poor lighting, a headlight is turned on to check the illuminated portion for driving.

[0004]

However, there is a limit to the range and brightness that can be illuminated by the headlights, it is not possible to confirm the road condition far in the direction of travel, and when traveling on a curved road, There was a problem that the headlight could not be illuminated in the direction in which the vehicle was going to turn and it was not possible to check the road condition in the direction in which the vehicle was going to turn.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an in-vehicle infrared image display device capable of confirming road conditions in a distant direction at night or the like and a direction in which the vehicle is going to bend.

[0006]

An in-vehicle infrared image display device of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle, and an infrared image pickup means for picking up an infrared image seen from the vehicle, and a vehicle according to a steering angle of a steering wheel of the vehicle. Image pickup direction changing means for directing the infrared image pickup means in the direction in which the infrared ray image is going to travel, and display means for displaying the infrared image obtained by the infrared image pickup means.

Further, a pseudo image generating means for generating a pseudo image according to the steering angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle, and a synthesizing means for synthesizing the pseudo image with the infrared image obtained by the infrared imaging means and displaying the synthesized image on the display means. Have.

[0008]

In the present invention, since an infrared image is displayed, it is possible to check the road condition in the distant direction, such as at night, and to change the image pickup direction according to the steering angle of the steering wheel so that the vehicle bends and advances. You can check the road condition in the direction you are going.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a first embodiment of the device of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an infrared imaging device, which is installed in the vicinity of a driver's seat in the vehicle and takes a substantially front image through a windshield.

The infrared imaging device 10 has the structure shown in FIG. In the figure, the infrared imaging device 10a is a mercury cadmium
It is a hybrid type including a photodiode array formed on a tellurium (HgCdTe) substrate and a signal processing circuit formed on a silicon substrate. Circulating refrigerator 1
0b cools the infrared imaging device 10a by about 150 ° K.

The infrared image signal obtained by this infrared image pickup device is digitized by the A / D converter 11,
It is supplied to the liquid crystal display device 14 via the liquid crystal driver 12. The liquid crystal display device 14 is irradiated with light from the projector 15, which causes the infrared image displayed on the liquid crystal display device 14 to be projected and reflected by the mirror 16, and then the lens 1
An image 20 is displayed on the half mirror reflection film 19 coated on the windshield 18 through 7.

The infrared imaging device 10 described above is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), it is arranged above the windshield 18, and the liquid crystal display device 14, the projector 15, the mirror 16 and the like are housed in the dashboard 21.

The portion of the windshield 18 which is in the field of view of the infrared image pickup device 10 is made of a material which transmits infrared rays.

Returning to FIG. 1, the steering wheel 25 is provided with a rotation angle detector 26, and the steering angle detection signal detected here is supplied to the controller 27. The controller 27 supplies a drive signal according to the steering angle to the actuators 28 and 29.

The actuator 28 is an infrared imaging device 10
The mounting angle of is changed in accordance with the drive signal in a substantially horizontal plane. When the handle 25 is turned to the right (or left), the imaging field of view of the infrared imaging device 10 moves to the right (or left) according to the steering angle of the handle 26. Change.

The actuator 29 changes the mounting angle of the mirror 16 according to the drive signal. When the handle 25 is turned to the right (or left), the image 20 displayed on the half mirror reflection film 19 of the windshield 18 is displayed. It moves to the right (or left) of the windshield 18 when viewed from the inside of the vehicle according to the steering angle of the steering wheel 25.

In this way, the infrared image is taken on the windshield 1
Since the image is displayed on the half mirror reflection film 19 of No. 8, the road condition can be confirmed even in the distant place where the illumination of the headlight does not reach. Further, the infrared imaging device 10 rotates according to the steering angle of the steering wheel, and the displayed image 20 moves on the windshield 18 so as to match the driver's visual field according to the steering angle of the steering wheel. You can check the road condition in the direction of.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a high temperature mark 30 made up of a symbol or a character having a temperature higher than the ambient temperature is provided at a point where the road condition such as a curve or an intersection changes, so that the high temperature mark 30 can be displayed from a distance. It can be displayed and confirmed.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a second embodiment of the device of the present invention. In the figure, those parts which are the same as those corresponding parts in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 5, the infrared imaging device 10 is mounted outside the vehicle, for example, on a hood near the driver's seat, and the actuator 28 drives the imaging device to change the imaging field to the left or right depending on the steering angle of the steering wheel 25. The infrared image signal obtained by the infrared imaging device 10 is the image synthesizing circuit 4
Supplied to zero.

On the other hand, the steering angle detection signal output from the rotation angle detector 26 is supplied to the image generation circuit 41. Image generation circuit 4
Reference numeral 1 generates an image signal of a pseudo image of the in-vehicle field of view, as shown by hatching in FIG. 6A, in horizontal and vertical synchronization with the image signal output from the infrared imaging device 10. 5 in FIG. 6 (A)
Reference numeral 0 is a roof, 51a and 51b are left and right front pillars, 52 is a hood, and 53a and 53b are left and right vehicle width display bars. Further, the image generating circuit 41 moves the in-vehicle visual field to the right when the steering wheel 25 is turned to the right, for example, according to the steering angle detection signal.
A pseudo image as shown in is generated. When the steering wheel is turned to the left, the field of view inside the car is also moved to the left. Image synthesizer 4
0 is a combination of the image signal of the infrared image as shown in FIG. 6C from the infrared image pickup device 10 and the image signal of the pseudo image from the image generation circuit 41, and is combined on the monitor 42 as shown in FIG. 6D. Display the image.

As described above, since the infrared image of the infrared imaging device 10 rotating according to the steering angle of the steering wheel is combined with the pseudo image according to the steering angle of the steering wheel and displayed on the monitor 42,
You can check not only distant road conditions but also road conditions in the direction you are going to turn. Also, the vehicle width display bars 53a, 5
An accurate vehicle feeling can be obtained by 3b. Also,
Since the infrared imaging device 10 is provided outside the vehicle, the windshield does not have to be formed of an expensive material that transmits infrared rays.

[0023]

As described above, according to the in-vehicle infrared image display device of the present invention, it is possible to confirm the road conditions in the direction far away at night and in the direction in which the vehicle is about to bend, and it is extremely useful in practice. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of an infrared imaging device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a high temperature mark.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Infrared Imaging Device 14 Liquid Crystal Device 16 Mirror 18 Windshield 19 Half Mirror Reflective Film 20 Image 25 Handle 26 Rotation Angle Detector 27 Controller 28, 29 Actuator 40 Image Synthesis Circuit 41 Image Generation Circuit 42 Monitor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Nobuyuki Kajiwara, No. 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Wakayama, No. 1015, Kamikodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture 72) Inventor Shoji Doi, 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An infrared image pickup means (10) mounted on a vehicle for picking up an infrared image seen from the vehicle, and the infrared image pickup means in the direction in which the vehicle is going to move in accordance with the steering angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle. An in-vehicle infrared image display device, comprising: imaging direction changing means (26 to 28) for directing and display means (15 to 19, 42) for displaying an infrared image obtained by the infrared imaging means. 2. The in-vehicle infrared image display according to claim 1, wherein said display means (15 to 19) displays on a windshield of the vehicle at a position corresponding to a steering angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle. apparatus. 3. The in-vehicle infrared image display device according to claim 1, wherein a pseudo image generating means (41) for generating a pseudo image according to a steering angle of a steering wheel of the vehicle and an infrared image obtained by the infrared imaging means are provided. A vehicle-mounted infrared image display device comprising: a synthesizing unit (40) that synthesizes the pseudo image and displays the synthesized image on a display unit (42).