JPH07186831A - Rear flank monitoring device for car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To monitor the rear flank without generating any new projections outside a ear and without putting the car at disadvantage in its size and in cost by forming a mirror of a outside mirror device of the car into a half mirror, and arranging single or plural cameras on the back face of the half mirror. CONSTITUTION:A half mirror 2 is fixed to a case 1, and an electronic camera 3 composed of a photoelectric sensing element of an image formation optical system and CCD (charge coupling element), and having a distance measuring function, is arranged on the back face side of the half mirror 2. The lens part 4 of the camera 3 is connected to the back face of the half mirror 2 and the camera 3 by means of a bellows 5 obtained by molding a flexible material such as rubber into cylindrical- or square shape, by methods such as adhesive bonding, etc. The half mirror 2 can obtain a maximum of 65% permeability, and is externally quite the same as conventional outside mirror devices. Although the camera 3 is mounted to the half mirror, the camera is not projected outward.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle rear side monitoring device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, as a means for visually recognizing the rear side of an automobile, there is an outside mirror attached to a fender or a door. This method is extremely simple and cost effective, but it is necessary for the driver to gaze at these mirrors with the intention of seeing the rear side, and the driver was distracted only in the front. 、 If it was absent, there is a possibility that the following vehicle may pass by suddenly or the adjacent vehicle may suddenly miss, so it was not enough from the viewpoint of safe driving.

As one of the countermeasures, a small camera for surveillance is mounted outside the vehicle in addition to the existing outside mirror.
Attempts have been made to display the situation behind the vehicle on a display installed in front of the driver's seat.

In this method, the installation position of the display can be arbitrarily set, and if the position is appropriate, the driver does not have to move his or her eyes greatly as in the case of the outside mirror, and the driver's burden is also reduced. It will be reduced.

In addition, the camera is provided with a distance measuring function so that the distance to the following vehicle is constantly measured and an alarm is issued when these other vehicles approach abnormally and there is a risk of contact. This is a very good device for safety.

[0006]

As described above, the conventional method using the camera is excellent in function, but the camera becomes a new protrusion, impairing the design as a car, and another method. It is not preferable in terms of safety in the sense,
In addition, a waterproof structure is required to prevent rainwater from entering the outside of the vehicle, which is disadvantageous in terms of size and cost.

The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems, and monitors the rear side of an automobile without generating any new protrusions outside the vehicle and without disadvantage in size and cost. The purpose is to obtain a rear side monitoring device of a car that can.

[0008]

A vehicle rear side monitoring apparatus according to the present invention comprises a mirror of an outside mirror device which is a half mirror, and one or more cameras are arranged on the rear surface of the half mirror. In addition, the image taken by the camera is displayed on the display placed in front of the driver's seat. In addition, an alarm is issued under a certain condition in conjunction with the camera. Further, the rear surface of the half mirror and the camera are connected by a flexible cylindrical bellows.

[0009]

In the present invention, since the mirror of the outside mirror device is a half mirror and the camera is built in the rear surface of this half mirror, the camera does not become a new protrusion. Also, the image taken by the camera can be displayed on the display arranged in front of the driver's seat. Further, an abnormal approach on the rear side can be notified to the driver by an alarm and / or display screen display. Further, since the rear surface of the half mirror and the camera are connected by the flexible cylindrical bellows, the angle adjustment of the mirror is not hindered, and the camera section can have a waterproof function.

[0010]

【Example】

Example 1. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a top view showing a right side door mirror device which is one of outside mirror devices, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. In the figure, 1 is a case of a door mirror device, 2 is a convex half mirror made by a method such as processing a transparent parallel glass plate into a spherical shape and depositing a metal film on it, and fixing this half mirror 2 to the case 1. The method for doing this is exactly the same as in the conventional door mirror device, and therefore the description of its structure is omitted. Reference numeral 3 denotes an electronic camera having a distance measuring function, which is composed of an image forming optical system and a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD (charge coupled device), and is arranged on the rear surface (back surface) side of the half mirror 2. Four
Is a lens portion of the camera 3, and 5 is a bellows formed by molding a flexible material such as rubber into a cylindrical shape or a rectangular tube shape.
The rear surface of the half mirror 2 and the camera 3 are connected by a method such as bonding.

Next, the operation will be described. The relationship between the reflectance and the transmittance of the half mirror 2 basically has a relationship of reflectance = 1−transmittance. On the other hand, since the reflectance of the outside mirror is specified in JIS-D5707 to be 35% or more, if it is used as a half mirror, a maximum transmittance of 65% can be obtained. In this embodiment, since the half mirror 2 is the convex half mirror as described above, the function as the outside mirror is maintained as it is in the past and can be visually confirmed as before. Further, since it has a maximum transmittance of 65%, the camera 3 can photograph through it. That is, the amount of light incident on the camera 3 is 65%.
However, since the aperture of the camera 3 is considerably narrowed in a bright place in the daytime, it is sufficient to open the aperture a little less, and there is no problem at all. It is likely to be a problem in a tunnel or at night, but this is dealt with depending on whether the open F value of the lens is set to be one step brighter or the electronic shutter of the camera 3 is lengthened, but it is particularly difficult. It's not something.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the case where the door mirror device of FIGS. 1 to 3 is mounted as left and right devices 1R and 1L of a passenger car. Even though it is installed, it does not protrude outside. In FIG. 4, θHR indicates the right horizontal viewing angle of the camera section of the right door mirror device 1R, and θHL indicates the left horizontal viewing angle of the camera section of the left door mirror device 1L. The viewing angles θHR and θHL are determined by appropriately selecting the focal length of the lens unit 4 of the camera 3. As described above, the present devices 1R and 1L also have a function as a conventional door mirror device using a convex mirror, but the visual field range by this is omitted in this figure.

Example 2. Although the camera 3 is a monocular camera having a distance measuring function in the above-described embodiment, two cameras 3 are provided in one door mirror device for the purpose of further improving the distance measuring accuracy.
May be attached integrally and the distance to the object may be measured by the triangulation method.

Example 3. FIG. 5 is an overall system configuration diagram of this apparatus, and in the figure, 6 is a control unit,
It is installed in an inconspicuous place in the passenger compartment. Reference numerals 7R and 7L are displays corresponding to the left and right door mirror devices 1R and 1L, respectively, which have a built-in alarm device and are installed in an easy-to-see location in front of the driver's seat, and display right and left rear side conditions, respectively.

When the left and right rear conditions are displayed on the displays 7R and 7L in this manner, the driver does not have to swing his or her head left or right to look at the door mirror devices 1R and 1L, but only looks forward. You can also grasp the situation of the left and right sides.

Example 4. In the third embodiment, the two displays 7R and 7L are provided separately on the left and right sides. However, as shown in FIG. 6, one display may be provided and the screen may be divided into left and right.

Embodiment 5. In the third and fourth embodiments, the distance measurement function provided in the camera 3 of the door mirror device 1R, 1L is used to reduce the distance to the vehicle on the rear side or other obstacles from a predetermined value. In this case, or if the reduction rate until reaching the above distance exceeds a predetermined value, the screen display on the displays 7R, 7L, 7 is abnormal if the screens are displayed on the displays 7R, 7L, 7. It will serve to inform you of approaching. In addition, normally, the half mirror 2 of the door mirror device 1R, 1L
Check the rear side with.

Example 6. In the third and fourth embodiments, the distance measurement function provided in the camera 3 of the door mirror device 1R, 1L is used to reduce the distance to the vehicle on the rear side or other obstacles from a predetermined value. In this case, or if the reduction rate until reaching the above distance exceeds a predetermined value, if an alarm is issued from the displays 7R, 7L, 7 even if the driver is trapped only in front, You can know the abnormal approach on the side.

Example 7. In the fifth embodiment, when the distance measurement function of the cameras 3 of the door mirror devices 1R and 1L is used and the distance to the vehicle on the rear side or other obstacle becomes shorter than a predetermined value, Or, if the reduction rate until reaching the distance exceeds a predetermined value, if the display 7R, 7L, 7 is displayed on the screen and an alarm is issued at the same time, the forward gaze becomes scattered, Even if you are trapped only in the front, you can know the abnormal approach on the rear side.

Example 8. When the bellows 5 is provided as shown in the first embodiment, since the back surface of the half mirror 2 and the camera 3 have an airtight structure, rainwater and dust do not enter from the outside. The shape of the bellows 5 is made as small as possible within the range where the field of view of the camera 3 is not obstructed, and the bellows 5 can also serve as a lens hood for preventing ghost and flare during backlighting. Further, since it is flexible, it does not hinder the angle adjustment of the half mirror 2.

Example 9. In the above embodiments, the case where the present apparatus is applied to the door mirror has been described, but the present invention can be applied to other outside mirrors, for example, fender mirrors, and the same effect can be obtained.

Embodiment 10. The half mirror 2 used in the above embodiments has a reflectance of 35% or more, a transmittance of 10% or more,
The focal length during transmission is 100 m or more. By doing so, the conditions described in the operation of the first embodiment can be satisfied, and the outside mirror can fully function.

Example 11. In the above embodiments, the half mirror 2 may be only the outside mirror portion facing the lens of the camera 3 and corresponding to the viewing angle, and the other outside mirror portions may be mirrors having a reflectance of 35% or more.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the mirror of the conventional outside mirror device is a half mirror, the function as an outside mirror by the conventional visual observation is maintained as it is, and the rear surface of the mirror, that is, the mirror. Since the camera has a built-in camera, the camera does not appear as a new protrusion outside the vehicle, and there is no disadvantage in terms of size and cost. To be

Further, according to the present invention, since the image photographed by the camera is displayed on the display arranged in front of the driver's seat, the driver can see the front and can see the left and right rear sides without swinging his or her head left or right. The effect is that the situation can be grasped.

Further, according to the present invention, the abnormal approach on the rear side can be notified to the driver by an alarm and / or a screen display of the display, so that an effect of improving safety can be obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, since the rear surface of the half mirror and the camera are hermetically connected by the flexible cylindrical bellows, the flexible bellows does not interfere with the angle adjustment of the mirror. As a result, the effect of being able to prevent the infiltration of rainwater, preventing the fogging of the lens, and also serving as a lens hood can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing a rear side monitoring device for a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a usage state of the door mirror device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an overall system configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an overall system configuration diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,1R, 1L Door mirror device 2 Half mirror 3 Camera 4 Lens part 5 Bellows 7,7R, 7L display

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A rear side monitoring device for an automobile, wherein a mirror of an outside mirror device of the automobile is a half mirror, and one or more cameras are arranged on the back surface of the half mirror. 2. The rear side monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the image captured by the camera is displayed on a display arranged in front of the driver's seat. 3. The front of the driver's seat only when the distance to the object measured by the camera becomes shorter than a predetermined value or when the rate of decrease until reaching the distance exceeds a predetermined value. 2. The rear side monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein a rear side situation photographed by the camera is displayed on a display arranged at. 4. An alarm is issued when the distance to an object measured by a camera is shorter than a predetermined value or when the rate of decrease until reaching the distance exceeds a predetermined value. The vehicle rear side monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that 5. Between the rear surface of the half mirror and the camera,
It is characterized in that it is connected by a cylindrical bellows having a shape that is flexible and does not obstruct the photographing viewing angle of the camera, and the space formed by the cylindrical bellows, the half mirror and the camera has an airtight structure. The rear side monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the half mirror has a reflectance of 35% or more, a transmittance of 10% or more, and a focal length of 100 m or more during transmission. Rear side monitoring device. 7. The half mirror is only a portion corresponding to the viewing angle facing the lens of the camera, and the other mirror portions are mirrors having a reflectance of 35% or more. The rear side monitoring device according to any one of 1.