JPH1178717A - On-vehicle camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To unnecessitate a stay mounting part, make the coping with every vehicle model easy and improve vibration proof by mounting an on-vehicle camera on the inside face of a front windshield of a vehicle. SOLUTION: An on-vehicle camera 10 is provided with a camera main body 20 and a case 22 storing the camera main body 20. On the inside of the case 22, a stay 24 is arranged. The stay 24 fixes the camera main body 20 at the tip part on the side of an advancing direction via a bolt 26 and sticks and fixes the case 22 at the other end 24a. The stay 24 is fixed to a plug 30a of a known falling mechanism 30 in the vicinity of a center location via a bolt 32. The plug 30a is fitted into a disc-shaped socket 30b and the socket 30b is fixed to the inside face of a front window shield 14 via an adhesive material 34. Because the camera main body 20, the camera case 22 and the stay 24, that is, the on-vehicle camera 10 is directly mounted on the inside face of the front windshield 14, vibration proof is improved and the camera 10 can be mounted on vehicles of any model.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a camera mounted on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, various on-vehicle cameras mounted on a vehicle for photographing a running environment in front of the vehicle have been proposed.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 604, 604 and the like, it is attached to a roof (sealing) portion of a vehicle via a stay.

[0003]

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a stay mounting portion for each vehicle, and since the stay is relatively long, the mounting position shifts due to the vibration of the vehicle and the camera parameters fluctuate. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned inconvenience, and to provide a vehicle-mounted camera which does not require a stay mounting portion, facilitates correspondence for each vehicle type, and improves vibration resistance. It is in.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle-mounted camera mounted on a vehicle for photographing a traveling environment in front of the vehicle. It was configured to be mounted on the inside of the front windshield. This eliminates the need for a stay mounting part, improving vibration resistance and improving image quality, making it easier to respond to each vehicle type, and mounting it close to the front windshield, so that the front windshield is reflected And the influence of disturbance light can be minimized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the camera is arranged at a position where the driving environment in front of the vehicle can be photographed through the window glass in the wiping area of the windshield wiper. Alternatively, even when the front windshield is dirty, the field of view of the vehicle-mounted camera can be easily secured by operating the windshield wiper.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the camera is unitized integrally with a rear view mirror and mounted on the inner surface of the front windshield, and the mounting fulcrum is brought close to the center of gravity of the unit. Therefore, the vibration resistance is further improved, and the adjustment of the rearward confirmation mirror becomes easy.

According to the present invention, the camera is mounted on the inner surface of the front windshield via a drop-off mechanism for dropping the camera when an external force exceeding a predetermined value is applied. It is possible to do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a shield plate is disposed in front of the lens of the camera, and the space between the lens and the shield plate is covered with boots, so that dust and the like adhere to the lens unit. It can be effectively prevented.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing a state in which a vehicle-mounted camera according to the present application is mounted on a vehicle, FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view when viewed from the outside of the vehicle. .

As shown in the figure, a vehicle-mounted camera (hereinafter referred to as a “camera”) 10 according to the present application is a front windshield (glass; hereinafter referred to as a “front glass”) of a vehicle 12.
14) on the inside of the car roof (sealing)
One unit is attached at a position near the part 16 where the operation of the driver is not hindered. The camera 10 is a known CCD
It consists of an image sensor and performs monocular viewing (photographing) of the traveling environment ahead of the vehicle.

The camera 10 includes a camera body 20 and a case 22 for housing the camera body 20, and a stay 24 is disposed inside the case 22. The stay 24 is fixed to the camera body 20 via a bolt 26 at the left end in the figure, and is adhered and fixed to the case 22 at a right end 24a (in FIG. 2).

The stay 24 is fixed to a plug 30a of a known dropping mechanism 30 via a bolt 32 near a center position. The plug 30a is fitted into a disk-shaped socket 30b. The opposing surface of the socket 30b is formed in a flat plate shape,
It is fixed to the inner surface of the windshield 14 via an adhesive means (adhesive) 34.

As a result, the camera body 20, the camera case 22 and the stay 24 are directly fixed on the inner surface of the windshield 14, as shown in FIG.

The stay 24 is bent downward below the right end 24a to form a rod portion 24b having a circular cross section, and a ball portion 24c is formed at the tip of the rod portion 24b. A rearview room mirror 36 is attached to the rod portion 24b.

The room mirror 36 is a rod 2 having a circular cross section.
4b so that the stay 24 is movable about the axis of the rod 24b and the axis orthogonal thereto.
(And the windshield 14).

As described above, the camera body 20 and the rearview mirror 36 are integrated, and the rearview mirror 36 is attached to the case 2.
Since they are separated from each other, the angle of the room mirror 36 can be arbitrarily adjusted independently of the camera body. Reference numeral 38 indicates an anti-glare switching lever.

The camera body 20 has a U-shaped frame 20a.
And an electric circuit section 20b connected thereto. FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the camera body 20.
The lens unit 20c is housed inside 0a. A harness coupler accommodating portion 42 is fixed to a portion 24 d extending from the stay 24 via a bracket 40 near the electric circuit portion 20 b while partially protruding from the case 22.

The harness coupler accommodating section 42 includes the electric circuit section 2
0b via a signal line (not shown),
It is also connected to an external image processing ECU (not shown) via a cable (not shown), and outputs an image signal to the image processing ECU.

The case 22 includes a harness coupler housing 4.
An opening 22a is formed on the side facing the arrangement position of No. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the opening 22a has a substantially circular shape, and a transparent shield plate 44 made of a glass material, a plastic material, or the like is airtightly fitted into the opening 22a.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A polarizing filter 46 is arranged inside the unit 4, and a boot 48 made of an elastic material such as rubber is arranged between the opening 22a and the lens unit 20c. Boots 48
Has a skirt shape as well shown in FIG.
Between the lens unit 20c and the shield plate 44 so as to form an airtight space between the edge of the lens unit 20c and the frame edge 20d that accommodates the lens unit 20c.

The lens unit 20c is prevented to a certain extent from the entrance of dust and the like from the outside by the case 22, but the lens unit 20c is kept more airtight by the shield plate 44 and the boots 48, and the adhesion of dust is more effective. Is prevented. The aperture of the opening 22a and the position of the lens unit 20c are appropriately determined according to the field of view (required angle of view) so as to prevent unnecessary light from entering. The pitch angle is finely adjusted and fixed via the screw 52a.
The yaw angle is finely adjusted via the screw 52b and fixed by the screw 52c.

As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 10 is disposed at a position where the driving environment ahead of the vehicle can be photographed through the window glass 14 in the wiping area 56 of the windshield wiper 54. Thus, even in rainy weather or when the windshield 14 is dirty, the field of view of the camera 10 can be easily secured by operating the windshield wiper 54.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, the camera body 20 is attached to one end of the stay 24, and the rearview mirror 36 is attached to the other end, and the stay 24 is fixed to the window glass 14 near its center. The camera body 22 weighs about 350 g, and the room mirror 36 weighs about 320 g.

Here, the camera 1 supported by the stay 24
2, the center of gravity of the camera body 20 and the case 22 and the position of the center of gravity of the rear-view mirror 36 are provided at the point A in FIG. 2 so as to be close to the mounting fulcrum 24e.

With the above-described configuration, the camera 10 and the rearview mirror 36 are less likely to resonate under the influence of the vibration of the vehicle 10, and are excellent in vibration resistance. Therefore, blurring or the like is less likely to occur, and the image quality is improved and a clear image can be obtained.

When an external force equal to or more than a predetermined value acts on the camera 10 and the rear-view mirror 36, the plug 30a comes out of the socket 30b by the above-mentioned known drop-off mechanism 30, and the camera 10 and the rear-view mirror 36 are easily detached from the windshield 14. take off.

The windshield 14 is made of laminated glass, and is coated so as to reflect infrared rays and ultraviolet rays. As shown in FIG. 2, a black ceramic print 60 is applied to the inner surface of the windshield 14. The black ceramic print 60 is applied on the inner surface of the windshield 14 substantially over the area covering the camera 10 to prevent disturbance light from entering the camera view.

Here, a supplementary explanation of the above-mentioned polarizing filter 46 will be given. In the case of fine weather or the like, as shown in FIG.
Is projected onto the windshield 14, and the projected image projected on the windshield 14 is
A phenomenon occurs in which an image of the front of the traveling road is reflected through the image, and the contrast of the image deteriorates.

FIG. 6A shows an image taken immediately before the entrance of the tunnel without the polarizing filter 46 attached.
In a traveling road situation where the front is darker than in such a vehicle interior, the reflection of the projected image on the windshield becomes remarkable, and when image processing is performed as shown in FIG. Extraction becomes difficult.

FIG. 7A shows an image when the vehicle has completely entered the tunnel when the polarizing filter 46 is not attached. In this case, the contrast has been recovered, and the white line processing shown in FIG. White lines can be recognized as shown in the results.

Therefore, in the vehicle-mounted camera 10, a polarizing filter 46 is provided on the front surface of the lens unit 20c.
Was arranged. Since the reflected light incident on the windshield 14 at a predetermined angle has a limited vibration direction, the polarizing filter 46 having the characteristic of blocking the incident light in that direction is disposed in front of the lens unit 20c, so that the reflected light can be reflected. The incidence can be greatly reduced. Incidentally, the shield plate 44 may be constituted by a polarizing filter.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show an image taken immediately before the entrance of the tunnel and a white line extraction result when the polarizing filter 46 is attached. It can be seen that the contrast of the image is improved. 9A and 9B are diagrams corresponding to FIGS. 7A and 7B, and show images and white line extraction results in the tunnel when the polarizing filter 46 is attached.

A case where vehicle control is performed using the white line extraction result obtained as described above will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

For example, the applicant of the present invention disclosed in
Based on the steering technology proposed in No. 23 or JP-A-9-128699, a target yaw rate is set in the ECU 70 including the image processing unit so that the vehicle 12 runs along the extracted white line, and the vicinity of the center of gravity of the vehicle 12 is set. A command value is calculated so as to assist the driver steering torque detected via the torque sensor 74 arranged in the steering system so as to eliminate the deviation from the output of the yaw rate sensor 72 arranged in the steering system. An appropriate assist mechanism (not shown) is driven.

As described above, since the camera 10 is directly mounted on the inner surface of the windshield 14, in other words, since the camera 10 is not mounted on the roof portion through a long stay as in the prior art, the vibration resistance is improved. Since the stay mounting portion is not required, it can be directly mounted on any vehicle type. In addition, windshield 1
4, the reflection of the windshield 14 and the influence of disturbance light can be minimized.

As described above, in this embodiment,
A vehicle-mounted camera 10 mounted on a vehicle 12 for photographing a running environment in front of the vehicle is configured such that the camera is mounted on an inner surface of a front windshield 14 of the vehicle.

Further, the camera 10 is arranged so that the driving environment in front of the vehicle can be photographed through the window glass 14 in the wiping area 56 of the windshield wiper 54.

The camera 10 is unitized with a rear view mirror (room mirror) 36 to be mounted on the inner surface of the front windshield (windshield) 14, and its mounting fulcrum 24e is positioned at the center of gravity A of the unit. , And more specifically, to match.

Further, the camera 10 is configured to be mounted on the inner surface of the front windshield (windshield) 14 via a drop-off mechanism 30 that drops off when an external force exceeding a predetermined level is applied.

Further, a shield plate 44 is disposed in front of the lens (lens unit) 20c of the camera 10, and the space between the lens and the shield plate is covered with a boot 48.

In the above-described embodiment, the camera is of the CCD type, but any type can be used as long as it can image the traveling path.

[0044]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the vibration resistance is improved and a clear image can be obtained, and at the same time, it is easy to respond to each vehicle type, and the influence of the reflection of the front windshield and disturbance light is minimized. Can be

According to the second aspect, even in rainy weather or when the front windshield is dirty, the field of view of the camera mounted on the vehicle can be easily secured by operating the windshield wiper.

According to the third aspect, the vibration resistance is further improved, and the adjustment of the rear-viewing mirror becomes easy.

According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to ensure collision safety.

According to the fifth aspect, it is possible to effectively prevent dust and the like from adhering to the lens unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing a state where a vehicle-mounted camera according to the present application is mounted on a vehicle.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view of the vehicle-mounted camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view when the vehicle-mounted camera shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from outside the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory sectional view of the vehicle-mounted camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing reflection from a dashboard of the vehicle-mounted camera shown in FIG. 1;

6 is a data diagram showing an image photographed immediately before a tunnel and an image processing result when the polarizing filter is not mounted in the vehicle-mounted camera of FIG. 1;

7 is a data diagram showing an image photographed in a tunnel and an image processing result in the case where the polarizing filter is not mounted in the vehicle-mounted camera of FIG. 1;

8 is a data diagram showing an image taken immediately before a tunnel and an image processing result when the polarizing filter is mounted on the camera mounted on the vehicle in FIG. 1;

9 is a data diagram showing an image taken in a tunnel and a result of image processing when a polarizing filter is mounted on the vehicle-mounted camera in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 vehicle mounted camera (camera) 12 vehicle 14 front windshield (front glass) 20 camera body 20c lens (lens unit) 24 stay 24e mounting fulcrum 30 drop-off mechanism 36 rear view mirror (room mirror) 44 shield plate 46 polarizing filter 48 boots 54 Windshield wiper 56 Wiping area

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle-mounted camera mounted on a vehicle for photographing a traveling environment ahead of the vehicle, wherein the camera is mounted on an inner surface of a front windshield of the vehicle. 2. The vehicle-mounted camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera is arranged at a position where an image of a traveling environment ahead of the vehicle can be taken through a window glass in a wiping area of a windshield wiper. 3. The unit according to claim 1, wherein the camera is unitized with a rearview mirror and mounted on the inner surface of the front windshield, and a mounting fulcrum thereof is brought close to the center of gravity of the unit. Or the vehicle-mounted camera according to item 2. 4. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera is mounted on an inner surface of the front windshield via a drop-off mechanism for dropping off when a predetermined or more external force is applied. The vehicle-mounted camera as described. 5. The camera according to claim 1, wherein a shield plate is disposed in front of the lens of the camera, and a space between the lens and the shield plate is covered with boots.
Vehicle-mounted camera according to any one of the above items.