KR20070050181A - Apparatus for controlling a rear monitoring camera of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control apparatus for an automobile rear camera, and more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling a rear camera for automobiles that enables safe driving by monitoring the rear situation at various angles.

In addition, the pan / tilt drive motor for adjusting the shooting angle of the camera installed in the rear of the vehicle up, down, left and right; A pan / tilt driver for driving the pan / tilt drive motor; An angle setting unit installed near a driver's seat of the vehicle and receiving a desired shooting angle of the camera; A position limit detector for detecting a predetermined lower limit position, an upper limit position, a left limit position, and a right limit position of the camera photographing angle; Control the pan / tilt driving unit according to the operating state of the angle setting unit, and control the operation of the angle setting unit beyond the lower limit position, the upper limit position, the left limit position, or the right limit position so as not to operate the pan / tilt driving unit. It comprises a control unit.

Car, rear, camera, angle, pan / tilt, direction

Description

Apparatus for controlling a rear monitoring camera of automobile}

1 is a side view of a vehicle equipped with a rear camera for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is an electrical block diagram illustrating a control device of a rear camera for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ***

10: transparent window 20: housing

30: body 110: control unit

115: key input unit 120: angle / focus adjustment key

121: angle adjustment key 121a: upper adjustment key

121b: lower adjustment key 121c: left adjustment key

121d: Right adjustment key 123: Focus adjustment key

125: power supply unit 130: gear shift detection unit

135a: upper limit detection unit 135b: lower limit detection unit

135c: left upper sensing unit 135d: right upper sensing unit

140: pan / tilt drive unit 145: camera device

147: Pan / Tilt Drive Motor 149: Camera

150: focusing unit 155: indicator

160: indicator drive unit 165: angle data storage unit

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control apparatus for an automobile rear camera, and more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling a rear camera for automobiles that enables safe driving by monitoring the rear situation at various angles.

In general, a surveillance system using a camera is a system that photographs a person or a vehicle passing by a camera installed in a door or a road of a building, and monitors the screen shot by a monitor installed at a remote location.

On the other hand, in recent years, with the rapid development of the electronic communication field, the vehicle is equipped with many electronic communication devices such as to call the vehicle as an electronic device for the convenience and safety of the driver, and as part of this, a rear camera system for automobiles has been proposed. have. Such a vehicle rear camera system mounts a camera at the rear of the vehicle so that the lens faces the rear of the vehicle, and outputs the screen shot from the camera to a monitor installed near the driver's seat to inform the driver of the situation behind the vehicle. It is a system that promotes safe driving by

However, according to the conventional vehicle rear camera system, even if the image is taken from a different angle when the vehicle is moving forward or backward, conventionally, the angle of the camera is properly fixed and installed according to the installation position is installed once After that, there is a problem that can not change the shooting angle of the camera.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a control apparatus for a rear camera for a vehicle that can provide a rear situation in various directions by adjusting the direction of the camera lens up, down, left, and right according to a driver's need. There is a purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, a control apparatus of a rear camera for a vehicle according to the present invention includes a pan / tilt driving motor configured to adjust a photographing angle of a camera installed at a rear of the vehicle up, down, left, and right; A pan / tilt driver for driving the pan / tilt drive motor; An angle setting unit installed near a driver's seat of the vehicle and receiving a desired shooting angle of the camera; A position limit detector for detecting a predetermined lower limit position, an upper limit position, a left limit position, and a right limit position of the camera photographing angle; Control the pan / tilt driving unit according to the operating state of the angle setting unit, and control the operation of the angle setting unit beyond the lower limit position, the upper limit position, the left limit position, or the right limit position so as not to operate the pan / tilt driving unit. It provides a control device for a vehicle rear camera comprising a control unit.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings it will be described in detail with respect to the control device for a vehicle rear camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 schematically shows a side view of a vehicle in which a rear camera for a vehicle is installed according to an embodiment of the present invention, and will be described by taking a passenger car as an example. As shown in FIG. 1, a configuration of a rear camera system for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a camera device 145 largely installed at a rear location of a vehicle; It is installed near the driver's seat of the vehicle, and is installed near the driver's seat and the indicator 155 which displays the rear situation photographed by the camera device 145, and an angle / focus adjustment key for adjusting the shooting angle and focus of the camera ( 120).

In the above-described configuration, the camera device 145 may be installed inside the vehicle body 30 around the license plate at the rear location of the vehicle, for example, the rear of the passenger car. The camera device 145 includes a housing 20 surrounding the camera device; The camera lens may include a transparent window 10 for photographing a rear situation outside the vehicle body 30 and a pan / tilt driving motor (not shown) for adjusting a photographing angle of the camera. On the other hand, the transparent window 10 installed in front of the housing 20 to prevent the external moisture from entering into the vehicle body 30 due to rain, etc., it is preferably implemented as a glass that is not easily damaged by floating dust, etc. Do. Furthermore, even if the photographing angle of the camera is adjusted, such a transparent window 10 is preferably a curved surface whose tangent is perpendicular to the photographing angle of the camera so that no interference interface occurs between the camera and the transparent window 10.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a description has been given taking a passenger car as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto, but may also be installed in a top vehicle, a van, a bus, a truck, a leisure vehicle, and the like. The structure may be changed accordingly.

2 is an electrical block diagram showing a control device of a rear camera for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electrical configuration of the control apparatus of the rear camera for a vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention is largely photographed by the camera 149 and the camera 149 installed inside the camera device 145. A pan / tilt drive motor 147 for adjusting the angle up, down, left and right; A pan / tilt driving unit 140 for driving the pan / tilt driving motor 147; A focus adjuster 150 for adjusting a focus of the camera 149 lens; An indicator driver 160 for driving the indicator 155 for displaying the rear image captured by the camera 149 in real time; A power supply 125 for supplying appropriate power to each part of the system; A key input unit 115 used to receive an angle value and a focus adjustment value of the camera according to an operation state of the angle / focus adjustment key 120; An upper limit detector 135a for detecting a predetermined upper limit position of the camera photographing angle, a lower limit detector 135b for detecting a lower limit position, a left limit detector 135c for detecting a left limit position, A right cold detector 135d for detecting a right limit position; A gear shift detection unit 130 for sensing shift from neutral to reverse gear or shifting from neutral to forward gear; The angle data storage unit 165 in which the preset camera angle data when the vehicle is moved forward and the preset camera angle data when the vehicle is backed up may be included, and the controller 110 may collectively control the overall configuration of the system.

In the above-described configuration, the camera 149 may be implemented with a conventional CCD camera.

Next, the pan / tilt driving motor 147 may be implemented as a conventional DC motor, and the shaft of the molon pan / tilt driving motor 140 is equipped with a reduction gear (not shown) for reducing the rotation speed thereof. Could be. The pan / tilt driver 140 supplies or cuts power to the pan / tilt drive motor 147 under the control of the controller 110, and may be implemented by a conventional transistor circuit.

Next, the indicator 155 may be formed of a conventional CRT or LCD panel, and the power supply 125 may convert an electric power from a vehicle battery (not shown) and the vehicle battery into a form suitable for each part of the system. Can be implemented with a DC converter.

Next, the angle / focus adjusting key 120 may be installed in the vicinity of the driver's seat, for example, on the side of the handle so that the driver can easily operate while driving. On the other hand, the specific configuration of the angle / focus adjustment key 120, the upper adjustment key 121a for adjusting the upper angle of the camera 149, the lower adjustment key 121b for adjusting the lower angle of the camera 149, In the center of the angle adjustment key 121 and the angle adjustment key 121, which are composed of a left adjustment key 121c for adjusting the left angle of the camera 149 and a right adjustment key 121d for adjusting the right angle of the camera 149. It is positioned and consists of a focus adjustment key 123 for focusing the shooting screen.

In addition, the angle adjustment key 121 may be implemented as a general push button and an on / off switch element. For example, the direction of the camera 149 moves to the right while the driver pushes the right adjustment key 121d. When the driver stops pushing the right adjustment key 121d, the movement of the camera 149 stops. The focus adjustment key 123 may be implemented as a general rotary switch. For example, when focus is not achieved due to the operation of the angle adjustment key 121, the focus adjustment key 123 is operated to focus. On the other hand, the arrangement of each key in the angle / focus adjustment key 120 is not limited to this may be appropriately changed according to the installation position.

Next, the upper limit detector 135a, the lower limit detector 135b, the left limit detector 135c, and the right limit detector 135d may be implemented as limit switches installed in place of the housing 20. For example, the upper limit detector 135a detects when the photographing angle of the camera 149 is 20 ° upward, and the lower limit detector 135b detects that the photographing angle of the camera 149 is 30 ° downward. And the left detection unit 135c detects when the photographing angle of the camera 149 becomes 40 ° in the left direction, and the left detection unit 135d detects the photographing angle of the camera 149 in the right direction. It can be implemented by detecting when the 40 °.

Of course, this angle may be appropriately changed by the installation position of the camera device 145 or the like. The gear shift detecting unit 130 is configured to detect the state of the reverse gear and the forward gear of the vehicle, and may use the detection signal from the reverse detecting unit installed in the vehicle as it is.

Next, the display driver 160 is responsible for supplying or cutting off power to the display 155 under the control of the controller 110. For example, the display driver 160 may be implemented as a transistor circuit. The signal transmission between the camera 149 and the indicator 155 may be made of a conventional A / V jack, in which case the camera 149 is in a signal form suitable for processing the captured image signal in the indicator 155. Will be provided.

Next, the control unit 110 may be formed of a microprocessor to control the pan / tilt driving unit 140 according to the operation state of the angle / focus adjusting key 120 and to control the focus adjusting unit 150. In addition, the controller 110 is stored in the angle data storage unit 165 when the gear state of the vehicle recognizes the conversion from the neutral to the reverse gear or the conversion from the neutral to the forward gear through the gear shift detecting unit 130. The angle of the camera 149 is automatically converted according to the angle setting. For example, when the shift to the reverse gear is detected, the shooting angle in the downward direction of the camera 149 is automatically adjusted to the preset angle, for example, 20 °, in the angle data storage unit 165 without the driver's operation. When the shift from the reverse gear to the forward gear is sensed, the photographing angle in the downward direction of the camera 149 is automatically adjusted to a preset angle, for example, 0 °, in the angle data storage unit 165. By doing so, it is possible to provide an automatically set rear screen without any manipulation of the angle / focus adjustment key 120 when the vehicle is in the forward and backward states.

On the other hand, the control unit 110 does not operate the pan / tilt driving unit 140 to operate the angle adjustment key 121 exceeding the limit, even though the angle of the camera 149 reaches each limit in the up, down, left, and right directions. Will not.

The control apparatus of the rear camera for a vehicle of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be variously modified and implemented within the range permitted by the technical idea of the present invention.

According to the control device for a vehicle rear camera of the present invention as described above, by allowing the driver to adjust the direction of the camera lens up, down, left and right according to the needs of the driver, the driver can accurately recognize the situation of the rear to enable safe parking and driving. It's effective.

In addition, when the driver shifts the gear of the car from the neutral to the forward gear or the neutral to the reverse gear, the rear camera is automatically adjusted at a predetermined angle, thereby providing a rear screen suitable for changing the driving situation without any key operation. have. Furthermore, by providing a focus adjusting unit that adjusts the focus of the rear screen according to the change of the camera angle, there is an effect of providing a natural rear screen.

Claims (3)

A pan / tilt drive motor that adjusts the photographing angle of the camera installed at the rear of the vehicle up, down, left and right; A pan / tilt driver for driving the pan / tilt drive motor; An angle setting unit installed near a driver's seat of the vehicle and receiving a desired shooting angle of the camera; A position limit detector for detecting a predetermined lower limit position, an upper limit position, a left limit position, and a right limit position of the camera photographing angle; Control the pan / tilt driving unit according to the operating state of the angle setting unit, and control the operation of the angle setting unit beyond the lower limit position, the upper limit position, the left limit position, or the right limit position so as not to operate the pan / tilt driving unit. Control device for a vehicle rear camera comprising a control unit. The method of claim 1, And a focus adjusting unit for adjusting a focus of the camera lens. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The vehicle further includes a gear shift detection unit for detecting a shift from the gear neutral to the reverse gear or a shift from the gear neutral to the forward gear, And the control unit controls to adjust the camera to a predetermined angle when a shift to the reverse gear or the forward gear is detected through the gear shift detecting unit.

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