KR20110111028A - Apparatus for camera of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is to provide a vehicle camera device that is inserted into the vehicle body to protect the camera lens in normal times, and when the visibility of the vehicle is required, the vehicle camera is exposed to the outside to ensure the visibility of the area difficult to secure by the driver of the vehicle. In doing that,
A vehicle camera apparatus according to the present invention includes a motor for generating a rotational force along a first axis of rotation, an actuator arm swinging around a second axis of rotation different from the first axis of rotation, and a rotational force generated by the motor to the actuator arm. A power transmission unit for transmitting, a slider engaged with the actuator arm for reciprocating the slide, and a camera coupled to one end of the slider, the slider having a protrusion formed on an outer surface thereof, and the actuator arm receiving the protrusion. Slots are formed.

Description

Car camera device {APPARATUS FOR CAMERA OF VEHICLE}

The present invention relates to a vehicle camera apparatus, and more particularly, to a vehicle camera apparatus that can be secured by changing the position of the vehicle camera.

Recently produced cars have a built-in camera device to expand the driver's field of view. Such a camera is located at the front, rear, or side of the vehicle, and prevents blind spots from occurring in the driver's field of view so that safety accidents such as contact or collision of the vehicle do not occur.

In particular, the rear camera is to secure the rear view of the vehicle through the display device to the driver during the reverse driving or reverse parking of the vehicle, so that the reverse driving or reverse parking can be performed more safely. Vehicles equipped with such a vehicle rear camera have recently been commonly found on roads, and related technical literature has been disclosed.

In general, a vehicle rear camera is fixedly mounted to the rear of the vehicle so that the lens portion thereof is exposed to the outside. The image photographed by the vehicle rear camera is output to the display device of the AV system of the driver's seat, and the driver can check the rear state through the display device when the vehicle is driving backward or when the vehicle is parked backward.

However, the vehicle camera mounted as described above is fixed in a state where the lens is always exposed to the outside, so that it may be easily damaged by an impact that may be applied to the vehicle, and the lens may be damaged by sand or gravel when washing or driving. .

In addition, the front and rear left and right parts of the vehicle and the lens portion of the vehicle camera have a different color, which is disadvantageous in terms of the appearance of the vehicle, there is a problem that becomes a constraint when designing the vehicle design.

The present invention has been conceived based on these points, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is usually inserted into the vehicle body to protect the camera lens, when the visibility of the vehicle camera is exposed to the outside and the driver of the vehicle It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle camera apparatus capable of securing a field of view that is difficult to secure.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a vehicle camera device for maximizing space efficiency by minimizing a path that is normally moved so that the camera lens is inserted into the vehicle body to the outside.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vehicle camera apparatus according to the present invention comprises a motor for generating a rotational force along a first axis of rotation, an actuator arm swinging about a second axis of rotation different from the first axis of rotation and the motor; A power transmission unit for transmitting the rotational force generated by the actuator arm, a slider engaged with the actuator arm for sliding reciprocating motion, and a camera coupled to one end of the slider, the slider having a protrusion formed on an outer surface thereof, The actuator arm is provided with a slot for accommodating the protrusion.

A more detailed example of a vehicular camera apparatus according to the present invention will be described later in the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

The vehicle camera apparatus according to the present invention can protect a camera lens that is easily damaged because the camera and the camera lens are inserted into the vehicle body when the camera is hidden, and thus the camera and the camera lens are not exposed to the outside. This reduces the cost of replacement.

On the other hand, when the vehicle camera device according to the present invention needs to secure the driver's field of view, the vehicle camera is slid to be exposed to the outside, so that it is possible to ensure the field of view of the area difficult for the driver of the vehicle, so that driving, stopping of the vehicle Or more safe vehicle operation when parking.

In addition, the vehicle camera apparatus according to the present invention is efficient in terms of space utilization because it minimizes the space required to switch from the camera hidden state to the camera exposure state. In addition, since the camera is exposed to the outside only when necessary, the overall design of the vehicle can be uniformed when the camera is not protruded.

The effects according to the present invention are not limited by the contents exemplified above, and more various effects are included in the present specification.

1 is a view showing a state in which the vehicle camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention the camera hidden state.
2 is a view showing a slide unit coupled to the camera, the slide cap and the slider according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view illustrating a vehicle camera apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in a camera exposed state.
4 is a view showing a coupling structure of a slider and an actuator arm of a vehicle camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle to which a vehicle camera apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various forms, and only the present embodiments are intended to complete the disclosure of the present invention, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Regardless of the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to the same components, and “and / or” includes each and every combination of one or more of the items mentioned.

Although the first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, these components are of course not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, of course, the first component mentioned below may be a second component within the technical spirit of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. As used herein, "comprises" and / or "comprising" does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other components in addition to the mentioned components.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present specification may be used in a sense that can be commonly understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, the terms defined in the commonly used dictionaries are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless they are specifically defined clearly.

The spatially relative terms " below ", " beneath ", " lower ", " above ", " upper " It may be used to easily describe the correlation of a component with other components. Spatially relative terms are to be understood as including terms in different directions of components in use or operation in addition to the directions shown in the figures. For example, when inverting an element shown in the figures, an element described as "below" or "beneath" of another element may be placed "above" another element . Thus, the exemplary term "below" can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The components can be oriented in other directions as well, so that spatially relative terms can be interpreted according to the orientation. Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described embodiments of the present invention.

1 is a side cross-sectional view showing a vehicular camera device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A vehicle camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a motor for generating a rotational force along a first rotational axis, an actuator arm swinging around a second rotational axis different from the first rotational axis, and the rotational force generated by the motor. A power transmission unit configured to transmit an actuator arm, a slider engaged with the actuator arm to slide reciprocatingly, and a camera coupled to one end of the slider, the slider having a protrusion formed on an outer surface of the actuator arm; A slot is formed to accommodate the protrusion.

The motor 10 is a device for generating power, and the type of the motor 10 is not limited. However, as will be described later, it is sufficient to generate a relatively small amount of power required to drive the slide unit including the camera 50, the slide cap 60, and the slider 40, and to move the slide unit forward and backward. A small servomotor with a control device may be used to change the rotational direction from clockwise to counterclockwise by an electrical signal. The rotational force generated by the first rotation shaft of the motor 10 is transmitted to the power transmission unit 20.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 1, the power transmission unit 20 is inserted into the first rotation shaft of the motor 10 to engage with the worm gear 21 and the worm gear 21 having the same rotation shaft, thereby changing the rotational force of which the rotation direction is changed. It may include a worm wheel 22 for transmitting to the actuator arm. The worm gear 21 has a gear tooth that protrudes helically on the outer surface and is inserted into the first rotation shaft of the motor 10 to rotate on the same rotation shaft as the rotation of the motor 10. The worm wheel 22 is engaged with the worm gear 21 to receive power, so that the worm wheel 22 rotates about a new axis of rotation perpendicular to the first axis of rotation. The worm wheel 22 may have a disk shape and may have the same shape as a general spur gear having gear teeth formed on the circumference thereof.

The rotational force transmitted to the power transmission unit 20 is again transmitted to the actuator arm 30, and when the power transmission unit 20 includes the worm gear 21 and the worm wheel 22, the actuator arm 30 is a worm wheel ( It is engaged with 22) to receive rotational force. Actuator arm 30 is rotated about a second axis of rotation perpendicular to the first axis of rotation, and more specifically, the reciprocating movement of a certain track within a range not exceeding one revolution (360 degrees) from the rotation start position, that is, FIG. It is provided to swing between the position (first position) of the actuator arm 30 in 1 and the position (second position) of the actuator arm 30 in FIG. 3. However, the first position and the second position do not mean a specific component, that is, the position of the actuator arm 30, and the actuator arm in FIG. 1 when the camera 50 is in a hidden state not exposed to the outside ( The position of the actuator 30, the position of the slider 40, the position of the camera 50, and the like are all referred to as the first position, and the position of the actuator arm 30 in FIG. 3 in which the camera 50 is exposed to the outside. The position of the slider 40, the position of the camera 50, and the like are all referred to as the second position.

More specifically, the actuator arm 30 includes a header 31 having gear teeth engaged with the power transmission unit 20 around a second rotation axis, and an arm 32 vertically extending in one direction from the second rotation axis. It may include. The header 31 may have a disk shape, and more preferably, may have a fan shape having a minimum gear tooth so that the arm 32 may swing a predetermined track while minimizing the space occupied by the header 31. When the central angle of the fan shape has a value between 90 degrees and 180 degrees, when the slider 40 is displaced in a linear direction so that the camera 50 is exposed to the outside, the arm 32 that engages with the slider 40 Proper swing trajectory can be secured.

The slider 40 engages with the actuator arm 30 to reciprocate the slide. More specifically, the slider 40 transforms the swing movement of the extended actuator arm 30 into a linear reciprocating slide movement. Slider 40 may be in the form of a slidable housing, the camera 50 is mounted on one end therein. The angle and direction in which the camera 50 is mounted is not limited, and may be mounted at different angles according to the mounting position and purpose of the camera 50. In particular, the rear camera is installed to face the ground by a certain angle so that the lane or the parking line can be identified during backward driving or parking. A slide cap 60 may be further provided on the upper portion of the camera 50 so that the slider 40 may slide to protect the camera 50 when the cover 70 is pressed in the direction in which the cover 70 is folded. Can be.

The slide cap 60 is provided to cover a part of the camera 50, and directly with the cover 70 when the camera 50 presses the cover 70 outward while moving from the first position to the second position. The cover 70 is flipped outward in contact to prevent damage to the camera 50. The slider 40 and the camera 50 may be combined to form a slide unit. Optionally, the slider 40, the camera 50, and the slide cap 60 may be combined to form a slide unit. The slide unit including the slide cap 60 is shown separately in FIG. 2. The slide unit is slid in a linear direction by the swing movement of the actuator arm 30 to slide along the sliding guide member between the first position shown in FIG. 1 and the second position shown in FIG. The sliding guide member guides the movement of the slider 40 so that the sliding guide member can move along a predetermined path. Preferably, the sliding guide member is provided in a straight line so that the slider 40 or the slide unit is positioned between the first position and the second position. To move to the shortest distance (straight line).

Specifically, the protrusions 41 are formed on the outer surface of the slider 40, as shown in FIG. 2, so that the slider 40 and the actuator arm 30 may be engaged with each other. As shown, the actuator arm 30 is formed with a concave slot 33 that can accommodate the protrusion 41 on the outer surface of the slider 40. More preferably, the slot 33 is rectangular in shape with long sides parallel to the elongated longitudinal direction of the actuator arm 30, as shown in FIG. 4. The protrusion 41 accommodated in the slot 33 has a constant thickness and is not limited in shape.

However, the protrusion 41 is to be accommodated in the slot 33, and as will be described later to move along the longitudinal direction of the slot 33, so that the projection of the cylindrical shape to minimize friction with the inner surface of the slot 33 It is preferable.

Since the slider 40 is provided to slide in a straight direction along the sliding guide member provided in a straight shape, when the actuator arm 30 swings about the rotation axis, the protrusion 41 accommodated in the slot 33 is As shown in FIG. 4, the force is applied by the inner wall of the slot 33. When the actuator arm 30 moves from the first position to the second position by swinging, the protrusion 41 directly receiving the force by the inner wall of the slot 33 and the slider 40 connected to the protrusion 41 are provided. And the camera 50 mounted on the slider 40 is also moved to the second position. At this time, since the actuator arm 30 performs the swing movement, not the linear movement, the relative position in the slot 33 of the protrusion 41 changes.

That is, in the first position where the camera 50 is not exposed, the protrusion 41 is positioned at the lowermost end of the slot 33 in FIG. 4, but as the swing movement of the actuator arm 30 proceeds, the protrusion 41 gradually increases. Moves to the center of the slot 33. As time passes, as the camera 50 is exposed to the second position, the position of the protrusion 41 approaches the bottom end of the slot 33 again through the vertex. This is the relative position in the slot 33, and the absolute height of the protrusion 41 does not change. In this way, since the protrusion 41 moves in the longitudinal direction of the slot 33 while causing repeated friction with the inner surface of the slot 33, friction inevitably occurs. Therefore, in order to minimize abrasion due to friction between the protrusion 41 and the inner surface of the slot 33, the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the protrusion 41 is preferably circular.

As described above, the power (rotational power) generated from the motor 10 is transmitted to the actuator arm 30 via the power transmission means, and is transmitted from the actuator arm 30 to the slider 40 to the slider 40. The mounted camera 50 may be exposed to the outside.

5 is a view illustrating a vehicle equipped with a vehicle camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The camera 50 for securing the view of the vehicle driver may be provided in the front and rear sides, but in FIG. 5, the rear camera having the highest need among the auxiliary cameras 50 is illustrated as an example. Unlike the conventional vehicle camera, the camera 50 mounted on the vehicle camera apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is not exposed to the outside as shown in the left figure of FIG.

Therefore, there is no risk of damage to external force due to foreign matters applied from the outside, and in particular, the camera lens can be safely protected from being broken or damaged. On the other hand, when it is necessary to secure the field of view by the camera 50, as shown in the right figure of FIG. Therefore, the slide unit moves in a direction protruding out of the vehicle to apply a force to the cover 70 that protects the slide unit. For this reason, the cover 70, which was pressed in the direction closed by the spring mounted on the rotating shaft, is rotated by a predetermined angle around the rotating shaft and is flipped. Therefore, the slide unit is exposed to the outside to secure the field of view by the camera 50 provided at its end.

To more effectively protect the slide unit including the camera 50 therein, it may have a double structure. That is, the cover 70 may have a double cover structure of the inner cover 70 'and the outer cover 70' as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the slide unit exerts an external force so that the inner cover 70 'is folded, the inner cover 70' has a structure in which the outer cover 70 '' is opened by applying an external force to the outer cover 70 '' again. Can be.

Due to the vehicle camera apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to increase the unity of the overall vehicle design, and to reduce the cost by protecting the camera 50 and the camera lens and extending its life. In addition, in the case of the rear camera actuator of the vehicle camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figure 5, the emblem can be attached to the outer surface of the cover (70). That is, when the slide unit is in the first position without requiring an additional space other than the emblem attachment space already existing in most vehicles, the cover 70 is not folded, that is, the cover 70 is closed. The outer surface of the) serves as an identification mark as the emblem, and in the second position where the camera 50 is exposed, the emblem (cover) is flipped along the rotation axis so that the rear camera is exposed so that the driver can safely drive the vehicle when reversing or stopping. Do it.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be manufactured in various forms within the scope of the present invention, and the present invention Those skilled in the art will understand that it can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention, the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and limited It is not limited to form.

10: motor 20: power transmission unit
21: worm gear 22: worm wheel
30: actuator arm 31: header
32: arm 33: slot
40: slider 41: protrusion
50: camera 60: slide cap
70: cover 70 ': inner cover
70 ': outer cover

Claims (11)

A motor for generating rotational force along the first rotational axis,
An actuator arm swinging about a second rotation axis different from the first rotation axis;
A power transmission unit for transmitting the rotational force generated by the motor to the actuator arm;
A slider engaged with the actuator arm for reciprocating a slide;
A camera coupled to one end of the slider,
The slider has a protrusion formed on the outer surface, the actuator arm is a vehicle camera device formed with a slot for receiving the protrusion. The method of claim 1,
On one side of the slider, the vehicle camera device is provided with a sliding guide member which is received in the groove of the camera actuator housing to guide the reciprocating motion of the slider. The method of claim 1,
The power transmission unit
A worm gear inserted into the arm of the motor and having the same rotation shaft as the first rotation shaft;
And a worm wheel meshed with the worm gear to transmit a rotational force whose rotational direction is changed to a rotational axis parallel to the second rotational axis to the actuator arm. The method of claim 1,
The actuator arm is
A header having gear teeth engaged with the power transmission unit around the second rotation shaft;
And a arm extending vertically in one direction from the second rotation axis. The method of claim 4, wherein
The header of the vehicle camera apparatus having a fan shape of the center angle of 90 to 180 degrees. The method of claim 1,
The slot is a vehicle camera device having a rectangular shape having a long side parallel to the longitudinal direction of the actuator arm. The method of claim 1,
The protruding portion is a vehicle camera device having a circular cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the protruding longitudinal direction. The method of claim 1,
And the slider linearly reciprocates between a first position where the camera is not exposed to the outside and a second position where the camera is exposed to the outside. The method of claim 8,
And a cover which allows the camera to be blocked from the outside when the slider is in the first position and is flipped so that the camera is exposed to the outside when in the second position. 10. The method of claim 9,
The cover is a vehicle camera device consisting of a double cover including an inner cover and an outer cover. 10. The method of claim 9,
The cover is a vehicle camera device that the emblem of the vehicle is attached to the outer surface exposed to the outside.

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