JP2000098457A - Electronic camera device with visual field switching device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] In addition to being able to switch the field of view of one electronic camera with a single mirror and projecting images in two directions on the same screen of the monitor, it is also possible to switch and display each image independently. In addition, an electronic camera device with a versatile field-of-view switching device that can be retrofitted to a vehicle is provided. An electronic camera device with a visual field switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an electronic camera and a mirror disposed in front of the electronic camera for switching the visual field of the electronic camera. The mirror 32 is pivotally supported so that the mirror 32 can be adjusted to a predetermined elevation angle with respect to the photographing lens 20L of the electronic camera 20 except for the incident light side. When the electronic camera 20 directly photographs the outside, the mirror 32 is configured to be stored below the field of view of the electronic camera 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera capable of directly photographing an external situation by changing the angle of a mirror disposed in front of an electronic camera, and also providing another visual field through the mirror. The present invention relates to an electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device capable of capturing an external situation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle can be effectively used with an electronic camera device having such a visual field switching device. When the electronic camera device with the field-of-view switching device is mounted on a vehicle, at least two electronic cameras are housed inside a door mirror housing or the like of the vehicle, and one of the electronic mirrors is mounted on the vehicle during traveling, similarly to the prior art door mirror. To photograph the situation behind and diagonally behind the vehicle and display the image on a monitor arranged in the driver's seat so that the situation can be confirmed, and the other one to confirm the situation on the side or below It is built-in, and when parking, an electronic camera device for the vehicle such as shooting the side tires of the vehicle and the front wheel tires below and the vicinity thereof with the electronic camera and projecting an image on the monitor and shifting the width. Proposed.

[0003] As a rear confirmation device using an electronic camera, for example, a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-266740, "Vehicle Rear Confirmation Camera" has been proposed. The in-vehicle rear view confirmation camera will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a partial side view of a vehicle showing the configuration of a conventional in-vehicle rear view camera, and FIG.
3 is a monitor screen on which an image captured by the vehicle-mounted rear view confirmation camera shown in FIG.

[0004] In this conventional vehicle rear view confirmation camera apparatus 200, an electronic camera 203 for rear view is provided in an interior 208 of a body 201 at the rear of the vehicle, and the electronic camera 20 is provided.
An opening 207 is provided on the surface of the body 201 where the opening 3 is provided, and the opening 207 is provided in the opening 207.
A cover 204 having an area that covers the opening is openably and closably attached to the upper edge of the opening 207 with a hinge 206, and is located on the back surface of the cover 204 within the field of view of the back confirmation electronic camera 203. It has a structure provided with a mirror 205 that reflects the blind spot of 203.

[0005] With this configuration, the electronic camera device 200 with the conventional visual field switching device opens the cover 204 upward so that the mirror 205 on the back surface of the cover 204 enters a part of the visual field of the electronic camera 203. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, the electronic camera 20 is displayed on the screen of the monitor in a portion below the horizontal line H when the vehicle moves backward.
3 is an image that directly captures the situation behind the vehicle (field of view A)
In addition, the present invention has a technical content that an image obtained by indirectly photographing a situation (field of view B) immediately below the bumper 202 by the mirror 205 can be simultaneously displayed on a portion above the horizontal line H.

[0006]

However, the former electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device requires two expensive electronic cameras and a peripheral device therefor, which is expensive as a whole. Device. The latter rear-mounted camera for in-vehicle use has a structure in which the electronic camera is housed in the vehicle and the opening 207 is covered with the cover 204, so that there is an advantage that wind noise during driving and theft during parking can be prevented. However, when the vehicle is manufactured, it must be incorporated in the vehicle in advance, and the unit price of the vehicle increases accordingly. Further, a space is required to be built in, and in a small vehicle or the like, a precious space must be devoted to the space, and there are cases where there is a restriction on a place where the space is taken. Furthermore, since the angle at which the cover 204 is opened is an angle at which the mirror 205 enters a part of the field of view of the electronic camera 203, when the vehicle retreats, the image of the situation behind the vehicle and the image immediately below the bumper are displayed on the same screen of the monitor. The image of the situation will be projected, and the area on the monitor where each image is originally projected on a small screen monitor will be narrowed, and the driver will be able to see, for example, sharp blades and wires. A very small, very small but very dangerous object is very difficult to see. The conventional electronic camera device with a visual field switching device has the above problems.

The present invention is intended to solve such a problem. When the field of view of one electronic camera is switched by one mirror and mounted on a vehicle, the vehicle is displayed on the same screen of a monitor. In addition to being able to project an image of the situation behind or to the side and an image of the situation immediately below or just below the bumper, it can also be used to switch between individual images and be installed later on the vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a general-purpose electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device suitable for use in security cameras as well as for security cameras.

[0008]

Therefore, an electronic camera device with a visual field switching device according to the present invention comprises an electronic camera and a mirror disposed in front of the electronic camera for switching the visual field of the electronic camera. In an electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device attached to a chassis and configured so as to be entirely covered with a housing except for the incident light side thereof, the mirror has a predetermined position with respect to a photographing lens of the electronic camera. It is pivotally supported so that it can be adjusted to the elevation angle, and when shooting the outside directly with the electronic camera,
The problem is solved by adopting a configuration in which the mirror is housed below the field of view of the electronic camera.

Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the field of view of one electronic camera can be switched by adjusting the angle of one mirror, and when mounted on a vehicle, the same screen of the monitor can be used. In addition to displaying the image of the situation behind or on the side of the vehicle and the image of the situation immediately below or just below the bumper, it is also possible to switch between independent images and to attach it to the vehicle afterwards Can be.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an electronic camera device with a visual field switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, an example will be described in which the electronic camera device with the field-of-view switching device according to the embodiment of the present invention is mounted as a vehicle rear confirmation device. FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle in which an electronic camera device with a visual field switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a rear portion of the vehicle as a device for checking the rear of the vehicle. FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view of the electronic camera device with the visual field switching device shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a front view of the electronic camera device with the visual field switching device shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the appearance of sunlight with respect to an electronic camera for explaining the features of the electronic camera device with a visual field switching device of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a mirror suitable for use in the electronic camera device with a visual field switching device of the present invention. FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 indicates the entire vehicle. Although the illustrated vehicle 100 is shown as a vehicle body such as a recreational vehicle (RV), the present invention relates to a bus,
It is effective when used on a body such as a truck where the rear is difficult to see. Reference numeral 1 denotes an electronic camera device with a visual field switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as “electronic camera device”). This electronic camera device 1
It is externally mounted on the rear part of the roof 101 of the vehicle 100. As will be described later, the electronic camera device 1 captures a rear view A and a lower view B of the vehicle 100 with one electronic camera, and arranges the images on a dashboard in front of a driver's seat 102. One of the electronic vehicle periphery confirmation systems capable of simultaneously projecting on a screen of a monitor (not shown) or switching as required to project either image.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the electronic camera device 1 is covered with a housing 2. In the housing 2, the upper surface of the front part 2A is formed in a streamlined shape, and the rear part 2B is formed in a substantially square cross section. An opening 3 is formed from the end surface of the rear portion 2B, that is, from the front to the lower surface. The lower surface of the front portion 2A is covered with a bottom plate 2C.
Both sides of the housing 2 are covered with side plates 2D and 2E. These top plate, bottom plate 2C, side plate 2D,
2E is formed integrally. An L-shaped transparent plate 4 is mounted in the opening 3, and the opening 3 is sealed by the transparent plate 4, and through which the incident light of an image such as a rearward and downward situation is transmitted. enter. The transparent plate 4 also plays a role of windproof and waterproof.

A common chassis 10 is mounted and fixed inside the housing 2. The chassis 10 has an electronic camera 20 at the center thereof and the rear portion 2.
A mirror device 30 is mounted on the B side, and a mirror angle switching device 40 is mounted on the front portion 2A side.

The chassis 10 has a flat plate-shaped electronic camera mounting portion 11 formed at the center and a mirror mounting portion 13 having a hood 12 formed in a U-shaped cross section at the rear, and the electronic mounting portion 13 at the front. The camera mounting portion 11 includes a mirror angle switching device mounting portion 14 formed on one side edge of the camera mounting portion 11 and having an L-shaped cross section.

The electronic camera mounting portion 1 of the chassis 10
1, a camera base 21 to which an electronic camera 20 is fixed is supported by a rotating shaft 22 so that the shooting angle of the electronic camera 20 can be adjusted.

The mirror mounting portion 1 of the chassis 10
3, a rear end of a flat, rectangular mirror base 31 is pivotally supported by a rotating shaft 33 at a front lower end of the rear. An arc-shaped guide hole 121 is formed in a rear portion below one side surface of the hood 12. A mirror 32 is attached to the inside of the mirror base 31 (the surface facing the electronic camera 20 side). In FIG. 3, the mirror base 31 is centered on a rotation shaft 33 on which the rear end of the mirror base 31 is supported. Thus, a force is exerted such that the front end is always upward, that is, clockwisely repelled by a spring (not shown). A mirror device 30 is mounted on the entire surface of the mirror base 31 on the electronic camera 20 side. Mirror base 31
A pin 34 is fixed at the center of one end face of the first side, and is inserted into the arc-shaped guide hole 121.

The mirror angle switching device 40 is mounted on the mirror angle switching device mounting portion 14 of the chassis 10. A guide pin 1 is provided at two places on the vertical plate of the mirror angle switching device mounting portion 14 with a predetermined interval.
41, 142 are implanted vertically. The mirror angle switching device 40 includes a motor 41 and a power transmission device 42.
And a slide arm 43. The power transmission device 42 includes the motor 41 and the slide arm 4.
3 and is constituted by a plurality of reduction gears, and transmits the power of a motor 41 to the mirror mounting portion 13. The slide arm 43 has a rack gear 431 formed at an upper end edge of a front portion thereof, and a linear guide hole 432 formed on a side surface on which the rack gear 431 is formed.
However, an oblique linear guide hole 423 is formed at the rear end thereof, and a linear guide hole 434 formed at an intermediate portion between the linear guide hole 432 and the oblique guide hole 423 is formed.

The slide arm 43 is connected to the L
The straight guide holes 432 and 434 are provided in the vertical plate of the mounting portion 14 for the mirror-shaped angle switching device 14, and the guide pins 141, 1
42, the pin 34 of the mirror mounting portion 13 is inserted into the oblique guide hole 433, and the rack gear 431 at the front portion thereof is mounted so as to mesh with the gear of the power transmission device 42.

Next, the operation of the electronic camera device 1 will be described. When, for example, a rear confirmation switch (not shown) provided on a dashboard or the like in front of the driver's seat 102 is turned on, the electronic camera 20 is operated, and a changeover switch (not shown) constituting a part of the rear confirmation switch is provided. ) Is switched to one, the motor 41 of the mirror angle switching device 40 is operated, and the power provided by the power transmission device 42 moves the slide arm 43 in the direction of the right arrow A in FIG. Then, the oblique guide hole 4 formed at the rear end of the slide arm 43 is formed.
The pin 34 is lifted by the 33 so that the arc-shaped guide hole 12
Move upward along 1. Therefore, the mirror base 31
Is an oblique position (oblique lower limit position) La below the field of view of the objective lens 20L of the electronic camera 20 with the rotation shaft 33 as a fulcrum.
(The position shown by the dotted line) to the upper limit diagonal position (diagonal upper limit position) Ua (the position shown by the solid line).

Next, by switching a changeover switch (not shown) constituting a part of the rear confirmation switch to the other side, the motor 41 of the mirror angle changeover device 40 reversely rotates, and the reverse power provided by the power transmission device 42 is reversed. Thereby, for example, in FIG. 3, the slide arm 43 moves in the direction of the left arrow B. Then, slide arm 4
The pin 34 is pushed down by the oblique guide hole 433 formed at the rear end of the third member 3, and moves downward along the arc-shaped guide hole 121. Accordingly, the mirror base 31 is pushed down from the oblique upper limit position Ua to the oblique lower limit position La with the rotation shaft 33 as a fulcrum.

When the mirror device 30 is at the oblique lower limit position Lb, the electronic camera 20 can take an image of the situation behind the vehicle 100 (field of view A in FIG. The condition behind the vehicle 100 can be confirmed by projecting it on the screen of a monitor (not shown). In addition, the mirror device 30 is set at
When the mode is switched to “a”, the rear field of view of the electronic camera 20 is closed, and the situation (field of view B in FIG. 1) at the lower rear of the vehicle 100 is reflected by the mirror 32 and enters the electronic camera 20 instead. Therefore, the image is projected on the screen of the monitor (not shown) of the driver's seat 102, so that the vehicle 1
The situation at the lower rear of 00 can be confirmed.

Furthermore, if the mirror device 30 is stopped at an intermediate portion between the diagonal lower limit position Lb and the diagonal upper limit position Ua, the situation behind and below the vehicle 100 can be photographed at the same time. Can simultaneously display both images. The ratio of the two images projected on the monitor screen can be adjusted by the driver adjusting the inclination angle of the mirror device 30 as necessary.

The reason that the mirror device 30 is housed in a position below the view of the electronic camera 20 during the rear view without using the mirror device 30 is that irregular reflection of sunlight is incident on the objective lens 20L of the electronic camera 20. This is because they were not allowed to do so. Now, as shown in FIG. 5, when the rear view is performed without using the mirror device 30, the mirror device 3 is not used.
0 is stored above the electronic camera 20 so as not to enter the field of view of the objective lens 20L. For example, if there is a water pool W on the ground, the sunlight is reflected on the water pool W, and the reflected light is further reflected. Is reflected on the mirror 32 and is incident on the objective lens 20L, making it difficult to see the captured image behind. In the electronic camera device 1 of the present invention, when the mirror device 30 is not used, the electronic camera device 1
To be housed below the field of view.

The image taken directly by the electronic camera 20 or the image taken indirectly through the mirror 32 is displayed on the monitor screen of the driver's seat 102 by turning the image left or right or upside down. be able to.

The viewing angle of the electronic camera 20 is preferably around 60 ° when confirming the rear field of view while traveling without using the mirror device 30. , A viewing angle of around 60 ° is not sufficient. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
If 2 is a convex mirror 32A, the viewing angle can be widened, and a viewing angle of 90 ° suitable for such a case can be obtained.

In the above description, the electronic camera device 1 is attached to the rear part 2B of the vehicle 100, and the rear and lower portions of the vehicle 100 are photographed. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment. For example, it may be attached to the side surface of the vehicle 100 so that the state of the side of the vehicle 100 and the state below the vehicle 100 are photographed and confirmed. In addition, the electronic camera device 1 of the present invention is provided not only for vehicles but also on the outer periphery of a building such as a building, a store, a house, and the like. It should be noted that it is effective even when used as a monitor device such as a camera.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the electronic camera device with the visual field switching device of the embodiment of the present invention, the visual field of one electronic camera is switched by one mirror and attached to the vehicle. In this case, the image of the situation behind or on the side of the vehicle and the image of the situation immediately below the bumper or just below the side of the vehicle can be displayed on the same screen of the monitor. A versatile electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device that can be retrofitted to a vehicle and that is suitable not only for vehicles but also for security cameras can be obtained at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle in which an electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a rear portion of the vehicle as a device for checking the rear of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the electronic camera device with the visual field switching device according to the embodiment of the present invention attached to the vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the electronic camera device with the visual field switching device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the electronic camera device with the visual field switching device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of sunlight with respect to the electronic camera for explaining the features of the electronic camera device with the visual field switching device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a mirror suitable for use in an electronic camera device with a visual field switching device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial side view of a vehicle showing a configuration of a vehicle-mounted rear-viewing camera according to the related art.

8 is a monitor screen on which an image captured by the vehicle-mounted rear view confirmation camera shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic camera device (with a visual field switching device) of the embodiment of the present invention, 2 ... Housing, 3 ... Opening of housing 2, 4 ... Transparent plate, 10 ... Chassis, 11 ... Electronic camera mounting part, 13 ... Mirror mounting Reference numeral 14: Mirror angle switching device mounting portion, 20: Electronic camera, 21: Camera base, 30: Mirror device, 31: Mirror base, 32: Mirror, 40: Mirror angle switching device, 41: Motor, 4
2 Power transmission device 43 Slide arm 431 Rack gear

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic camera and a mirror disposed in front of the electronic camera for switching a field of view of the electronic camera are mounted on a chassis, and the entirety of the electronic camera except for an incident light side is covered by a housing. An electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device configured with a divided structure, wherein the mirror is pivotally supported so as to be able to adjust to a predetermined elevation angle with respect to a photographing lens of the electronic camera, and the electronic camera is turned outward by the electronic camera. An electronic camera device with a field-of-view switching device, wherein the mirror is stored below the field of view of the electronic camera when direct photographing is performed.