JP2003081014A - Vehicle periphery monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To facilitate confirmation of the rear of a vehicle. SOLUTION: An image of the rear of a vehicle body 1 is taken from the front left and right sides 2
The side cameras 2 and 3 of the table and the rear camera 4 for monitoring the rear of the rear center of the vehicle capture an image covering all angles of view behind the vehicle 1. To respond to the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 based on the operation of the turn signal 9 and the steering wheel 8,
While switching the images from the cameras 2 to 4 and adjusting the zoom, the images are combined and displayed on the display 5 in the vehicle compartment. Blind spots can be reduced as much as possible, as compared with a conventional example in which a scene reflected on a mirror is confirmed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device capable of visually recognizing the periphery of a vehicle.

[0002]

Mirrors in automobiles play an important role in obtaining a field of view centering on the rear and to the sides. For example, the rear-view mirror (inside rear-view mirror) is located at the center of the front end of the roof or the center of the upper end of the front window in the passenger compartment, and is used for rearward confirmation through the rear window. The (side mirror) is arranged so as to face rearward from the front side portion of the vehicle, and it is possible to visually recognize not only the rear side of the vehicle but also the side portion of the vehicle.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When driving an automobile, a blind spot occurs which cannot be confirmed by a side mirror or a room mirror.

The reason why such a blind spot occurs is when the visual recognition point is outside the area of the side mirror or the room mirror, or when the field of view is blocked by a vehicle structure (pillar) or the like. There is also.

Therefore, if the driver tries to visually cover these areas, it becomes very difficult to visually recognize the vehicle while driving because the moving distance of the line of sight becomes large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle periphery monitoring device capable of visually recognizing a blind spot which cannot be covered by a mirror.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems,
According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least two side cameras mounted on the left and right sides of the vehicle body and having optical axes substantially along the side portions of the vehicle, and at least mounted on the rear portion of the vehicle to monitor the rear side are provided. One rear camera, a display placed at a position visible to the driver of the vehicle, and a control unit for displaying an image captured by each camera on the display are provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the side cameras are attached to the left and right of the front part of the vehicle body and include the side parts of the vehicle. It is arranged so as to photograph the rear side, and the angle of view of each camera is set so that the image photographed by each camera covers all the angle of view behind the vehicle.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the control unit controls all of the images taken by the cameras or one of the images. The part is enlarged and displayed on the display.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the control unit combines the images taken by the cameras. The information is displayed on the display.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the control unit laterally changes the screen of the display device into three screens. The image taken by the side camera that is divided and attached to the left side of the vehicle body is on the left part of the screen of the display, and the image taken by the rear camera is on the center of the screen of the display. The images taken by the side cameras attached to the right side of the vehicle body are arranged and displayed on the right side of the screen of the display.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the control unit displays the images captured by the cameras. When the image is displayed on the container, any one of the plurality of images is selected by a predetermined trigger, and the area of the selected image is displayed larger than the other images.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the sixth aspect, the control unit displays the selected image in a wide-angle display on the display. .

The invention according to claim 8 is the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the predetermined trigger is a direction change for predicting a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The prediction means predicts a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the selected image is the side camera installed in a direction in which the change in the traveling direction of the vehicle is predicted by the direction change prediction means. It is an image taken in.

In this specification, the terms "wide angle" and "narrow angle" refer to the case where the focal length of the camera is changed and the angle of view is changed by zooming in and out and the focal length of the camera is changed. It includes both cases of enlarging and reducing an image in the display area by electronic image processing without change.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION {First Embodiment} <Structure> FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a vehicle periphery monitoring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this vehicle periphery monitoring device includes a pair of side cameras (a first camera 2 and a second camera 3) that photograph left and right sides of the vehicle at left and right ends of the front of the vehicle 1, respectively. ) Is installed and a third camera (rear camera) 4 for shooting the rear of the vehicle 1 is installed in the rear of the vehicle 1 so as to cover all the viewing angle areas behind the vehicle 1. . Then, by displaying the images taken by these cameras 2 to 4 on the display 5 arranged in the front part of the vehicle interior, it is possible to safely check the surroundings.

More specifically, this vehicle periphery monitoring device includes the above-mentioned three cameras 2 to 4, the above-mentioned display 5, the control section 6 for controlling them, and the operation panel 7 for operating the control section 6. With.

The first camera 2 is installed on the left side surface near the front end of the vehicle 1 so as to capture a rear image including the left side surface of the vehicle 1. The first camera 2 is
By adjusting the arrangement of optical elements such as lenses, it is possible to perform zoom adjustment (enlargement / reduction) of images.

The second camera 3 is installed on the right side surface near the front end of the vehicle 1 so as to capture a rear image including the right side surface of the vehicle 1. The second camera 3 can also adjust the zoom of the image similarly to the first camera 2.

The third camera 4 is a rear camera which is installed at the center of the rear end of the vehicle 1 and takes an image of the rear of the vehicle 1. The third camera 4 also includes the first camera 2 and the second camera 2.
It is possible to adjust the zoom of the image similarly to the camera 3 of FIG.

As the display unit 5, a liquid crystal panel capable of color display of a dot matrix system is used, and is installed in an instrument panel in the front part of the vehicle compartment.

The control unit 6 has a ROM, a RAM and a CPU, and is a functional element in which the CPU operates in accordance with a procedure defined by a software program stored in advance in the ROM or the like, and in response to an operation on the operation panel 7. Each camera 2-4
And the display 5 are controlled. As various functions defined by such a software program, the area of the screen of the display device 5 can be moved in the horizontal direction in accordance with the operation of the operation panel 7 or the operation of the direction change prediction means such as the steering wheel 8 or the winker 9. Image combining function as an image processing device for appropriately selecting an image given from each of the cameras 2 to 4 and appropriately combining the divided images into divided areas, and changing the direction of the steering wheel 8 or the winker 9 or the like. It has a zoom control function for adjusting the zoom of each of the cameras 2 to 4 according to the operation of the prediction means. Each of these functions will be described in detail later in the operation description.

The operation panel 7 is a switch box equipped with, for example, push button switches, slide switches, etc., and is installed in the instrument panel at the front of the passenger compartment.

<Operation> The operation of the vehicle surroundings monitoring device having the above configuration will be described. First, when the driver turns on the ignition switch, the cameras 2 to 4, the display 5 and the controller 6 are turned on.

In the initial state, the zoom adjustment functions of the first camera 2 and the second camera 3 are set so that the photographing field angle thereof is in a narrow angle state. And
When each of the parts 2 to 6 is turned on, a rear narrow-angle image including the left side surface part of the vehicle 1 captured by the first camera 2, and
A narrow-angle image of the rear including the right side surface of the vehicle 1 captured by the second camera 3 and an image of the center rear of the vehicle 1 captured by the third camera 4 are transmitted to the control unit 6.

Here, if the operator (driver) does not perform an operation, the control unit 6 controls the rear narrow area including the left side surface portion of the vehicle 1 photographed by the first camera 2 as shown in FIG. The angle image is located on the left part 11 of the display 5, and the rear narrow-angle image including the right side part of the vehicle 1 taken by the second camera 3 is located on the right part 12 of the display 5, The images are combined such that the image of the rear of the center of the vehicle 1 captured by the camera 4 is located in the center 13 of the display 5, and the combined image is displayed on the display 5.

As described above, by composing and displaying a plurality of images of the plurality of cameras 2 to 4 on one screen on one display 5, the operator (driver) can see the situation behind the vehicle without blind spots. It becomes possible to recognize at a glance, and the safety in driving the vehicle is improved.

It should be noted that the indicator 5 mounted in the passenger compartment cannot be unnecessarily enlarged due to the condition of mounting on the vehicle. Therefore, depending on the operation status of the vehicle 1 (operation status of the steering wheel 8 and the winker 9),
An image to be displayed is appropriately selected and only a part of the images is displayed, or a specific image is switched to a wide angle to assist the operator (driver) in visual recognition.

Specifically, when the driver operates the winkers 9 to make a right turn or change lanes to the right route, the control unit 6 receives a signal from the winkers 9, and based on this, the right side The second camera 3 is controlled to switch to the wide angle. Then, the second camera 3 that has been in the narrow-angle shooting state until then switches to the wide-angle shooting state, and transmits the shot wide-angle image to the control unit 6. In addition, the control unit 6
The display of the image given from the first camera 2 on the left side is stopped on the display 5, and instead of this, the image from the third camera 4 is displayed on the left part 11 of the display 5 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the wide-angle image from the second camera 3 is displayed large on the right portion 12 and the center 13 of the display unit 5.

On the contrary, when the driver operates the turn signal 9 to turn left or change the lane to the left route, the control section 6 receives a signal from the turn signal 9 and, based on this, the left side turn signal is received. The camera 2 of 1 is controlled to be switched to the wide angle. Then, the first, which was in the narrow-angle shooting state until then
The camera 2 switches to the wide-angle shooting state and sends the shot wide-angle image to the control unit 6. Further, the control unit 6 stops the display of the image given from the second camera 3 on the right side on the display unit 5, and instead of this, a third unit is displayed on the right side unit 12 of the display unit 5 as shown in FIG. The image from the camera 4 is displayed and the first camera 2 is provided on the left part 11 and the center 13 of the display 5.
The wide-angle image from is enlarged.

As described above, all the cameras 2 to 2 are normally operated.
While the images given from 4 are all displayed in the three areas of the display 5, when the driver operates the blinker 9 to make a right / left turn or an intention to change lanes, the image in that direction is wide-angled. In addition, since the display area of the display device 5 is enlarged, it is possible to display the information required by the driver on the display device 5 with emphasis.

The display area can be switched on the screen of the display 5 of each of the cameras 2 to 4 by operating the operation panel 7. For example, the initial state as shown in FIG.
It is possible to easily switch between enlargement of the display area of some cameras as shown in FIG. 3 or 4 by a switch operation on the operation panel 7 or the like. In this way, the operator (driver)
Since the display areas of the images given from the cameras 2 to 4 can be changed according to the free will of the camera, the visibility can be improved.

Further, the zoom adjustment of each camera 2 to 4
It can also be performed by an operation on the operation panel 7 by an operator (driver) 's free will. That is, the zoom adjustment of each of the cameras 2 to 4 in the narrow-angle shooting state is performed in the initial state, and any one or a plurality of the cameras 2 to 4 is operated by the operator (driver).
By changing to the wide-angle shooting state according to the free will of the above, an image with an appropriate magnification can be displayed on the display device 5 as necessary, and thus the situation can be judged intuitively.

In the above embodiment, the winker 9 is used as the direction change predicting means for predicting that the traveling direction of the vehicle will be changed. However, as described above, the steering wheel 8 is used. Well, or
The recommended route search function of the car navigation system is used as a direction change predicting means, and the vehicle 1 is located at the point where the recommended route obtained by the recommended route search function of the car navigation system is recommended to turn left or right. Predicting that the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 will be changed, and changing the display image on the display 5 from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG. 3 or 4 based on the prediction result. May be.

In the above embodiment, three cameras 2 to 4 are used, but four or more cameras may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the control unit 6 adjusts the wide angle and the narrow angle by adjusting the zoom of each of the cameras 2 to 4. However, each camera 2 to 4 itself has a zoom adjusting function. Is not provided, the control unit 6
The wide-angle and narrow-angle may be adjusted and displayed on the display unit 5 by enlarging or reducing the images given from the cameras 2 to 4 by the image processing in (1).

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the zoom adjustment of the cameras 2 to 4 and the image layout change on the display unit 5 are performed at the same time, but only one of them may be performed.

[0038]

According to the invention described in claim 1, at least two side cameras mounted on the left and right of the vehicle body and having optical axes substantially along the side portions of the vehicle, and mounted on the rear portion of the vehicle. And at least one rear camera for monitoring the rear of the vehicle, a display placed at a position visible to the driver of the vehicle, and a controller for displaying the image captured by each camera on the display. Therefore, the blind spot can be reduced as much as possible compared to the conventional example in which the scene reflected in the mirror is confirmed. Particularly, in the invention according to claim 2, the side cameras are attached to the left and right of the front part of the vehicle body so as to photograph the rear including the side parts of the vehicle, and the angle of view of each camera is
The image captured by each camera is set to cover all the angles of view behind the vehicle, so the operator (driver) can recognize the situation behind the vehicle at a glance without blind spots. , The driving safety is improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the control unit magnifies all or part of the image taken by each camera and displays it on the display unit, an image with an appropriate magnification is displayed. Since it can be displayed on the container, it is possible to intuitively judge the situation.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the control section synthesizes the images taken by the cameras and displays them on the display, it is possible to visually recognize the images from a plurality of cameras on one screen. Therefore, an image with good visibility can be obtained.

According to the invention described in claim 5, the control section divides the screen of the display into three in the horizontal direction, and displays the image taken by the side camera attached to the left side of the vehicle body. The image taken by the rear camera is placed in the center of the screen of the display on the left side of the screen, and the image taken by the side camera mounted on the right side of the vehicle is placed on the right side of the screen of the display. The information required by the driver can be displayed on the display device so that the driver can intuitively visually recognize the information.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the control unit selects any one of the plurality of images by a predetermined trigger when displaying each image captured by each camera on the display. Since the area of the selected image is displayed larger than the other images, the information required by the driver can be displayed on the display with high accuracy.

According to the invention described in claim 7, since the control unit displays the selected image on the display unit in a wide-angle display, the information required by the driver can be displayed on the display unit without disturbing. It becomes possible to do.

According to the eighth aspect of the invention, the predetermined trigger is that the direction change predicting means for predicting a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle predicts a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and is selected. Since the image is an image taken by the side camera installed in the direction in which the change in the traveling direction of the vehicle is predicted by the direction change predicting means, the driver does not perform any special operation on the image, It becomes possible for the driver to easily recognize the situation around the vehicle on the side where the driver is about to proceed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle periphery monitoring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 vehicle 2 First camera (side camera) 3 Second camera (side camera) 4 Third camera (rear camera) 5 Display 6 control unit 7 Operation panel 9 turn signal

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yasuhiko Nishi             1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi             Auto Network Technical Laboratory Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Kobayashi             1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi             Auto Network Technical Laboratory Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Fumio Maeda             1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi             Auto Network Technical Laboratory Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5C054 FA02 FD07 FE17 FE21 HA30

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. At least two side cameras mounted on the left and right of a vehicle body and having an optical axis substantially along a side portion of the vehicle, and at least one rear portion mounted on a rear portion of the vehicle to monitor the rear side. A vehicle periphery monitoring device comprising: a camera; a display placed at a position where a driver of the vehicle can see; and a control unit that displays an image captured by each camera on the display. 2. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the side cameras are attached to left and right of a front portion of the vehicle body and are arranged so as to photograph a rear portion including a side portion of the vehicle. The vehicle periphery monitoring device is characterized in that the angle of view of each camera is set so that the image captured by each camera covers all the angle of view behind the vehicle. 3. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit magnifies the entire image captured by each of the cameras or a part of the image, and displays the image. Vehicle surroundings monitoring device characterized by being displayed on a container. 4. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit combines the images captured by the cameras and displays the combined image on the display. A vehicle surroundings monitoring device. 5. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit horizontally divides a screen of the display device into three, and a left side of the vehicle body. The image captured by the side camera attached to the left side of the screen of the display, the image captured by the rear camera in the center of the screen of the display,
A vehicle periphery monitoring device, characterized in that images captured by the side camera attached to the right side of the vehicle body are arranged and displayed on the right side of the screen of the display. 6. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit displays each image captured by each camera on the display unit. A vehicle periphery monitoring device, characterized in that one of a plurality of the images is selected at a predetermined timing and the area of the selected image is displayed larger than other images. 7. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 6, wherein the control unit displays the selected image in a wide angle and displays the image on the display. 8. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the predetermined trigger is a direction change prediction unit for predicting a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The selected image is an image captured by the side camera installed in the direction in which the change in the traveling direction of the vehicle is predicted by the direction change prediction unit. A vehicle periphery monitoring device characterized by the above.