JP2010047227A - Camera device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect a camera from an impact by a flying object outside a vehicle and improve a work efficiency for maintenance and check of the camera in a camera device for vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The camera device 60 for vehicle includes cameras 61L, 61R and camera guards 64L, 64R. The cameras are arranged near a bumper 23 in the vehicle 10 so as to recognize a situation outside the vehicle through an image. Each of the camera guards includes a guard section and a housing, and it is detachably attached to the bumper. The guard section protects the camera from the impact by the flying object outside the vehicle, and has a predetermined transmittance required for image recognition of the camera. The housing holds the guard. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular camera apparatus in which a camera is installed in the vicinity of a bumper so as to recognize a situation outside a vehicle by an image.

In recent years, vehicle camera devices have been developed so that a driver can quickly recognize the situation outside the vehicle. The vehicle camera device captures a situation outside the vehicle with a camera and displays the image on a display device provided in the passenger compartment. For example, various types of vehicle camera devices that can recognize the situation outside the vehicle during night driving are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-308812 A

  The vehicle camera device known from Patent Document 1 has an infrared camera installed at the center of the front of the vehicle body, and images taken by the infrared camera are projected on a display device provided in the passenger compartment. is there.

  By the way, while the vehicle is running, various flying objects such as stepping stones from the road surface may fly to the camera. In order to protect the camera from the impact of such flying objects, it is preferable to arrange the camera inside the vehicle body. It is conceivable that the camera lens is protected by a guard. However, when the camera is maintained and inspected (including cleaning), the guard portion becomes an obstacle. There is room for improvement to improve workability when maintaining and inspecting the camera.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a technology for a camera device for a vehicle that can protect the camera from impacts caused by flying objects outside the vehicle and can improve the maintenance and inspection workability of the camera.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes a camera and a camera guard, and the camera is disposed in the vicinity of the bumper inside the vehicle so as to recognize a situation outside the vehicle by an image, and the camera guard includes the camera. A vehicular camera device comprising a guard portion that protects against impacts from flying objects outside the vehicle and has a predetermined video transparency necessary for image recognition of the camera, and a housing that holds the guard portion. The camera guard is detachably attached to the bumper.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the bumper includes a grille having a louver extending in the vehicle width direction, and the camera guard is supported at least partially by the louver. It is attached to the bumper via this louver.

  The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that in claim 2, the louver further has a flange on the lower surface side, and the camera guard is supported by being fixed to the flange. To do.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the camera guard is bolted to the bumper only at one end in the vehicle width direction, and the other end of the camera guard in the vehicle width direction is at least outward of the vehicle. The bumper is latched by an engagement mechanism for preventing the drop-off.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a camera guard for protecting a camera disposed in the vicinity of the bumper inside the vehicle is detachably attached to the bumper. For this reason, the camera can be easily maintained and inspected (including cleaning) by removing the camera guard. Therefore, the maintenance and inspection workability of the camera can be improved. Moreover, the camera can be sufficiently protected by the camera guard against impacts caused by flying objects outside the vehicle.

  In the invention according to claim 2, the bumper is provided with the grill. The grill has a louver extending in the vehicle width direction, and uses the louver to support at least a part of the camera guard. For this reason, a camera guard becomes a structure attached to the bumper via the louver. As described above, the louver also serves as a support member for supporting the camera guard in addition to the role of guiding the wind direction in the grill. Therefore, the structure of the support member can be simplified. In addition, the support rigidity can be increased by supporting the camera guard with the louver.

  In the invention which concerns on Claim 3, it has a flange further on the lower surface side of the louver extended in a vehicle width direction. By fixing the camera guard to the flange, the camera guard is supported by a louver. For this reason, when the front portion of the vehicle is viewed from the front upper side, a portion for fixing the camera guard to the louver is hidden under the louver, so that it is not noticeable. Accordingly, the appearance of the vehicle can be sufficiently ensured despite the camera guard being fixed to the louver.

  In the invention according to claim 4, since only one end in the vehicle width direction of the camera guard is bolted to the bumper and the other end in the vehicle width direction is hooked to the bumper, the number of bolting points is small. I'm sorry. For this reason, it is very easy to assemble the camera guard to the bumper. Moreover, the other end of the camera guard in the vehicle width direction is hooked to the bumper by at least an engagement mechanism that prevents the vehicle from falling off the vehicle. There is no worry of falling outside.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. "Front", "Rear", "Left", "Right", "Up", "Down" follow the direction seen from the driver, Fr is front, Rr is rear, Le is left, Ri is right Indicates.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front portion of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle camera device according to the present invention. The front portion of the vehicle 10 includes a bumper face 12 that covers the front surface of the vehicle body 11, left and right front fenders 13 and 13 that cover the front side surface of the vehicle body 11, and a hood 14 that covers the front upper opening of the vehicle body 11 so that the opening can be opened and closed. And an enclosed engine room 15 (power plant accommodation room 15).

  The front part of the vehicle body 11 has a configuration in which a bumper beam 22 is spanned between the front ends of the left and right front side frames 21, 21 extending in the front-rear direction. The front side of the bumper beam 22 is covered by the bumper face 12. The combined structure of the bumper face 12 and the bumper beam 22 constitutes a bumper 23 (front bumper). The bumper 23 includes left and right grills 30 </ b> L and 30 </ b> R on the bumper face 12. These grills 30 </ b> L and 30 </ b> R introduce cooling air (including traveling air) to a radiator (not shown) mounted in the engine room 15.

  The vehicle 10 further includes a vehicle camera device 60. The vehicle camera device 60 enables the driver to quickly recognize the situation outside the vehicle. Such a vehicular camera device 60 is used as a night vision device using an infrared camera in order to compensate for the lack of visual information under headlight irradiation during night driving. The vehicle camera device 60 includes, for example, left and right cameras 61L and 61R, a control unit 62, and a display unit 63 as basic components.

  The left and right cameras 61L and 61R are for recognizing a situation outside the vehicle by an image, and are composed of, for example, an infrared camera. These cameras 61L and 61R are arranged in the vicinity of the bumper 23 in the interior of the vehicle 10 (for example, the engine room 15) so as to capture the situation in front of the vehicle 10, and are removed from the vehicle body 11 (for example, the bumper beam 22). It is attached as possible.

The control unit 62 processes the video information received from the left and right cameras 61L and 61R and various types of information received from other sensors, and then emits the information to the display unit 63.
The display unit 63 displays various types of information received from the control unit 62 (including video information of the left and right cameras 61L and 61R). For example, the display unit 63 displays images captured by the left and right cameras 61L and 61R. This display part 63 consists of a head up display (HUD) arrange | positioned in the upper part of the instrument panel 17 in the compartment 16, for example.

  Incidentally, the vehicle camera device 60 includes left and right camera guards 64L and 64R. These camera guards 64L and 64R are individually attached to the bumper 23 via the left and right grills 30L and 30R. Hereinafter, the left grill 30L and the left camera guard 64L will be described in detail. Note that the right grill 30R and the right camera guard 64R have the same configuration as the left grill 30L and the left camera guard 64L except that they are bilaterally symmetric.

  FIG. 2 is a view of the left grill and the left camera guard shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the front side of the vehicle. FIGS. 3A to 3C are explanatory views of the left grille and the left camera guard shown in FIG. 2, and are also shown in FIG. 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the left grill 30L is a substantially rectangular member elongated in the vehicle width direction when viewed from the front, and includes one frame 31, one louver 41, and two louver support stays 51L. , 51R. Such a left grill 30L has a basic grill shown in FIG. 3 (a), and the basic grill is processed as shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 3 (c). A guard 64L can be attached. Hereinafter, the left grill 30L is abbreviated as “grill 30L”, the left camera guard 64L is abbreviated as “camera guard 64L”, and the left camera 61L (see FIG. 1) is denoted as “camera 61L”. Abbreviated.

  More specifically, in the grill 30L shown in FIG. 3A (that is, the basic grill 30L), the frame body 31 is a substantially rectangular frame that is elongated in the vehicle width direction when viewed from the front. It penetrates in the direction of the paper. The frame 31 includes left and right side plates 32 and 33 in a front view, a top plate 34 that blocks between the upper ends of the left and right side plates 32 and 33, and a bottom plate 35 that blocks between the lower ends of the left and right side plates 32 and 33. Consists of. Further, the frame body 31 has a plurality of frame mounting stays 52 for mounting on the bumper face 12 (see FIG. 1). By snap fitting and bolting these frame mounting stays 52 to the bumper face 12, the grill 30 </ b> L can be detachably attached to the bumper 23.

  The louver 41 is a plate for guiding the wind direction, which has a substantially horizontal flat plate shape elongated in the vehicle width direction. The louver 41 is stretched between the left and right side plates 32 and 33 at the height center position in the frame 31. In the louver 41, the thicknesses of the base portions 42L and 42R at both the left and right ends and the thicknesses of the stay base portions 43L and 43R where the louver support stays 51L and 51R are provided are set to be thicker than the other portions.

  Each of the louver support stays 51L and 51R is a standing plate that is disposed at a substantially equal pitch between the left and right side plates 32 and 33 and is spanned between the top plate 34 and the bottom plate 35, and is formed integrally with the louver 41. ing. For this reason, the louver 41 is supported by the louver support stays 51L and 51R.

  When it is not necessary to provide the camera guard 64L on the grill 30L, the grill 30L having the basic configuration shown in FIG. 3A may be attached to the bumper face 12 (see FIG. 1). On the other hand, when the grille 30L includes the camera guard 64L, additional processing is performed. The procedure for additional processing is as follows.

  First, in FIG. 3A, about 1/3 of the louver 41 on the right side of the front view is cut off, and the louver support stay 51R on the right side is cut off. That is, the position indicated by the mark “Δ” in FIG. When this result is shown in FIG.3 (b), the part 41A shown by the imaginary line is excised. For this reason, the space Sp is formed in the frame 31 by being cut out. This space Sp is appropriately referred to as a “guard mounting space Sp”.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the base portion 42R at the right end of the louver 41 has only a base portion 44 (hereinafter referred to as “base base portion 44”) with respect to the right side plate 33 protruding toward the guard mounting space Sp. It remains in the state. As a matter of course, the base base portion 44 faces the right end portion 45 remaining in the louver 41 after being cut. The right end portion 45 is appropriately referred to as “louver end 45”.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a flange 46 made of another member is fixed to the lower surface of the louver 41 near the louver end 45 by a fixing method such as welding, bonding, or screwing.
Next, by inserting the camera guard 64L into the guard mounting space Sp shown in FIG. 3B, the camera guard 64L is attached to the grill 30L as shown in FIG. 3C. This completes the additional machining operation.

  Thus, since the camera guard 64L is a separate member for the grill 30L and additional processing is performed only when necessary, the grill 30L can be shared regardless of the presence or absence of the camera guard 64L. For this reason, the productivity of the grill 30L increases. Therefore, cost can be reduced.

  4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the grill and camera guard shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is an exploded view of an engagement mechanism for engaging the camera guard with the grill shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the louver 41 has a cross-sectional shape (a cross-sectional shape viewed from the vehicle width direction) formed in a V shape (tapered shape) that tapers from the rear to the front of the vehicle. That is, the cross-sectional shape of the louver 41 is a shape obtained by bending the plate into a V shape. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cross-sectional shape of the base portion 44 of the louver 41 with respect to the right side plate 33 is also formed in a V shape (tapered shape) corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the louver 41. . The rear end of the base portion 44 is an open end.

  The right side plate 33 has a recess 36 that is cut out in accordance with the shape inside the base root portion 44. The recess 36 penetrates in the thickness direction of the right side plate 33 and the rear end side of the right side plate 33 is open. In this manner, the recess 36 is formed in a V shape (tapered shape) that tapers forward from the rear end of the right side plate 33. The bottom 37 in the recess 36 is appropriately referred to as a “locking end 37”.

  The louver 41 has a flat plate-like flange 46 that extends forward and downward from the lower surface near the louver end 45.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the camera guard 64L is disposed in the vicinity of the lens 61a in the camera 61L, that is, immediately before. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 to 6, the camera guard 64 </ b> L includes a guard portion 70 and a housing 80. The housing 80 is a resin molded product, and is formed of a substantially rectangular frame in front view that matches the guard mounting space Sp. The housing 80 penetrates in the vehicle front-rear direction (the front and back direction in the drawing), and the left and right side plates 81 and 82 and the top plate 83 that covers the upper ends of the left and right side plates 81 and 82 when viewed from the front. The bottom plate 84 is formed by closing the lower ends of the left and right side plates 81 and 82.

  The guard unit 70 protects the camera 61L from the impact of the flying object Fy (see FIG. 4) outside the vehicle, and has predetermined image transparency necessary for image recognition of the camera 61L, and is held by the housing 80. ing. More specifically, the guard unit 70 is an aggregate of a plurality of piano wires 71. The plurality of piano wires 71 are horizontally stretched between the left and right side plates 81 and 82 at the rear end portion of the housing 80, and are arranged at substantially equal pitches in the vertical direction. These piano wires 71 are located close to the lens 61a of the left camera 61L (see FIG. 4).

  The diameters of the piano wires 71 and the pitch between the piano wires 71 are set so as to have predetermined video transparency necessary for video recognition of the left camera 61L. For example, the performance of protecting the camera 61L from the impact by the flying object Fy (see FIG. 4) can be improved by setting the pitch between the piano wires 71 small. However, if the pitch between the piano wires 71 is too small, the predetermined video transparency necessary for video recognition of the camera 61L is affected. The pitch between the piano wires 71 is set with sufficient consideration.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the right side plate 82 of the housing 80 has a first latching portion 91 that is substantially L-shaped in plan view on the outer surface. The first latching portion 91 includes a hanging portion 91a extending from the outer surface of the right side plate 82 to the vehicle width center side (left side in FIG. 4), and a retaining portion 91b extending forward from the tip of the hanging portion 91a. Become. The hook 91a is disposed at a position where it can be fitted into the recess 36 (see FIG. 6) of the grill 30L when the housing 80 is fitted into the guard mounting space Sp of the grill 30L. The configuration of the combination of the first latching portion 91 and the locking end 37 of the grill 30L (the bottom 37 of the recess 36) forms a first engagement mechanism 92 (see FIG. 4).

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the right side plate 82 has a second latching portion 93 on the rear end surface. The second latching portion 93 extends from the rear end of the right side plate 82 toward the vehicle width center side. The second hooking portion 93 is disposed at a position where the second hooking portion 93 can be hooked on the rear end of the right side plate 33 in the grill 30L when the housing 80 is fitted in the guard mounting space Sp of the grill 30L. The configuration of the combination of the rear end of the right side plate 33 in the grill 30L and the second latching portion 93 forms a second engagement mechanism 94 (see FIG. 4).
It should be noted that at least one of the first engagement mechanism 92 and the second engagement mechanism 94 is sufficient.

  On the other hand, a fitting groove 95 for slightly fitting the louver end 45 is formed on the outer surface of the left side plate 81 in the housing 80. The fitting groove 95 is formed in a V shape (tapered shape) according to the shape of the louver end 45 so that the louver end 45 can be fitted from the vehicle width direction, and the rear end is opened. ing. Since the louver end 45 is only slightly fitted into the fitting groove 95, the groove depth of the fitting groove 95 may be shallower than the thickness of the left side plate 81.

  Further, the left side plate 81 has a through hole 96 at the rear end portion of the bottom 95 a of the fitting groove 95. The through hole 96 penetrates in the thickness direction of the left side plate 81, and prevents the left side plate 81 from interfering with the louver end 45 when the housing 80 is fitted into the guard mounting space Sp of the grill 30L. It serves as an escape hole for. This through hole 96 is appropriately referred to as “relief hole 96”.

  By the way, in the left side plate 81, the piano wire 71 cannot be stretched on the portion having the escape hole 96. For this reason, the housing 80 has a wire fixing portion 97 in the vicinity of the escape hole 96, and one end of the piano wire 71 is stretched on the wire fixing portion 97.

  Further, the left side plate 81 has a support stay 98 extending from the outer surface to the left side in the vehicle width direction. The support stay 98 is located just below the lower edge of the fitting groove 95 and is formed of a flat plate extending rearward and downward. The support stay 98 can be overlapped with the flange 46 of the louver 41 from the front and bolted.

  Next, a procedure for attaching and removing the camera guard 64L to the grill 30L will be described. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view for explaining a procedure for attaching the camera guard to the grill shown in FIG.

The procedure for attaching the camera guard 64L to the grill 30L is as follows.
First, the housing 80 is inserted into the guard mounting space Sp of the grill 30L while the left rear end 80a of the housing 80 is inclined toward the louver end 45 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 7 with respect to the grill 30L (arrow A1). .

  Next, the housing 80 is further inserted into the guard mounting space Sp while the escape hole 96 of the housing 80 is inserted into the louver end 45. As a result, the housing 80 is in a state indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. At this time, the first latching portion 91 faces the recess 36.

Next, the housing 80 indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 7 is rotated toward the recess 36 (arrow A2). As the housing 80 is turned, the hook portion 91a of the first hook portion 91 is hooked on the bottom 37 (locking end 37) of the recess 36, and the left rear end 80a of the housing 80 enters the guard mounting space Sp and is supported. The stay 98 overlaps the flange 46 of the louver 41. As shown in FIG. 4, the right side plate 33 in the frame 31 is sandwiched between the right side plate 82 of the housing 80 and the retaining portion 91 b in a state where the hook portion 91 a is hooked on the locking end 37. It will be in the state.
Finally, as shown in FIG. 7, the support stay 98 is attached to the flange 46 with one bolt 99, and the attaching operation is completed.

  In this way, only one end portion of the camera guard 64L in the vehicle width direction (that is, the left side plate 81) is bolted to the grill 30L. The other end of the camera guard 64L in the vehicle width direction (that is, the right side plate 82) is hooked on the grill 30L by the first engagement mechanism 92 shown in FIG. The first engagement mechanism 92 prevents the right side plate 82 from falling off at least outward of the vehicle (vehicle front and vehicle width direction).

Thereafter, the procedure for removing the camera guard 64L from the grill 30L may be performed in the reverse order of the above attachment procedure.
As is clear from the above description, in FIG. 1, the camera guard 64L is detachably attached to the grill 30L. The grill 30L is attached to the bumper face 12 of the bumper 23. As a result, the camera guard 64L is detachably attached to the bumper 23.

The operation of the vehicle camera device 60 having the above-described configuration is as follows.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the vehicle camera device 60 includes left and right camera guards 64 </ b> L for protecting left and right cameras 61 </ b> L and 61 </ b> R disposed in the vicinity of the bumper 23 inside the vehicle 10. 64R is detachably attached to the bumper 23. For this reason, the cameras 61L and 61R can be easily maintained and inspected (including cleaning) by removing the camera guards 64L and 64R. Accordingly, the maintenance and inspection workability of the cameras 61L and 61R can be improved. In addition, the cameras 61L and 61R can be sufficiently protected by the camera guards 64L and 64R against the impact of the flying object Fy (see FIG. 4) outside the vehicle.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the left camera guard 64L has a fitting groove 95 at one end in the vehicle width direction (that is, the left side plate 81 in the housing 80). . The louver end 45 is slightly fitted in the fitting groove 95. For this reason, the louver 41 can support the camera guard 64L even by fitting. Moreover, since the louver 41 supports the camera guard 64L by fitting, the support rigidity is large. Accordingly, the camera guard 64L can be fastened to the louver 41 with the bolt 99 only at one place. The assembly of the camera guard 64L to the bumper 23 is even easier.

That is, the louver 41 is used to support at least a part of the left camera guard 64L. For this reason, the camera guard 64L is attached to the bumper 23 via the louver 41. As described above, the louver 41 serves as a support member for supporting the camera guard 64L in addition to the role of guiding the wind direction in the grill 30L. Therefore, the structure of the support member can be simplified. In addition, by supporting the camera guard 64L with the louver 41, the support rigidity can be increased.
The same applies to the support of the right camera guard 64R.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, by fixing the left camera guard 64 </ b> L to the flange 46 provided on the lower surface side of the louver 41 extending in the vehicle width direction, the camera is used by the louver 41. The guard 64L is supported. For this reason, when the front portion of the vehicle 10 (see FIGS. 1 and 5) is viewed from the front upper side, a portion for fixing the camera guard 64L to the louver 41 is hidden under the louver 41 and is not conspicuous. Therefore, although the camera guard 64L is fixed to the louver 41, the appearance of the vehicle 10 can be sufficiently ensured.
The same applies to the support of the right camera guard 64R.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the left camera guard 64 </ b> L holds only one end in the vehicle width direction (that is, the left side plate 81 in the housing 80) on the bumper 23 with a bolt 99. The other end in the vehicle width direction (that is, the right side plate 82 in the housing 80) is hung on the bumper 23. Therefore, the number of bolting points can be reduced. For this reason, the assembly of the camera guard 64L to the bumper 23 is extremely easy. In addition, the other end of the camera guard 64L in the vehicle width direction is hung on the bumper 23 by at least the engagement mechanism 92 and / or 94 that prevents the vehicle 10 from dropping out. Even if it is not, there is no concern that the camera guard 64L will drop out of the vehicle 10.
The same applies to the support of the right camera guard 64R.

In the present invention, the cameras 61L and 61R are not limited to the configuration of the infrared camera, and can be applied to various types.
Further, the cameras 61L and 61R are not limited to the configuration arranged in the front portion of the vehicle 10. For example, the camera 61L and 61R may be arranged at the rear part of the vehicle 10, or the cameras 61L and 61R may be arranged at both the front and rear of the vehicle 10.

Moreover, what is necessary is just to match | combine the arrangement | positioning of the camera guards 64L and 64R with the arrangement | positioning of the cameras 61L and 61R. The camera guards 64 </ b> L and 64 </ b> R may be configured to be detachably attached to the bumper 23, and may be attached to the bumper beam 22, for example.
Further, when only one camera 61L or 61R is provided for the vehicle 10, this one camera may be arranged at the vehicle width center position or one of the left and right sides of the vehicle 10.

  Further, the number of louvers 41 provided on the left and right grills 30L and 30R is not limited to one, but is arbitrary.

  The vehicular camera device 60 of the present invention is suitable for use in a device that can recognize the situation outside the vehicle during night driving.

It is a perspective view of the front part of the vehicle provided with the camera device for vehicles concerning the present invention. It is the figure which looked at the left grill and left camera guard shown in FIG. 1 from the vehicle front side. It is explanatory drawing of the left grille and left camera guard which were shown by FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the grill and camera guard shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an engagement mechanism that engages a camera guard with the grill shown in FIG. 2. It is explanatory drawing explaining the attachment procedure of the camera guard with respect to the grill shown by FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle, 11 ... Vehicle body, 12 ... Bumper face, 22 ... Bumper beam, 23 ... Bumper, 30L, 30R ... Grill, 41 ... Louver, 46 ... Flange, 45 ... Louver end, 60 ... Vehicle camera device, 61L, 61R ... Camera, 64L, 64R ... Camera guard, 70 ... Guard part, 71 ... Piano wire, 80 ... Housing, 81 ... One end in the vehicle width direction (left side plate in the housing), 82 ... Other end in the vehicle width direction ( Right side plate in the housing), 92, 94 ... engaging mechanism, 95 ... fitting groove, 99 ... bolt, Fy ... flying object.

Claims (4)

With camera and camera guard,
The camera is arranged in the vicinity of the bumper inside the vehicle so as to recognize the situation outside the vehicle by the image,
The camera guard includes a guard portion that protects the camera from impacts caused by flying objects outside the vehicle and has a predetermined image transparency necessary for image recognition of the camera, and a housing that holds the guard portion. A camera device for a vehicle,
The camera device for vehicles, wherein the camera guard is detachably attached to the bumper. The bumper includes a grill having a louver extending in the vehicle width direction,
The vehicle camera device according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the camera guard is supported by the louver and is attached to the bumper via the louver. The louver further has a flange on the lower surface side,
The vehicular camera device according to claim 2, wherein the camera guard is supported by being fixed to the flange. The camera guard is bolted to the bumper only at one end in the vehicle width direction,
The vehicular camera device according to claim 1, wherein the other end portion of the camera guard in the vehicle width direction is latched to the bumper by at least an engagement mechanism that prevents the vehicle guard from falling off the vehicle. .

Images