JPH08153298A - In-vehicle video recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] Even though the recording means is composed of a small-capacity recording medium, it is possible to reliably record the shooting information that needs to be stored, and
(EN) Provided is a high-value-added in-vehicle video recording device capable of recording not only accident records while traveling but also accidents while the vehicle is stopped. [Structure] An image pickup unit 3 for picking up an image of the surroundings of a vehicle, a recording unit 4 for recording shooting information by the image pickup unit 3, an impact sensor 5 for detecting an impact applied to the vehicle, and an impact sound generated in a vehicle body. A sound sensor 7 is attached to the vehicle body, and the recording of the photographing information in the recording means 4 is stopped based on either the shock detection timing of the shock sensor 5 or the sound detection timing of the sound sensor 7. A control means 6 is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention records, when an accident occurs in a running vehicle, the situation at the time of the occurrence of the accident, for example, the traveling speed and the presence / absence of brake operation, and the surrounding traffic situation. The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted video recording device provided in a traveling vehicle used for storage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle-mounted video recording apparatus has an image pickup means for picking up an image of the surroundings of a vehicle, a recording means for recording image pickup information by the image pickup means, and an impact sensor for detecting an impact applied to the vehicle. And a recording control means for stopping the recording of the photographing information in the recording means on the basis of the impact detection timing of the impact sensor (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-91092).

[0003]

However, in the above-described vehicle-mounted video recording apparatus, in order to avoid increasing the capacity of the recording medium in the recording means, an endless magnetic tape for repeatedly recording on a recording medium having a constant capacity, or , A FIFO type semiconductor memory or the like is adopted, and the recording control means is configured to stop recording the photographing information in the recording means on the basis of the impact detection timing by the impact sensor. As long as there is no impact, it will not be detected by the impact sensor, and in such a case, there is a risk that shooting information that needs to be stored will be lost. Therefore, it is conceivable to install an omnidirectional microphone in the vehicle traveling direction, detect the impact sound by the microphone, and configure the recording control means to stop the recording of the photographing information in the recording means. However, this has a drawback that recording of shooting information is mistakenly stopped by an external unrelated impact sound. Also,
By the above-mentioned imaging means, by adding a function of photographing a suspicious person who scratches the paint of an unmanned vehicle or colors the inside of the vehicle,
There is also a demand for increasing the added value of in-vehicle video recording devices. Furthermore, there is a demand for increasing the added value of the vehicle-mounted video recording device by displaying the video by the above-mentioned imaging means on the display means and using it as navigation. An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and provide a vehicle-mounted video recording device with high added value.

[0004]

In order to achieve this object, a vehicle-mounted video recording apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that an acoustic sensor for detecting an impact sound generated in a vehicle body is provided, and the recording control means is configured to The recording of the photographing information in the recording means is stopped based on either the impact detection timing of the impact sensor or the acoustic detection timing of the acoustic sensor. In the above-mentioned configuration, the display means for reproducing and displaying the image pickup information by the image pickup means is provided, and the delay display means for delaying the image pickup information from the image pickup time by the image pickup means in time and displaying it on the display means. It is preferable.

[0005]

Function: Even if the impact is small enough that the impact is not detected by the impact sensor, an impact sound is always generated when the impact is applied to the vehicle body. Therefore, the impact sound generated on the vehicle body is detected by the acoustic sensor, and the recording of the photographing information in the recording means is reliably stopped based on the acoustic detection timing. Here, as the acoustic sensor, for example, A
An E (acoustic emission) sensor or the like can be used, and it can be detected by being attached directly to a sheet metal portion such as a side panel or a hood, or directly attached to the sheet metal portion. Further, when an operation or the like that damages the vehicle body is performed, the scratching sound at that time is detected by the above-described acoustic sensor, and the recording of the photographing information in the recording means is surely stopped.

In the above structure, by providing a display means such as a CRT for reproducing and displaying the image pickup information by the image pickup means, it is possible to immediately visually confirm the image pickup information such as a road sign indicating the destination.
Usually, when a driver or the like tries to visually check the sign by the display means because he / she overlooks the sign, there is a problem in that the image of the sign has already been reproduced and cannot be checked again. Therefore, the delay display means delays the image pickup information from the image pickup time by the image pickup means in time to be displayed on the display means, thereby ensuring the time for visually confirming the signs etc. overlooked by the driver by the display means. To secure.

[0007]

According to the present invention, although the recording means is composed of a recording medium having a small capacity, it is possible to surely record the photographing information that needs to be saved, and, moreover, not only the accident record during traveling but also when the vehicle is stopped. It has become possible to provide a high-value-added in-vehicle video recording device that can record such accidents. Furthermore, by displaying the image by the above-mentioned image pickup means with a delay for a certain time, it is possible to provide a vehicle-mounted image recording device with high added value that can be used as navigation and the like.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples will be described below. As shown in FIG. 3, a vehicle-mounted video recording device is attached on the dashboard of the vehicle 1 to photograph the surrounding area in front of the running vehicle to prepare for subsequent verification in the event of an accident or the like. Record and save the accident situation. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the vehicle-mounted video recording device includes an image pickup means 3 for picking up an image around the vehicle 1.
A recording unit 4 for recording the photographing information by the image pickup unit 3, a recording control unit 6 for controlling the recording of the photographing information in the recording unit 4, and an impact sensor 5 for detecting an impact applied to the vehicle 1. An acoustic sensor 7 for detecting an impact sound generated in the vehicle body 1 is attached to the vehicle body 1 while being incorporated in the housing 2.

The imaging means 3 has a viewing angle of about 85 °, f
A wide-angle lens 3a having an auto iris mechanism with a value of 3.3 mm, a two-dimensional CCD image sensor 3b, and an A / D converter 3c for converting the output of the image sensor 3b into 8-bit digital image data. The output of the A / D converter 3c is input to a microcomputer serving as a control unit C that controls the operation of the entire vehicle-mounted video recording device. The recording means 4 is
It is composed of a semiconductor memory of several tens of megabytes and a control circuit for reading and writing of the memory, and the output data of the A / D converter 3c can be written up to 60 frames based on a write control signal from the control means C. The data after 60 frames are sequentially discarded by the control circuit from the earliest write data by the so-called FIFO method, and the latest 60 frames of data are always stored. The impact sensor 5 is composed of two acceleration sensors, a first impact sensor 5a for detecting an impact in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1 and a second impact sensor 5b for detecting an impact in the left-right direction of the vehicle 1, and each impact sensor has a predetermined impact or more. When a force is detected, a shock detection signal is output to the control means C. As shown in FIG. 3, the acoustic sensor 7 is provided with an AE sensor for detecting an elastic wave generated when a shock is applied to the vehicle body, which is attached to the lower portion of the windshield to detect the elastic wave having a predetermined intensity or more. The sound detection signal is output to the means C. The control means C is a recording start switch 2 shown in FIG.
When a is operated by the driver, a recording operation of driving the image pickup means 3 to photograph the front of the vehicle body and writing the photographed data in the recording means 4 is started, while the operation timing of the recording stop switch 2b is changed, Alternatively, the recording of the photographing information in the recording means 4 is stopped based on either the impact detection timing of the impact sensor 5 or the acoustic detection timing of the acoustic sensor 7. That is, a part of the control means C becomes the recording control means 6.

The operation of the control means C for controlling the operation of the vehicle-mounted video recording device will be described below with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. Power switch 2 by the driver
When c is turned on and the recording start switch 2a is operated, the recording operation is started <# 1>. At this time, the recording means 4
By extracting and storing only one frame out of every 12 frames out of the image data of 60 frames per second, the image data of 5 frames per second for 12 seconds is always stored. In this state, when the power switch 2c is turned off, the apparatus is stopped to shift to the standby state <# 4>, and when the recording stop switch 2b is operated, the recording is stopped <# 3>, and the vehicle 1 is externally connected. When a shock is detected, it is judged that some kind of accident has occurred <# 2>, and recording is continued for a set time from that point in order to record the situation at that time, and then recording is also stopped <# 5>. . That is, the impact detection timing in step <# 2> is the timing at which the impact detection signal from the impact sensor 5 is input as described above, but if the impact is too small to be detected, the acoustic sensor 7 outputs the sound. By setting the shock detection time also at the time when the detection signal is input to the control means C, the complexity of the driver manually stopping the recording is avoided. After the recording is stopped, the port P ₀ of the control means C
When it is detected that the power supply voltage signal from the vehicle-mounted battery B ₁ input to the controller has dropped to a predetermined value or less, the control means C
Vehicle battery B from the port P ₁ by driving the relay J ₁
The power supply from ₁ stops, the relay J ₂ from the port P ₂
Is driven to switch the power supply from the standby power supply B ₂ (battery housed in the housing 2) to prevent the loss of the video data stored in the recording means 4 <# 6>,
<# 7>. After the recording is stopped, if the power supply voltage signal from the in-vehicle battery B ₁ is maintained at a predetermined value or more, an announcement stating "Recording has been stopped."
It is output via the speaker attached to the vehicle to inform the driver of the current state of the device <# 8>. Furthermore, the signal of the speedometer 1a provided in the vehicle is input to the control means C, and if it is detected from the value of the speedometer 1a that the vehicle is still in the traveling state, the above-mentioned determination that the accident has occurred is erroneous. If it is judged that there was, <# 9>, in order to automatically resume the recording operation, "Restart recording. If you need to save the images recorded so far, press the recording stop switch." An announcement is output <# 10>, and after a lapse of a predetermined time (between a few seconds and a few tens of seconds) in consideration of a margin of operation time of the recording stop switch 2b, the process returns to the initial step <# 1> to start the recording operation. <# 11>, <# 12>. When the car stopped and then moved to the running state again, it was judged that it was possible to run despite the accident <# 9>, “Recording is stopped. If new recording is needed, press the recording start switch” <# 13> which outputs the announcement. After that, when the recording start switch 2a is operated, the initial step <#
1>, the recording operation is started, and the recording start switch 2a
If no operation is performed, after a predetermined time (between a few seconds and a few tens of seconds) elapses, the standby state is entered to read the data stored in the recording means 4 or reset the initialization processing of the apparatus. When the operation is performed, the state before the start of recording in step <# 1> is restored.

Another embodiment will be described below. It has been described that the recording unit 4 always stores the image data of 5 frames per second for 12 seconds by extracting and storing only one frame every 12 frames out of the image data of 60 frames per second. The number can be appropriately adjusted by increasing the memory capacity, and even if the memory capacities are the same, the number of recording frames can be increased by using the image compression technique. The time from the detection of an accident in step <# 5> to the stop of the recording operation is recordable 1
It may be any time between 2 seconds, but the frame extraction interval may be changed before and after the accident occurrence detection. For example, increase the rate to 5 frames per second until the accident occurs, increase to 10 frames per second immediately after the accident occurs, and then increase to 2 frames per second.
The extraction timing may be changed so as to focus on before and after the accident so that the data can be efficiently recorded within a limited memory capacity such as a frame.

In the above embodiment, the acoustic sensor 7 is attached to the windshield, but the number and the attaching position of the acoustic sensor 7 are not limited to this, and a plurality of acoustic sensors may be attached. , As shown in FIG.
It may be attached to the gap between the side panel 1a and the door 1b. When the acoustic sensor is attached to the side panel, the rubbing sound when a mischief such as scratching the car body is detected can be reliably detected, so set the recording mode during parking and detect the rubbing sound. By surely stopping the recording of the photographing information in the recording means 4, the criminal can be photographed. In this case, since it is necessary to photograph the direction in which the sound is detected, a plurality of image pickup means 3 is provided in the vehicle, or the housing 2 to which the image pickup means 3 is attached is used by using a motor or the like. It suffices to provide a rotation control mechanism that is rotatably supported and rotationally moves in the direction in which sound is detected.

In the above embodiment, the one having the single image pickup means 3 was explained, but the number of the image pickup means 3 is arbitrary, and even if the plural image pickup means 3 for picking up different directions are provided. Good.

By providing a display means 8 for reproducing and displaying the photographed information by the image pickup means 3, for example, a liquid crystal display element,
The photographing information may be configured to be immediately visible. In this case, when the driver or the like overlooks the road sign indicating the destination by providing the delay display means 9 that causes the display means 8 to display the image with a time delay from the image capturing time by the image capturing means 3, the image is captured. By delaying the display of the information, the added value is obtained in which the contents of the sign can be surely visually confirmed on the display device.

Here, the delay display means 9 is constructed as a part of the control means C.

It should be noted that although reference numerals are given in the claims to make the objects of the drawings convenient, the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of an in-vehicle video recording device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vehicle-mounted video recording device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a main part

[Fig. 4] Flow chart

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 3 Imaging means 4 Recording means 5 Impact sensor 6 Recording control means 7 Acoustic sensor 8 Display means 9 Delay display means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means (3) for taking an image of the surroundings of a vehicle (1), a recording means (4) for recording image pickup information by the image pickup means (3), and an impact applied to the vehicle (1) is detected. And a recording control means (6) for stopping the recording of the photographing information in the recording means (4) on the basis of the impact detection timing by the impact sensor (5). A certain vehicle-mounted video recording apparatus, wherein an acoustic sensor (7) for detecting an impact sound generated in the vehicle body is provided, and the recording control means (6) causes an impact detection timing by the impact sensor (5), or An in-vehicle video recording device configured to stop recording of photographing information in the recording means (4) based on any one of sound detection timings by the acoustic sensor (7). 2. A display means (8) for reproducing and displaying the photographing information by the image pickup means (3) is provided, and the display means (8) is delayed in time from the photographing time by the image pickup means (3). 8. The vehicle-mounted video recording device according to claim 1, further comprising a delay display means (9) for displaying in (8).