JPH06183298A - Left and right confirming device mounted on vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The driver's blind spot when turning right or turning left can be reduced, and styling and aerodynamic performance are not impaired.
In addition, we provide a vehicle-mounted left / right confirmation device that makes it easy to see the images being monitored. [Structure] A left-view camera 2 is installed in a fender mirror 6 on the right front side of a vehicle 1, and a fender mirror 7 on the left front side is installed.
A right-view camera 3 is installed in the vehicle, and a display 5 capable of displaying images captured by both cameras 2 and 3 is installed in the vehicle, and a specific area of the image displayed on the display 5 is displayed. An area setting unit 11 that distinguishes from other areas is provided. [Effect] It is possible to reduce a sense of discomfort in a monitored image due to a difference in height of viewpoints, and display an area corresponding to a road with appropriate brightness.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted left / right confirmation device used for compensating a driver's blind spot in a place with poor visibility.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When driving a car and approaching a crossroad with poor visibility, the driver needs to move the vehicle forward to a position where the road conditions on the left and right can be confirmed. Had invaded.

Therefore, conventionally, a camera capable of photographing the visual field on the right-hand side in the traveling direction is installed at the right front portion on the bonnet, and a camera capable of photographing the visual field on the left-hand side in the traveling direction is installed at the left front portion on the bonnet. There has been proposed a vehicle-mounted left-right confirmation device capable of monitoring left and right images captured by both cameras in the vehicle.

The vehicle-mounted left / right confirmation device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-51144 discloses a right-hand side field and a left-hand side field of view in the traveling direction through a mirror, a prism or the like at the front center of the bonnet. A camera capable of shooting is installed.

[0005]

By the way, as shown in FIG. 8, when another vehicle 33 is parked diagonally forward when the vehicle 30 is about to make a right turn, a shadow on the right side of the vehicle 33 in the figure is displayed. Two-wheeled vehicles 34 such as motorcycles that jump out of the vehicle are likely to be the blind spot of the driver, and the conventional vehicle-mounted left-right confirmation device is not limited to the camera 31 installed on the left front part of the hood 30a of the vehicle 30 or the front part of the hood 30a. There is also a problem that it is difficult to detect the two-wheeled vehicle 34 and the like that jump out from behind the vehicle 33 even by the camera 32 installed in the central portion of the side.

When a device such as a camera is mounted on the front part of the hood of a vehicle as in the above-mentioned conventional example, not only the styling and aerodynamic performance are significantly impaired, but also the viewpoint of the image taken by the camera is undesired. Since it becomes very low, there was a problem that the image monitored on the display was easy to feel uncomfortable. In other words, in order for this type of vehicle-mounted left-right confirmation device to function effectively, it is necessary to install equipment such as cameras at the front of the vehicle as much as possible, but the front of the bonnet is low and If you install a high-end device, the field of view in front of you will be blocked, so in the end, you have to take a picture of the right or left field of view seen from a position much lower than the driver's point of view. It was easy for the driver to feel a sense of discomfort, because the images seen from the height of his eyes were monitored.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the image taken by the camera is monitored on the display as it is, for example, when the sunlight or the like is reflected on the hood or the background is reflected, or the background sky is bright. If it passes
There was also the problem that it was difficult to see the video that was being monitored.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to reduce the blind spot of a driver even when making a right turn, to maintain the styling and aerodynamic performance, and to monitor a video image. Is to provide a vehicle-mounted left-right confirmation device that is easy to see.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a left-view camera which is installed at the right end of the front part of a vehicle in the direction of travel and which provides a left-hand side field of view from a position higher than the hood. A camera for the right field of view, which is installed at the left end of the front in the direction of travel and looks at the field of view on the right side of the direction from a position higher than the bonnet, and a video signal transmitted from both cameras installed near the driver's seat in the vehicle. This is achieved by providing a display capable of displaying a base image and a region setting means for distinguishing a specific region of the display from other regions.

[0010]

According to the above-mentioned means, the left visual field camera is installed at the position where the left-hand side field of view in the traveling direction can be photographed in the widest area in the front part of the vehicle, and the right-hand side field of view in the traveling direction is widest in the front part of the vehicle. Since the right field of view camera will be installed at a position where it can be taken, the driver's blind spot will be reduced when making a right turn or a left turn, and since there is no need to mount a device such as a camera on the hood, styling and aerodynamics No more worrying about performance loss. Furthermore, even if devices are installed at the left and right ends of the front of the vehicle, the field of view in front is not obstructed, so it is possible to take a visual field in both the left and right directions from a height close to the driver's point of view. Since it is possible to set a specific area of the video image to be monitored, such as a hood, to a desired brightness and pattern, it is possible to distinguish the road area that needs to be monitored from other areas and display it in an easily viewable state.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 are for explaining one embodiment of a vehicle-mounted left and right confirmation device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an external view of a front portion of a vehicle showing a camera position, and FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the camera position. 3 is a block diagram showing the control system, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a photographing angle of the camera at the time of turning right, and FIG. 5 is a front view of a display device for monitoring the road condition of FIG.

The on-vehicle left / right confirmation device shown in these figures is
A left-view camera 2 built in the fender mirror 6 on the right side in the traveling direction, a right-view camera 3 built in the fender mirror 7 on the left side in the traveling direction, and a control box 4 including a video signal processing circuit and the like. , The display device 5 installed near the driver's seat inside the vehicle, and when the video signals of both cameras 2 and 3 are transmitted to the display device 5 via the control box 4, it is based on this video signal. The image is monitored on the display unit 5.

That is, the on-vehicle left / right confirmation device includes a fender mirror 6 standing on the right front fender 1b of the vehicle 1 and a fender mirror 7 standing on the left front fender 1c, respectively. By incorporating the left-view camera 2 and the right-view camera 3 and setting the condenser lenses 8 of both cameras 2 and 3 in a substantially opposed positional relationship, the left-view camera 2 advances through the hood 1a. The visual field on the left-hand side in the direction can be photographed, and the camera for right-visual field 3 can photograph the visual field on the right-hand side in the traveling direction through the bonnet 1a. Both cameras 2 and 3 used here
In both cases, an image pickup device such as a CCD is built in a cylindrical camera case 9 and an optical signal can be converted into an electric signal, and an image taken by each of the cameras 2 and 3 is converted into an electric signal by a cable 10. Is transmitted.

The video signals (electrical signals) of the cameras 2 and 3 are controlled by the control box 4 as shown in FIG.
Is transmitted to the video signal processing circuit 4a of FIG. 1 and processed to display two types of video based on each video signal on one screen, and then transmitted to the display 5 via the video synthesizing circuit 4b. Images taken by the cameras 2 and 3 are monitored on the LCD display screen or the CRT screen of the display unit 5 (see FIG. 5). Further, the image monitored on the display 5 is configured such that the area setting unit 11 including a keyboard, a touch panel, etc., arbitrarily sets the brightness, color tone, or pattern of a specific area. That is, when the coordinate setting of the specific area and the graphic setting of the area on the display 5 are input using the area setting unit 11, the image control circuit 22 causes the video signal processing circuit 4a and the graphic image generating unit 4c to operate. A control signal is sent to each. The video signal processing circuit 4a determines a specific area of the video based on one of the control signals and the video signals of the cameras 2 and 3 described above, and the graphic image generating unit 4c determines the brightness and the pattern based on the other control signal. Of the video signal processing circuit 4a and the graphic image generation unit 4c are combined by the video composition circuit 4b to monitor the video in which a specific region is graphic processed. To be done.

For example, when the road is hard to see because the scenery is reflected on the bonnet 1a, the area corresponding to the bonnet 1a in the image monitored by the display 5 is set to the area setting unit 1
1 is used to perform image processing to darken this region (the shaded region in the figure) or to apply a shaded pattern to this region, as shown in FIG. Further, the area to be image-processed is not limited to the hood 1a, and when the sky is too bright compared to the road, the area corresponding to the sky is image-processed using the area setting unit 11 to darken the area, The area may be shaded. In this way, when the image corresponding to the bonnet 1a or the sky is previously image-processed by using the area setting unit 11,
The region corresponding to the road can be displayed on the display device 5 with appropriate brightness, and the visibility can be improved.

An external circuit such as a vehicle speed detection circuit or a navigation circuit is connected to the control box 4 of FIG. 3, and an image transmitted from the image synthesizing circuit 4b to the display 5 based on a signal from this external circuit. The signals may be controlled to be turned on / off, and the images taken by the cameras 2 and 3 may be selectively monitored on the screen of the display unit 5. That is,
Since the left and right field of view monitors are necessary for grasping the surrounding road conditions at low speed, when the vehicle 1 is at a predetermined speed (for example, 15 km / h) or more, it is automatically detected based on the signal from the vehicle speed detection circuit. To stop the monitor,
Also, when displaying navigation information such as a map on the display 5, the monitor is automatically stopped based on the signal from the navigation circuit.

The vehicle 1 equipped with such a vehicle-mounted left-right confirmation device is located at the front of the vehicle 1 when approaching a crossroad with poor visibility and the like.
With the left-view camera 2 and the right-view camera 3 built in 7, the driver can grasp the left and right road conditions that cannot be seen from the driver's seat at an early stage.

Further, this on-vehicle left / right confirmation device is used in the vehicle 1.
The left-view camera 2 is installed at a position where the left-hand side field of view in the traveling direction can be captured in the widest area in the front part of the vehicle, and the right-view camera 3 is installed at a position where the right-side field of view in the traveling direction can be captured in the widest area. Therefore, the blind spot of the driver is reduced when the vehicle 1 turns right or left, and especially when turning right, it is easy to understand the road condition of the part behind the vehicle diagonally ahead, which greatly improves safety. Can be improved. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, even when another vehicle 12 is parked diagonally forward when the vehicle 1 is turning right, the motorcycle 13 for coming out from the shade on the right side of the vehicle 12 in the left view is used for the left-view camera 2. Can be detected in advance.

Further, by incorporating the left-view camera 2 and the right-view camera 3 into the fender mirrors 6 and 7 arranged at the uppermost position in the front part of the vehicle 1, both cameras 2 and 3 are used for photographing. Since the viewpoint of the image is close to the eye level of the driver, there is no concern that the driver feels uncomfortable due to the difference in height of the viewpoint with respect to the left and right images monitored by the display device 5. The left and right road conditions can be instantly and accurately grasped, further improving safety.

Further, in the image monitored on the display 5, a specific region such as the sky or the hood 1a can be image-processed in advance by the region setting unit 11, so that the road is displayed regardless of the change of weather and scenery. The area to be covered can be monitored with appropriate brightness, which also makes it easier to instantly and accurately grasp the road conditions on the left and right, further improving safety. In particular,
In the present embodiment, the left visual field camera 2 photographs the visual field on the left hand side in the traveling direction through the hood 1a, and the right visual field camera 3 photographs the visual field on the right hand side in the traveling direction through the bonnet 1a. A part of the bonnet 1a is projected below (see Fig. 5), and the color of the bonnet 1a and the scenery reflected on the bonnet 1a have a great influence on the image being monitored. If the image is processed in advance, the visibility of the road will be significantly improved.

Moreover, in this vehicle-mounted left / right confirmation device, since both cameras 2 and 3 are built in the fender mirrors 6 and 7, they are invisible, and it is not necessary to mount a device on the bonnet 1a. It has the advantage that performance is not impaired and there is no need to worry about theft or mischief.

In the above embodiment, two types of video images based on the video signals of the cameras 2 and 3 are processed into the video signal processing circuit 4a.
The case where the left and right cameras 2 and 3 are installed in the vehicle has been described above when the left and right cameras are divided into left and right parts, and the images taken by the cameras 2 and 3 are displayed on one screen of the display device 5. The images captured by the visual field camera 3 may be monitored by different display devices. In that case, it goes without saying that the control box 4 does not need a circuit for left / right division processing.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are for explaining another embodiment of the vehicle-mounted left-right confirmation device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an external view of the front part of the vehicle showing the camera position, and FIG. 7 is the inside of the camera. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows a structure.

The on-vehicle left / right confirmation device shown in these figures is
At the right end of the front bumper 14b of the vehicle 14 in the traveling direction, a rod-shaped camera 15 for the left visual field is installed upright from a position higher than the bonnet 14a, and the left side of the front bumper 14b is in the traveling direction. It is said that a rod-shaped camera 16 for the right field of view, which faces the field of view on the right side in the traveling direction, is erected from a position higher than 14a, and images in both the left and right directions taken by these cameras 15, 16 are monitored by a display device (not shown). The remaining structure is basically the same as that of the previous embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the rod-shaped cameras 15 and 16 used here has a long cylindrical camera case 17 made of a strong material, and includes an image pickup device 18 such as a CCD, an imaging lens 19, and a prism. 20, a condenser lens 21 and the like are built in, and the condenser lens 2 is exposed at the upper end of the camera case 17.
By directing 1 toward the right-hand side or the left-hand side in the traveling direction, the optical signal of the right visual field or the left visual field incident on the condenser lens 21 is converted into an electric signal by the image pickup device 18.

That is, this embodiment can be applied to a vehicle without a fender mirror, and since the camera position is ahead of the above embodiment, the left and right road conditions can be grasped quickly. .

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the occupant manually sets a specific area has been described. However, the brightness / luminance in the image monitored by the display 5 is detected, and based on the detection result. It is also possible to perform an automatic operation for automatically setting a specific area (for example, an area that is too bright).

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The driver's blind spot is reduced when making a right turn or a left turn, and in particular, the blind spot when making a right turn can be greatly reduced compared to the conventional one.
In addition, it is possible to reduce the discomfort caused by the difference in the height of the viewpoint in the image monitored on the display, and to display a specific area of the image monitored on the display in an easy-to-see state by distinguishing it from other areas. Therefore, it is possible to provide a large on-vehicle left and right confirmation device that contributes to improved safety. In addition, since this vehicle-mounted left-right confirmation device does not need to be equipped with a device such as a camera on the bonnet, styling and aerodynamic performance are not impaired at all, so that it is reasonably applicable to passenger cars where design is important.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a front portion of a vehicle showing a camera position according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a camera position of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a shooting range of the camera when turning to the right in the embodiment.

5 is a front view of a display device for monitoring the road condition of FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an external view of a vehicle front portion showing a camera position according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a photographing range of a camera when a right turn is made in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,14 Vehicle 1a, 14a Bonnet 2,15 Left-view camera 3,16 Right-view camera 4 Control box 4a Video signal processing circuit 4b Video synthesis circuit 4c Graphic generator 5 Display 6,7 Fender mirror 11 Area setting section 22 Image control circuit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Haruya Ara 4630 Shimotakanezawa, Haga-cho, Haga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Inside the Honda R & D Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A left-view camera installed at the right end of the front of the vehicle in the advancing direction and viewing the left-hand side of the advancing direction from a position higher than the bonnet, and a bonnet installed at the left end of the front of the vehicle in the advancing direction. A camera for the right field of view that faces the field of view on the right-hand side in the traveling direction from a higher position, a display device that is installed near the driver's seat in the vehicle and that can display an image based on the video signals transmitted from both cameras, and this display An in-vehicle left-right confirmation device, comprising: a region setting means for distinguishing a specific region in a container from other regions.