JP2002046531A - Exterior cover structure in vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive and simple structured exterior cover structure in a vehicle without compromising vehicular design. SOLUTION: An image pickup device main body 1 provided with a case 11 formed with window parts 11L and 11R through which light rays of horizontal both sides respectively come in, and an image pickup means picking up images coming into the case 11 and an optical system conducting the incoming rays from respective window parts 11L and 11R to the image pickup means is attached to a front grille 2 of the vehicle. An exterior cover 20 covering a front face side of the image pickup device main body 1 and having shape and color similar to the front grille 2 and openings 20L and 20R corresponding to the window parts 11L and 11R is attached to the front grille 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exterior device for a vehicle equipped with a vehicle periphery recognition device for visually recognizing surrounding conditions in front, behind, left, right or front and rear of a vehicle such as an automobile under poor visibility. It relates to a cover structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to improve safety confirmation at intersections where visibility is poor at left and right or at intersections where signals are not installed, it has been proposed to improve the safety check on the hood of a car, a front grill, or the like.
An image pickup means such as a CCD camera is attached to the upper part of the bumper. The image pickup means simultaneously captures left and right images as blind spots on both sides of the vehicle, and displays the image on both sides of the vehicle on display means such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) installed in the vehicle. 2. Description of the Related Art There has been proposed a device for visually confirming the vicinity of a vehicle that supports the driving of a driver by simultaneously displaying left and right images.

As this type of apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59271/5927 discloses an apparatus disclosed in this publication.
A movable cylinder for capturing left and right images is projected and stored from the front end face of the front grill of the vehicle as required.

[0004]

However, according to the apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned conventional publication, a driving means for driving the movable cylinder to move in and out is separately required, which complicates the structure and increases the cost. I was

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an exterior cover structure for a vehicle having a simple structure and a low cost without deteriorating the vehicle design.

[0006]

Technical means for solving the above-mentioned problems include a case in which windows on which light beams on both sides in the horizontal direction are respectively incident are formed, and an image accommodated in the case is taken. In a vehicle equipped with a vehicle surrounding visual recognition device having an imaging device main body including an imaging unit and an optical system that guides light rays incident from each window to the imaging unit, the imaging device main body is attached to an exterior component of the vehicle, An outer cover having an opening corresponding to the window and having a shape and a color similar to those of the exterior component is attached so as to cover an outer surface side of the imaging device main body.

[0007] The exterior cover may be formed integrally with the emblem.

Further, the outer cover may be detachable and may be replaced with an outer cover having no opening when the device for visually recognizing around the vehicle is not mounted.

[0009] The exterior cover may have a structure that covers a wide area outside the imaging range of the imaging device main body, and the exterior component may be a front grill.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an image pickup apparatus main body 1 in a vehicle periphery recognition device is an example of a vehicle. Is mounted on a front grill 2 as an exterior part of the automobile. That is, the emblem 3 is mounted in the center of the front grill 2, and the imaging device body 1 is mounted on a fixed plate 4 located below and fixed integrally or integrally with the vertical grid 2 a of the front grill 2. The mounting plate 5 provided on the back of the device is detachably mounted and fixed by fastening screws 6.

As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus for visually recognizing the periphery of a vehicle mainly comprises an image pickup apparatus main body 1, a processing section 8, and a display device 9 such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) installed in the vehicle interior. The imaging device body 1 has a pair of left and right transmission windows 11 each having a transparent plate or the like mounted on both sides thereof.
The case 11 has a light-shielding case 11 on which L and 11R are formed. In the case 11, a prism (optical system) 13 having an isosceles triangular cross section is provided at the apex angle 13a side of the front portion of the case 11 (in FIG. Right and left prism side faces (first reflection surface) facing toward the upper part of the case 11 and corresponding to the isosceles of the isosceles triangle
13L and 13R are housed and arranged with their postures facing the left and right windows 11L and 11R, respectively.
Imaging unit (imaging means) so as to be located on the back side of 3
15 are accommodated and arranged.

The imaging unit 15 includes an imaging device 15a such as a CCD camera and an imaging lens 15b disposed on the optical path of the light beams 17L and 17R between the imaging device 15a and the prism 13. Provided.

Each of the light beams 17L and 17R entering from the left and right sides of the vehicle is converted into left and right prism side surfaces 13L and 13R.
R enters the prism 13 through the R
The light is totally reflected by L and 13R, and its optical path is converted to a direction substantially opposite to the traveling direction A of the vehicle, exits the prism 13, and enters the image sensor 15a via the imaging lens 15b. Thus, each image on both the left and right sides is captured by the single image sensor 15a.

The image signal output from the image pickup device 15a is input to a predetermined processing unit 8, subjected to a predetermined process such as an inversion process, and given to a display device 9, where the image signal is output.
The images in the respective imaging directions are displayed corresponding to the left and right display areas 9L and 9R of the display device 9, respectively.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3,
An outer cover 20 is attached so as to cover a front side as an outer side of the imaging device body 1 attached to the front grill 2.

The exterior cover 20 is used for the front grill 2
Has a vertically elongated shape similar to that of the lattice 2a, and has a color similar or the same as that of the lattice 2a. Using the mounting boss portion 20a protruding from the inner surface, the lattice 2a is formed. Is removably mounted and fixed by screws or the like.

The exterior cover 20 has a window 11
L, 11R corresponding to the notched opening 20L, respectively.
20R are formed on both left and right sides, and each window 11L, 1R,
It is configured not to block the imaging range imaged through 1R.

This embodiment is configured as described above, and covers the front side of the image pickup apparatus main body 1 mounted below the emblem 3 of the front grill 2 and has a shape similar to the lattice 2a of the front grill 2. Since the exterior cover 20 whose color is similar to or the same as the color of the lattice 2a is attached, the imaging device main body 1 is inconspicuous, the influence on the vehicle design is small, and the vehicle design is not impaired.

The left and right images, which are blind spots on both sides of the vehicle, can be captured without any trouble through the left and right openings 20L and 20R, and the function as a vehicle periphery visual recognition device can be effectively exhibited.

In addition, there is an advantage that it can be provided at a low cost because of a simple structure covered with the outer cover 20.

Furthermore, the front surface of the image pickup device main body 1 is covered with an exterior cover 20, so that the wind and rain on the image pickup device main body 1 from the front during running or the like can be effectively prevented.
There is an advantage that adhesion of dirt, water droplets, insects, and the like to L and 11R can be effectively prevented, and good visibility can be secured.

Further, the case 11 of the image pickup apparatus main body 1 has a structure in which the case 11 is covered with the outer cover 20, so that the case 11 itself is difficult to be seen from the outside, and it is not necessary to match the color of the case 11 with the outer parts when manufacturing the case 11. It can be similarly mounted and used for exterior parts of different colors, can be shared, and furthermore, it is not required to have a design-conscious shape such as a rounded shape in the outer shape of the case 11, and it should be a simple shape. And the productivity becomes good.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment, in which the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

That is, in the present embodiment, the emblem 3 and the outer cover 20 are integrally formed, and the emblem 3 and the outer cover 20 are mounted on the front grill 2 at the same time.

In this embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and since the emblem 3 and the outer cover 20 are integrated, the mounting work can be further facilitated and the front grill 2 can be mounted. The sense of unity with the person is also improved.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment. The same components as those in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

That is, in the present embodiment, the exterior cover structure is mounted when the vehicle periphery visual recognition device such as the imaging device main body 1 is not mounted, and the emblem 3 and the exterior cover 20 are integrally formed. It is shown. Therefore, since it is not necessary to cover the imaging device main body 1 with the exterior cover 20, the width M in the front-rear direction corresponding to the portion covering the imaging device main body 1 is shorter than the width N in the front-rear direction of the corresponding portion in the second embodiment. It is configured.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, even when the vehicle periphery recognition device is set as an option and the vehicle periphery recognition device is not mounted, the appearance of the vehicle can be similarly obtained.
It is possible to easily cope with mounting / non-mounting of the vehicle periphery recognition device according to the specification of the vehicle.

In a structure in which the emblem 3 and the outer cover 20 are integrally formed, if the emblem 3 is attached to the front grill 2 so that the emblem 3 is detachably attached, the workability of the attachment can be improved.

FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment, in which the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

That is, according to the present embodiment, the outer cover 2
0 is configured to be wide in the left-right direction, and is configured to cover the front side of the imaging device body 1 in a wide shape outside the imaging range of the imaging device body 1.

Therefore, while having the same effects as those of the first embodiment, it is possible to more effectively prevent wind and rain on the image pickup apparatus main body 1 from the front during running or the like, and to prevent dirt, water droplets, insects, etc. on the windows 11L and 11R. Can be more effectively prevented,
There is also an advantage that good visibility can be stably secured.

In each of the above embodiments, the structure in which the imaging device main body 1 is mounted on the front grill 2 is shown, but other exterior parts such as a front bumper and a rear bumper of a vehicle may be used. Not done.

The mounting structure of the outer cover 20 is not limited to the method of each embodiment, but may be any structure that can be detachably mounted.

[0035]

As described above, according to the exterior cover structure of the vehicle of the present invention, the imaging device main body is attached to the exterior component of the vehicle, and covers the outer surface side of the imaging device main body, and has a shape similar to the exterior component. It has a color, and an exterior cover with an opening corresponding to the window is attached, the function of the visual recognition device around the vehicle can be effectively exhibited, the simple structure without impairing the vehicle design, and low cost There is also an advantage that the exterior cover can effectively prevent dirt, water droplets, insects, and the like from adhering to the window portion, and that good visibility can be ensured.

Further, if the outer cover has a structure integrally formed with the emblem, there is an advantage that mounting work can be facilitated.

Further, the exterior cover is detachable, and if the device for visually recognizing the periphery of the vehicle is not mounted, the exterior cover may be replaced with an exterior cover having no opening. -There is an advantage that it can easily cope with non-mounting.

Further, if the exterior cover is configured to cover the outside of the imaging range of the imaging device body in a wide shape, the adhesion of dirt, water droplets, insects, etc. to the window can be more effectively prevented, and good visibility can be stabilized. There is an advantage that can be secured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view of a vehicle periphery recognition device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram in a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging device main body 2 Front grille 3 Emblem 11 Case 11L Window 11R Window 20 Exterior cover 20L Opening 20R Opening

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) B60R 21/00 628 B60R 21/00 628A 628Z

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A case in which windows on both sides in the horizontal direction are formed, an image pickup unit for picking up an image accommodated in the case, and an optical device for guiding light incident from each window to the image pickup unit. A vehicle equipped with a vehicle periphery visual recognition device having an imaging device main body equipped with a system, wherein the imaging device main body is attached to an exterior component of the vehicle, and covers an outer surface side of the imaging device main body, and is similar to the exterior component. An exterior cover structure for a vehicle, wherein the exterior cover has a shape and color, and an exterior cover having an opening corresponding to the window. 2. The exterior cover structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said exterior cover is formed integrally with an emblem. 3. The exterior cover according to claim 1, wherein the exterior cover is detachable, and is replaced with an exterior cover having no opening when the vehicle periphery recognition device is not mounted. Exterior cover structure for vehicles. 4. The exterior cover structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the exterior cover covers a wide area outside the imaging range of the imaging device body. 5. The exterior cover structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the exterior component is a front grill.