WO2018171372A1 - Vehicle monitoring system, rear-view mirror, vehicle and vehicle monitoring method - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle monitoring system, a rear-view mirror integrated with the vehicle monitoring system, a vehicle comprising the rear-view mirror and a vehicle monitoring method using the vehicle monitoring system. The vehicle monitoring system comprises a camera device (5), a natural light mirror (6) and an infrared light mirror (7) which are mounted in the rear-view mirror of the vehicle and located behind a mirror sheet of the rear-view mirror, wherein the camera device (5) faces towards a location to be monitored of the vehicle, and the vehicle monitoring system further comprises a light mirror switching mechanism. The light mirror switching mechanism is configured to switch the natural light mirror to be between the camera device and the mirror sheet of the rear-view mirror and switch the infrared light mirror to be away from the location between the camera device and the mirror sheet of the rear-view mirror when the brightness of the location to be monitored is higher than a first brightness, or to switch the infrared light mirror to be between the camera device and the mirror sheet of the rear-view mirror and switch the natural light mirror to be away from the location between the camera device and the mirror sheet of the rear-view mirror when the brightness of the location to be monitored is lower than a second brightness, wherein the first brightness is not lower than the second brightness.

Description

Vehicle monitoring system, rearview mirror, vehicle and vehicle monitoring method Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of vehicle technology; in particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle monitoring system, and further relates to a vehicle rearview mirror integrated with such a vehicle monitoring system, a vehicle having such a rearview mirror, and the use of such a vehicle monitoring system Vehicle monitoring method.

Background technique

With the development of technology and the diversification of demand, the development of vehicle intelligent systems has advanced by leaps and bounds, and the demand for vehicle interior and exterior monitoring has increased dramatically.

Automatic full-time monitoring provides better monitoring of the safety aspects inside and outside the vehicle. For example, full-time monitoring inside the vehicle allows the front-row driver to better monitor and grasp the occupants or the property inside the vehicle; full-time monitoring outside the vehicle can record the external damage of the vehicle. It can be seen that the use of vehicle monitoring in daily life is greatly facilitated.

At present, vehicle products can achieve a certain range of internal and external monitoring of vehicles, but more and more centralized monitoring, and the scope of monitoring is limited, does not have monitoring concealment. In addition, during dusk, dawn, nighttime, or in the shadows of the shade of trees, the quality of monitoring inside and outside the vehicle is relatively low, and the quality of the clear images required for monitoring is not guaranteed.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle monitoring system that overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art.

It is also an object of the present invention to further provide a vehicle rearview mirror integrated with such a vehicle monitoring system, a vehicle having such a rearview mirror, and a vehicle monitoring method using the same.

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a vehicle monitoring system, wherein the vehicle monitoring system includes a recording device installed in a rear view mirror of a vehicle and located behind a lens of the rear view mirror a natural light mirror and an infrared light mirror, the recording device being oriented toward a position to be monitored of the vehicle, and

The vehicle monitoring system further includes a light mirror switching mechanism configured to switch the natural light mirror to the recording device and the said when the brightness of the position to be monitored is higher than the first brightness Between the lenses of the rear view mirror and switching the infrared light mirror away from the lens of the recording device and the rear view mirror, or when the brightness of the position to be monitored is lower than the second brightness The infrared light mirror is switched between the recording device and the lens of the rear view mirror, and the natural light mirror is switched away from the lens of the recording device and the rear view mirror, the first A brightness is not lower than the second brightness.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the first brightness and the second brightness are brightness between daytime natural light brightness and nighttime natural light brightness.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, at least one of the first brightness and the second brightness is a natural light brightness at dusk or dawn or a natural light brightness when in a shadow.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the rear view mirror is an interior rear view mirror of the vehicle.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the lens of the rear view mirror is a unidirectional light-transmissive sheet at least at an area blocking the recording device, the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror. .

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror are combined into a disk, and the switching between the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror is driven by the light mirror switching mechanism. The disc is rotated.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the light mirror switching mechanism is placed within the rear view mirror.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the light mirror switching mechanism is a motor.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the vehicle monitoring system has a control device for the light mirror switching mechanism, the control device according to the quality of the recorded image of the recording device The switching switches the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror.

Optionally, in the vehicle monitoring system as described above, the image recorded by the recording device is a still image or a moving image.

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, a second aspect of the invention provides a rear view mirror for a vehicle, wherein the rear view mirror integrates the vehicle monitoring system according to any of the preceding first aspects.

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, a third aspect of the invention provides a vehicle, wherein the vehicle has a rear view mirror as described in the second aspect above.

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, a fourth aspect of the present invention provides a method of monitoring a vehicle using the vehicle monitoring system as described in the foregoing first aspect.

DRAWINGS

The disclosure of the present invention will become more apparent from the drawings. The drawings of the present invention are intended to be illustrative only and not intended to limit the scope of the invention. among them:

Fig. 1 schematically shows an interior rear view mirror of an automobile according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a vehicle monitoring system is integrated;

2 is an example of a daytime natural light microscope monitoring image;

Figure 3 is an example of a nighttime natural light microscope monitoring image;

4 is an example of a nighttime infrared mirror monitoring image.

detailed description

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are merely schematic and are not drawn to scale.

Fig. 1 schematically shows an interior rear view mirror according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a vehicle monitoring system is integrated, mainly for monitoring personnel, property, and the like inside the vehicle.

As can be seen from the figure, the inside rear view mirror of the automobile will be described as an example in the present specification. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that FIG. 1 is only an example form, and thus the rear view mirror mentioned in the present invention is equally applicable to the outer left and right rearview mirrors of automobiles, and even the makeup mirror (which can also serve as a rear view). The role of the mirror) and so on. It is conceivable that different optimal data acquisition angles can be ensured when the vehicle monitoring system of the present invention is integrated into different rearview mirrors. When the vehicle monitoring system is integrated in the interior rearview mirror of the car, it is better to obtain the maximum range of viewing angles of the in-vehicle surveillance camera.

Moreover, the vehicle mentioned in the present invention may also include a city bus, a long-distance bus, or even a train, etc., which may need to be monitored inside and outside the vehicle.

The rear view mirror body 1 of the interior rearview mirror is schematically shown in Fig. 1, the fixing base 2 and the bracket 3 for fixing it to the front windshield of the automobile, and the corresponding power supply line, control line or data transmission Lines and the like and their joints 4. The connector 4 can include a vehicle monitoring processing interface in communication with the data line 8 and a vehicle monitoring power interface.

In addition, as can be seen from the figure, the vehicle monitoring system according to the present invention further includes a video recording device 5, a natural light mirror 6, an infrared light mirror 7, and the like, which are both mounted in the rear view mirror of the vehicle and are located in the mirror of the rear view mirror. The rear, not only does not affect the aesthetics but also has hidden features. Specifically, the video recording device 5 can be mounted on the rear housing of the rear view mirror, for example, by gluing, screwing, snapping, or the like. The recording device 5 may be a full-time HD recording device. Also shown is a data line 8 capable of transmitting image data acquired by the recording device 5 to a controller or terminal data storage device, and capable of transmitting instructions of the controller to the lens switching device (not shown ). The data line 8 extends through the bracket 3 of the rear view mirror and is connected to an external controller, a power source or the like through the joint 4. It is conceivable that the data line 8 can also be replaced by a wireless method. The lens switching device is used to switch between the natural light mirror 6 and the infrared light mirror 7 to adapt to different ambient brightness; this specification will be described in more detail later.

The recording device 5 can be placed towards the position of the vehicle to be monitored. In the present embodiment, depending on different monitoring needs, the recording device may face the front or rear seat position of the vehicle, or a central armrest box, glove box or the like that may store valuables. Further, when the monitoring system of the present invention is applied to an exterior rear view mirror or the like, the recording device can be oriented toward a certain body part outside the vehicle. In these cases, the position to be monitored is the front or rear seat of the vehicle, the central armrest box, the glove box, the corresponding outer body part, and the like, and the specific embodiment may be determined according to the needs of the monitoring.

It will be appreciated that the orientation of the recording device can also be set or adjusted to facilitate monitoring of different parts of the vehicle as needed. Those skilled in the art can understand that the video recording device mentioned in the present specification will include functions such as photographing, video capturing or photography (for example, a full-time high-definition camera), capable of recording still images and moving images, and also providing recording functions. .

The natural light mirror 6 and the infrared light mirror 7 can be used to provide a filter for the lens of the video recording device, and thus can be adjusted to the front of the video recording device (and behind the lens of the rear view mirror) as needed. It can be understood that the switching of the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror in front of the lens of the recording device enables the recording device to adapt to different ambient brightness and can always record a clear image.

For example, a natural light microscope will allow natural light to pass through, and can filter out infrared light of unnatural light, etc., so that the recording device can record a clearer image when the natural light intensity is high during the day. On the contrary, the infrared light mirror filters out the natural light and allows the infrared light to pass through, so that it can be recorded at nights, dusks, dawns when the natural light is insufficient, or when the vehicle is in the shadows of trees, shadows of buildings or shadows of natural objects. Very clear image to provide the best front-end data acquisition quality for terminal data storage and monitoring.

In order to switch the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror more conveniently and concealably under different ambient brightness, the embodiment in the present application provides a light mirror switching mechanism for the vehicle monitoring system. For example, the light mirror switching mechanism may be an automatic driving device such as a motor.

The light mirror switching mechanism may be configured to switch the natural light mirror between the lens of the recording device and the rear view mirror when the brightness of the position to be monitored is higher than the first brightness, and to switch the infrared light mirror from the recording device and the rear view mirror Switching between the lenses, or switching the infrared mirror between the lens of the camera and the mirror when the brightness of the position to be monitored is lower than the second brightness (the second brightness is not higher than the first brightness) The natural light mirror is switched away from the lens of the video recording device and the rear view mirror. For example, in an alternative embodiment, in order to switch to different light mirrors during day and night, the first brightness and the second brightness may be brightness between daytime natural light brightness and nighttime natural light brightness. In other optional embodiments, at least one of the first brightness and the second brightness may be natural light brightness at dusk or dawn or in some shadows (such as but not limited to cloudy, tree shade, building shadows, etc.) Natural light brightness when under. It is conceivable that the first brightness can also be set equal to the second brightness. It will be appreciated that although specific brightness thresholds are not specified in this specification, those skilled in the art have fully understood the concepts of the present invention and are able to set specific brightness thresholds as desired.

In a specific example, when the user uses the rearview mirror with the vehicle monitoring system of the present invention, the vehicle monitoring system can program the daytime and nighttime conditions for the switching between the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror. . For example, the control device for the light mirror switching mechanism can determine the ambient brightness change according to the change in the quality of the recorded image of the recording device, thereby switching the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror to achieve full-time day and night monitoring. In a specific embodiment, the determination of image quality can be determined by, for example, the amount of noise of the image after super exposure.

In order to facilitate the switching between the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror, the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror are combined into the shape of the disk in the illustrated embodiment. The disc may be mounted on a rotating shaft fixed to the rear housing of the rear view mirror and rotatable relative to the rotating shaft. It can be seen that the disc is offset relative to the recording device, and the optical mirror switching mechanism only needs to drive the disc to rotate in one direction to switch between the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror, and switch the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror to the photo. Move the device before or remove it from the front of the recording device. The rotary light mirror switching device has the advantages of simple structure, stable and durable, long service life, and can reliably switch the light collecting and transmitting mirror after the ambient brightness changes, so as to meet the needs of full-time day and night camera acquisition and monitoring. It can be understood that a speed reduction mechanism, a control device, and the like can also be provided when the rotation of the motor drive disk is used. These light mirror switching mechanisms, speed reduction mechanisms, and controller devices may also be disposed outside the mirrors for the purpose of installation. For the sake of concealment, in an alternative embodiment they can also be arranged inside the rear view mirror, behind the mirror glass. These reduction mechanisms may be, for example, but not limited to, gear drives, worm gears, belt drives, chain drives, and the like.

In other embodiments, the natural light microscope and the infrared light mirror can also be formed into any shape such as a rectangle; the switching mode can also be set to move up and down or left and right to achieve switching (the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror in the present figure can realize left and right Mobile switching) and so on. It can be seen that those skilled in the art can think of other natural light mirrors and infrared mirror shapes and arrangement manners and switching modes, which cannot be exhaustive, and will not be described herein.

In order to achieve the concealment requirements required for monitoring and without affecting the normal use of the rear view mirror, a unidirectional light transmissive sheet can be used to make the mirror of the rear view mirror, or at least to block the recording device, the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror. The lens 9 of the rear view mirror at the area is a unidirectional light transmissive sheet. It can be appreciated that such an arrangement effectively avoids the effects on the normal rear view mirror field of view. The user does not perceive the hidden surveillance camera and the light mirror switching mechanism when using the inner mirror, and can ensure the user's need for the field of view of the rearview mirror.

From the above teachings, those skilled in the art can understand how to integrate the vehicle monitoring system of the present invention into a rearview mirror, and can obtain a vehicle having such a rearview mirror and a method of monitoring the vehicle using the aforementioned vehicle monitoring system.

As can be understood from the above description, the present invention solves the problem that the quality of daytime and nighttime surveillance cameras differs greatly in conventional automobile products. The invention provides a full-time vehicle monitoring system, after the daytime and nighttime switching, or after the light and dark switching, the quality information such as image sharpness changes significantly, and the hidden video recording device is based on the collected image. Quality change, by recognizing the quality of the image, adapting to environmental changes, without user operation, realizing the judgment of daytime and nighttime working conditions or bright and dark working conditions, and using the image quality to trigger sharply at night or in the dark Condition, triggering the infrared light mirror to automatically switch to the lens of the recording device, greatly improving the monitoring ability of the vehicle at night or in the dark, and automatically switching back to the visible natural light mirror after the whole vehicle returns to the day or the bright spot, To ensure the quality of daytime and nighttime monitoring, to meet the needs of full-time clear image acquisition and monitoring of occupants and property inside and outside the vehicle, to maximize the effectiveness of camera monitoring.

Fig. 2 is an example of a daytime natural light microscope monitoring image. Fig. 3 is an example of a nighttime natural light microscope monitoring image. Figure 4 is an example of a nighttime infrared mirror monitoring image. It can be seen directly from the figure that the monitoring image of the natural light microscope during the day is very clear, and the image quality of the nighttime infrared mirror monitoring image is greatly improved compared with the nighttime natural light microscope monitoring image.

Considering that the inner rearview mirror of most cars is connected with a sensor for sensing the light intensity, in the example of the present invention, the natural light can also be converted according to the threshold of the sensing signal of the existing light sensor. Mirror and infrared mirror.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above description, and various modifications and changes can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the technical idea of the present invention. Within the scope of the invention.

Claims (13)

A vehicle monitoring system, characterized in that the vehicle monitoring system comprises a recording device, a natural light mirror and an infrared light mirror installed in a rear view mirror of the vehicle and located behind the lens of the rear view mirror, the photographing The recording device faces the position of the vehicle to be monitored, and The vehicle monitoring system further includes a light mirror switching mechanism configured to switch the natural light mirror to the recording device and the said when the brightness of the position to be monitored is higher than the first brightness Between the lenses of the rear view mirror and switching the infrared light mirror away from the lens of the recording device and the rear view mirror, or when the brightness of the position to be monitored is lower than the second brightness The infrared light mirror is switched between the recording device and the lens of the rear view mirror, and the natural light mirror is switched away from the lens of the recording device and the rear view mirror, the first A brightness is not lower than the second brightness. The vehicle monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said first brightness and said second brightness are brightness between daytime natural light brightness and nighttime natural lightness. The vehicle monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the first brightness and the second brightness is a natural light brightness at dusk or dawn or a natural light brightness when in a shadow. A vehicle monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rear view mirror is an interior rear view mirror of the vehicle. The vehicle monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lens of the rear view mirror is at least at a region occluding the recording device, the natural light mirror, and the infrared mirror To the transparent sheet. The vehicle monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror are combined into a disk, and the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror are switched by the light The mirror switching mechanism drives the rotation of the disk. The vehicle monitoring system of claim 6 wherein said light mirror switching mechanism is disposed within said rear view mirror. The vehicle monitoring system of claim 7 wherein said light mirror switching mechanism is a motor. The vehicle monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the vehicle monitoring system has a control device for a light mirror switching mechanism, the control device being responsive according to the recording of the recording device The change in the quality of the image switches the natural light mirror and the infrared light mirror. The vehicle monitoring system according to claim 9, wherein the image recorded by the recording device is a still image or a moving image. A rear view mirror for a vehicle, characterized in that the rear view mirror integrates the vehicle monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 10. A vehicle characterized in that the vehicle has the rear view mirror of claim 11. A method of monitoring a vehicle using the vehicle monitoring system of any one of claims 1 to 10.

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