JPH11331653A - Vehicle driver photography device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] Regardless of the driver's physique or seat position,
Take a picture of the driver without fail. A light projector for projecting infrared light is provided above an inner mirror, and a CCD camera is provided inside the inner mirror. A half mirror 16 is formed on a mirror surface on which the CCD camera 14 is provided.
The driver illuminates the driver with light from the projector 12 and the CCD camera 1
At 4 the driver is photographed. CCD inside the inner mirror 10
By providing the camera 14, the optical axis of the CCD camera 14 always faces the driver, and it is possible to reliably capture an image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for photographing a vehicle driver, and more particularly to an apparatus using an inner mirror of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an apparatus which takes an image of a vehicle driver, processes the obtained image, and detects the driver's dozing state and inattentive state.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-168004 discloses that a light emitting element and a CCD image pickup element are provided in the upper left corner of a passenger seat in a vehicle cabin, and a driver's information is obtained from an image obtained by photographing a vehicle driver. A technology for detecting a dimensional position has been disclosed.

[0004]

As described above, in addition to providing the CCD image pickup device and the like at the upper left of the passenger seat, it is also conceivable to attach the CCD image pickup device to, for example, an instrument panel in a vehicle compartment.
In either case, it is necessary to adjust the camera position in accordance with the driver in each case or to widen the angle of view of the imaging system lens in order to always photograph the driver regardless of the physique and the seat position of the driver. It is complicated to adjust the camera position each time, and there is a possibility that the driver cannot be photographed accurately. In addition, when the angle of view of the imaging system lens is widened, the image area of the driver's eyes becomes relatively small, and it is difficult to determine the driver's line of sight and to determine whether the driver's eyes are open or closed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to always reliably photograph a driver regardless of the driver's physique or seat position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle driver photographing apparatus capable of facilitating an image processing process and improving the accuracy of determination (such as whether or not dozing).

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light emitting unit which is provided in an inner mirror of a vehicle and emits light other than visible light, and which is provided inside the inner mirror. Imaging means having an optical axis in the driver direction.

By irradiating light other than visible light, for example, infrared light, a driver can be photographed even at night or in a tunnel. Further, by providing the imaging means in the inner mirror, the driver sits on the seat and adjusts the inner mirror, whereby the optical axis of the imaging means is automatically adjusted, and the driver can be photographed.

[0008]

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

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the present embodiment. In this configuration, a projector 12 and a CCD camera 14 are provided on an inner mirror (room mirror) 10 in the vehicle interior.

The light projector 12 is attached to the upper right portion of the inner mirror 10, and emits light other than visible light, specifically, light of wavelength 8
Emit infrared light of 50 nm to 950 nm. The function of the light projector 12 is to reliably illuminate the driver even at night or in the dark (in a tunnel) to illuminate the driver.

The CCD camera 14 includes the inner mirror 10
The camera captures the driver's face by receiving infrared light reflected by the driver. More specifically, the CCD camera 14 is disposed at the lower right in the inner mirror 10, and is fixed so that its optical axis and the mirror surface optical axis of the inner mirror 10 coincide. Therefore, when the driver sits in the driver's seat and adjusts the position of the inner mirror 10, the optical axis thereof is directed to the driver. By providing the CCD camera 14 in the inner mirror 10 in this way, it is not necessary to widen the angle of view as in the related art, and the driver's eyes can be photographed larger than in the related art. In the case of a left-hand drive vehicle, it is preferable to arrange the CCD camera 14 at the lower left of the inner mirror 10.

The half mirror 16 is formed on the front mirror surface of the inner mirror 10 on which the CCD camera 14 is disposed, and functions as a window for guiding infrared light reflected by the driver to the CCD camera 14.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
That is, a sectional view of the light projector 12 is shown.

The infrared LED array 12a is provided substantially at the center of the light projector 12, and emits infrared light.

The visible light cut filter 12b is an infrared LE
The visible light component included in the light emitted from the D array 12a is removed. This is to prevent the driver's driving operation from being affected even when the driver is irradiated with light.

The reflection plate 12c is provided on the back surface of the light projector 12, reflects the light leaked from the infrared LED array 12a to the front surface, and increases the light use efficiency.

The visible light cut filter 12b and the reflection plate 12c are not essential, and the light projector 12 can be constituted only by the infrared LED array 12a.

By providing the CCD camera 14 in the inner mirror 10 in this manner, the driver's face can be constantly photographed regardless of the driver's physique or seat position. It is possible to take a large image of the driver's eyes without having to take a wide area, and it is possible to easily detect the state of the driver's eyes (open or closed) by processing the obtained image. .

<Second Embodiment> FIGS. 3 and 4 show the configuration of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. In the present embodiment, a case where the inner mirror 10 is a so-called anti-glare mirror (prevents the headlight of a following vehicle from being reflected by the inner mirror and dazzling the driver) will be particularly described.

In FIG. 1, the inner mirror 10 has a light projector 12 and a CCD camera 14, but additionally has a rotation mechanism for anti-glare. The rotation mechanism is the mirror internal stay 1
8, a fixing portion 20, a resin-made collapsible member 22, a ball holder 24, a ball 26, and a lever 28.

The mirror inner stay 18 is for supporting the collapsible resin member 22 and the ball holder 24 on the mirror body, and is fixed to the inner mirror 10 by a fixing portion 20 (bolt or the like).

The ball 22 is connected to a stay 19 for fixing the inner mirror 10 to the passenger compartment (ie, the stay 19).
Is the ball 22), the ball holder 24
It can rotate freely inside. The CCD camera 14 is attached to the ball holder 24 via a stay 21.

The collapsible resin member 22 is provided between the mirror inner stay 18 and the ball holder 24. The member 22 can be bent at its center, and is stable in two states, a bent state and a straight state. By making a transition between these two states, the angle of the mirror surface of the inner mirror 10 is changed, and an antiglare effect is obtained. In addition, even if the resin-made retractable member 22 transitions between the two states, the ball holder 24 is not displaced or deformed at all. Accordingly, the CCD camera 14 provided on the ball holder 24 via the stay 21 is not affected. In order to change the two states of the member 22, that is, to change the angle of the mirror surface to prevent glare, the inner mirror 1
The lever 28 provided at the lower part of 0 is used.

FIG. 5 and FIG.
Inner mirror 10 and CCD corresponding to the two states
The optical axis of the camera 14 is shown. FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the resin-made folding member 22 is bent. The bending of the member 22 causes the mirror internal stay 18 to rotate a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction from vertically downward in the figure, and the inner mirror 18 The mirror surface 10 also rotates counterclockwise at a predetermined angle from below vertically. The optical axis of the mirror surface of the inner mirror 10 at this time is indicated by an arrow B in the figure, and the ball holder 24
The optical axis of the CCD camera 14 attached to the
Indicated by

If the headlights from the following vehicle are dazzling in this state, the driver tilts the lever 28 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the resin-made retractable member 22 makes a transition from a bent state to a straight state, the mirror inner stay 18 rotates clockwise, and the optical axis of the mirror surface of the inner mirror 10 also changes to an arrow. The direction is indicated by B '. The optical axis of the mirror surface of the inner mirror 10 is changed from B to B '.
Thus, even if the headlight of the following vehicle is reflected by the inner mirror 10, the reflected light does not directly enter the driver, and the glare can be eliminated.

On the other hand, even if the member 22 is deformed by tilting the lever 28, the ball holder 24 is not deformed or displaced as described above, and the CCD camera 14 is not displaced. Therefore, the optical axis of the CCD camera 14 is maintained in the direction A as in FIG. 5, and the driver can always be photographed even when the angle of the inner mirror 10 is changed.

In this embodiment, the inner mirror 1
Although the anti-glare effect is obtained by changing the optical axis of the mirror surface of 0, the anti-glare effect may be obtained by dynamically changing the reflectance of the mirror surface of the inner mirror 10 (the optical axis is unchanged). It is possible. In this case, CC as shown in the present embodiment
The support structure of the D camera 14 is unnecessary, and the optical axis of the mirror surface and the CCD camera 14 are provided in the inner mirror 10 as in FIG.
What is necessary is just to fix the CCD camera 14 so that the optical axis of the CCD camera 14 coincides.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since it is possible to reliably photograph the driver irrespective of the physique and the seat position of the driver, the subsequent image processing is facilitated, and the state of the driver can be detected with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment.

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

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view (1) of the device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view (part 2) of the device in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

10 inner mirror, 12 floodlight, 14 CCD camera, 16 half mirror.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A light emitting unit provided on an inner mirror of a vehicle and emitting light other than visible light, and an imaging unit provided inside the inner mirror and having an optical axis in a vehicle driver direction. Characteristic vehicle driver photographing device.