Camera built-in exterior rearview mirror
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A camera built-in exterior rearview mirror comprising:
- a mirror housing which is mounted on a vehicle through a mirror base for free pivotal movement from a neutral position to a rear stored position and a front position;
a camera module disposed in said mirror housing;
a camera installed in said camera module; and
a camera angle adjusting means for adjusting an angle of said camera, wherein shifting of an image acquisition area of said camera is restrained so that said image acquisition area can be an approximately fixed area while said mirror housing makes a pivotal movement.
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Abstract
A camera built-in exterior rearview mirror is presented, which has a mirror housing mounted on a vehicle through a mirror base for free pivotal movement from a neutral position to a rear stored position and a front position, a camera module disposed in the mirror housing, a camera installed in the camera module and a camera angle adjusting mechanism for adjusting an angle of the camera. The camera is controlled for restraining shifting of an image acquisition area so that it can be an approximately fixed area while the mirror housing makes a pivotal movement.
359 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A camera built-in exterior rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror housing which is mounted on a vehicle through a mirror base for free pivotal movement from a neutral position to a rear stored position and a front position;
a camera module disposed in said mirror housing;
a camera installed in said camera module; and
a camera angle adjusting means for adjusting an angle of said camera, wherein shifting of an image acquisition area of said camera is restrained so that said image acquisition area can be an approximately fixed area while said mirror housing makes a pivotal movement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A camera built-in exterior rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror housing which is mounted on a vehicle through a mirror base for free pivotal movement from a neutral position to a rear stored position and a front position;
a camera module disposed in said mirror housing;
a camera installed in a camera housing of said camera module; and
a lens of said camera which is oriented downward so that said camera can be positioned to face somewhat diagonally outer front alongside said vehicle to capture a wide image, wherein said camera is disposed rotatably about a rotational axis in said camera housing, which is approximately in parallel with a pivotal axis of said mirror housing, wherein said rearview mirror comprises a driving mechanism which rotates said camera to follow a pivotal movement of said mirror housing, and wherein said driving mechanism maintains approximate parallelism of an optical axis of said camera so that shifting of an image acquisition area of said camera can be restrained while said mirror housing makes a pivotal displacement from a neutral position. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A camera built-in exterior rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror base secured to a vehicle;
a support shaft projecting from said mirror base;
a support frame supported rotatably on said mirror base through said support shaft;
a mirror housing which is pivotable from a neutral position to a front position and a rear stored position relative to said mirror base;
a camera housing installed in said mirror housing; and
a camera installed in said camera housing, which is secured to said mirror housing so that a lens of said camera can be oriented downward to face an observation opening provided on a bottom surface of said mirror housing, wherein said camera is supported rotatably about an rotational axis, which is approximately in parallel with a pivotal axis, through a rotational shaft in said camera housing, and said lens is oriented so that an optical axis thereof can be pointed to a somewhat diagonal outer front alongside said vehicle and said camera can capture a wide image, and wherein said rearview mirror comprises a driving mechanism which can rotate said camera by a rotational angle which is approximately the same as a pivotal angle of said mirror housing in an opposite direction to a pivotal direction of said mirror housing. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification