Drive recorder

• US 20040263647A1
• Filed: 02/20/2004
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamaguchi, Takeshi
• Application Number:
  US10/781,919
• Publication Number:
  US 20040263647A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/240.2
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

A drive recorder attains scenic images surrounding a vehicle or images inside a vehicle chamber in a specific direction, as being useful for verifying a cause of an accident. As an impact sensor detects an occurrence of an accident, a control unit displays an image by an on-vehicle camera on a screen of a display. Accordingly, a user is able to quickly record target objects that supposedly help to verify the cause of the accident, such as the vehicle running into from behind and running away, a traffic light, a traffic marking and so forth, by simply turning a photographic direction of the on-vehicle camera toward the target objects, with a simple operation on a touch panel, even in an emergency.

Claims

1. A drive recorder comprising:

a camera that photographs images of the outside or inside of a vehicle,

a recording unit that records images photographed by said camera,

a display that displays said recorded images on a screen, a touch panel, disposed on a front of the screen of said display, that outputs coordinate data of a position pressed, and

photographic direction variation means that vary a photographic direction of said camera in accordance with the position pressed on said touch panel.

2. The drive recorder according to claim 1, wherein the photographic direction variation means include:

a reference table that determines coordinates on said display screen corresponding to said position pressed, from the coordinates of the position pressed on said touch panel,

a camera movement calculation unit that calculates a movement of said camera from the coordinates on the display screen corresponding to said position pressed on the touch panel, and

a photographic direction switch unit that moves said camera on the basis of said movement calculated.

3. The drive recorder according to claim 2, wherein said photographic direction switch unit includes:

a drive control unit that receives a movement of the camera from said camera movement calculation unit to generate a camera drive signal,

a camera drive unit that drives the photographic direction of said camera in a horizontal direction and an elevation-angle direction, in accordance with the camera drive signal from said drive control unit, and

a counter that reads angles of the horizontal direction and the elevation-angle direction driven by said camera drive unit, and transmits read values of the angles to the drive control unit.

4. The drive recorder according to claim 2, further comprising photographic magnification switch means that switch a photographic magnification of said camera, wherein said camera movement calculation unit calculates a movement of the camera corresponding to said photographic magnification.

5. The drive recorder according to claim 3, further comprising photographic magnification switch means that switch a photographic magnification of said camera, wherein said camera movement calculation unit calculates a movement of the camera corresponding to said photographic magnification.

6. The drive recorder according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit that communicates with an external organization, and screen capture means that fetch an image presented on said display, wherein the image by said camera presented on the display is recorded as a static image, and said communication unit transmits said static image with information inherent to the vehicle attached.

7. The drive recorder according to claim 2, further comprising a communication unit that communicates with an external organization, and screen capture means that fetch an image presented on said display, wherein the image by said camera presented on said display is recorded as a static image, and said communication unit transmits said static image with information inherent to the vehicle attached.

8. The drive recorder according to claim 3, further comprising a communication unit that communicates with an external organization, and screen capture means that fetch an image presented on said display, wherein the image by said camera presented on said display is recorded as a static image, and said communication unit transmits said static image with information inherent to the vehicle attached.

9. The drive recorder according to claim 4, further comprising a communication unit that communicates with an external organization, and screen capture means that fetch an image presented on said display, wherein the image by said camera presented on said display is recorded as a static image, and said communication unit transmits said static image with information inherent to the vehicle attached.

10. The drive recorder according to claim 5, further comprising a communication unit that communicates with an external organization, and screen capture means that fetch an image presented on said display, wherein the image by said camera presented on said display is recorded as a static image, and said communication unit transmits said static image with information inherent to the vehicle attached.