Vehicular visual assistance system

• US 20060132601A1
• Filed: 11/03/2005
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Lock
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Lock
• Inventors: Sakamoto, Hiroshi, Kukita, Tomoyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,423,521 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/25 to the sides of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/28 with an adjustable field of view
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1253 with cameras, video cameras or video screens
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/168 Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

In a vehicular visual assistance system, an image picked up by an image pickup device capable of picking up an image of a fore-and-aft region sideward of a vehicle is processed by an image processing device, and displayed on a display monitor. The image pickup device is mounted on a lower part of a door mirror housing, and is capable of picking up an image of a region that is continuous in the fore-and-aft direction while simultaneously including part of a front region directly viewed by a vehicle driver on a driver'"'"'s seat and part of a rear region indirectly viewed by the vehicle driver via a door mirror. The image processing device displays, on the display monitor, a region for which at least front and rear boundaries thereof overlap the rear edge of the directly viewed region and the front edge of the indirectly viewed region, respectively. Thus, it is possible to avoid a blind spot from occurring between the direct and indirect views and the image based on the picked up image, thus giving an excellent visibility.

Claims

1. A vehicular visual assistance system comprising:

image pickup means mounted on a housing of a door mirror, the image pickup means being capable of picking up an image of a fore-and-aft region sideward of a vehicle;

a display monitor provided within a vehicle compartment, the display monitor being visible to a vehicle driver; and

image processing means for displaying on the display monitor an image obtained by processing an image signal from the image pickup means,

wherein the image pickup means is mounted on a lower part of the housing and is capable of picking up an image of a region which is continuous in the fore-and-aft direction while simultaneously including part of a front region directly viewed by a vehicle driver on a driver'"'"'s seat and part of a rear region indirectly viewed by the vehicle driver via the door mirror, and

wherein the image processing means displays on the display monitor a picked up image of a region, among the regions whose images have been picked up by the image pickup means, for which at least front and rear boundaries thereof overlap the rear edge of the directly viewed region and the front edge of the indirectly viewed region, respectively.

2. The vehicular visual assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing means has a function of displaying on the display monitor an enlarged picked up image of only a necessary part based on an instruction from the vehicle driver.

3. The vehicular visual assistance system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image pickup means are mounted respectively on housings of left and right door mirrors;

and the image processing means displays picked up images spaced from each other on the left and right parts of the display monitor, based on image signals from left and right image pickup means.

4. The vehicular visual assistance system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image pickup means are mounted respectively on housings of left and right door mirrors;

and when the vehicle changes direction the image processing means selects a picked up image based on, among image signals from the left and right image pickup means, the image signal from the side to which the direction changes, and displays it on the display monitor.

5. The vehicular visual assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup means is mounted on a lower part of the housing so that an optical axis intersects a straight line which runs through an outer edge of a contact area of a front wheel of the vehicle and which is parallel to the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle.

6. The vehicular visual assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup means is mounted on a lower part of the housing so that an optical axis intersects a straight line joining together outer edges of contact areas of a front wheel and a rear wheel of the vehicle.

7. The vehicular visual assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup means is mounted on a lower part of the housing so that an optical axis intersects a straight line joining together an outer edge of a contact area of a front wheel of the vehicle and a point that is a projection on a road surface of an outer edge of a vehicle body positioned outside a rear wheel in a portion corresponding to the rear wheel of the vehicle.