Camera and vehicle-surroundings visual-recognition apparatus using the same
First Claim
1. A camera comprising:
- a housing having first and second entrance windows disposed on opposite sides of said housing, through each of which extraneous light is taken in;
an image pickup device mounted in said housing;
an optical element for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said first entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on an area of an imaging plane of said image pickup device, which is on a same side of said housing as said first entrance window, and for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said second entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on the area of said imaging plane of said image pickup device, which is on a same side of said housing as said second entrance window;
wherein said optical element comprises;
an image formation lens, placed in a stage prior to said image pickup device, for forming an image on the imaging plane of said image pickup device from the extraneous light; and
a prism formed as a square pillar which has a section shaped like an isosceles triangle and is disposed in a stage prior to said image formation lens by making a bisector of a vertex angle of the isosceles triangle coincide with an optical axis of said image formation lens.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A camera provided with entrance windows, through each of which extraneous light are taken in, in both side portions of a housing, respectively. Further, an image pickup device is mounted in the housing. Moreover, an optical element is placed in a stage prior to the aforesaid image pickup device. This optical element reflects the extraneous light once, which is incident from a one of the aforesaid entrance windows, and forms an inverted mirror image on an area of an imaging plane of the aforesaid image pickup device, which corresponds to the one of the aforesaid entrance windows. Moreover, this optical element reflects the extraneous light once, which is incident from the other of the aforesaid entrance windows, and forms an inverted mirror image on an area of said imaging plane of said image pickup device, which corresponds to the other of the aforesaid entrance windows. Thus, in accordance with this camera, the reflection of the extraneous light is performed once. Thereby, the configuration of the camera is simplified. Further, the miniaturization of the camera is achieved.
29 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A camera comprising:
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a housing having first and second entrance windows disposed on opposite sides of said housing, through each of which extraneous light is taken in; an image pickup device mounted in said housing; an optical element for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said first entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on an area of an imaging plane of said image pickup device, which is on a same side of said housing as said first entrance window, and for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said second entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on the area of said imaging plane of said image pickup device, which is on a same side of said housing as said second entrance window; wherein said optical element comprises;
an image formation lens, placed in a stage prior to said image pickup device, for forming an image on the imaging plane of said image pickup device from the extraneous light; and
a prism formed as a square pillar which has a section shaped like an isosceles triangle and is disposed in a stage prior to said image formation lens by making a bisector of a vertex angle of the isosceles triangle coincide with an optical axis of said image formation lens. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A camera comprising:
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a housing having first and second entrance windows disposed on opposite sides of said housing, through each of which extraneous light is taken in; an image pickup device mounted in said housing; an optical element for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said first entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on an area of an imaging plane of said image pickup device, which is on a same side of said housing as said first entrance window, and for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said second entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on the area of said image pickup device, which is on a same side of said housing as said second entrance window; wherein said optical element comprises;
an image formation lens, placed in a stage prior to said image pickup device, for forming an image on the imaging plane of said image pickup device from the extraneous light; and
a pair of semitransparent mirrors placed in a stage prior to said image formation lens in such a manner as to form a predetermined angle and be symmetrical with respect to an optical axis of said image formation lens.
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9. An apparatus for visual recognition of surroundings of a vehicle, comprising:
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a housing mounted in a front portion of a vehicle and provided with left-side and right-side entrance windows, through each of which extraneous light is taken in, in both of left and right side portions thereof in a travelling direction of said vehicle, respectively; an image pick up device mounted in said housing so that an imaging plane thereof, where extraneous light entering from said left-side and right-side entrance windows is incident, faces a region forward of said vehicle; an optical element for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said left-side entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on a left-side area of an imaging plane of said image pickup device, which corresponds to said left-side entrance window, and for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said right-side entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on a right-side area of said imaging plane of said image pickup device, which corresponds to said right-side entrance window; signal conversion means for converting a picture signal, which represents the inverted mirror image formed on said imaging plane, into an image signal which represents an inverted normal image obtained by flipping the inverted mirror image from side to side; and display means for inputting the image signal, which represents the inverted normal image, from said signal conversion means and for displaying an erected normal image; wherein said optical element comprises;
an image formation lens, placed in a stage prior to said image pickup device, for forming an image on the imaging plane of said image pickup device from the extraneous light; and
a prism formed as a square pillar which has a section shaped like an isosceles triangle and is disposed in a stage prior to said image formation lens by making a bisector of a vertex angle of the isosceles triangle coincide with an optical axis of said image formation lens. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for visual recognition of surroundings of a vehicle, comprising:
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a housing mounted in a front portion of a vehicle and provided with left-side and right-side entrance windows, through each of which extraneous light is taken in, in both of left and right side portions thereof in a travelling direction of said vehicle, respectively; an image pick up device mounted in said housing so that an imaging plane thereof, where extraneous light entering from said left-side and right-side entrance windows is incident, faces a region forward of said vehicle; an optical element for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said left-side entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on a left-side area of an imaging plane of said image pickup device, which corresponds to said left-side entrance window, and for reflecting said extraneous light once, which is incident from said right-side entrance window, and for forming an inverted mirror image on a right-side area of said imaging plane of said image pickup device, which corresponds to said right-side entrance window; signal conversion means for converting a picture signal, which represents the inverted mirror image formed on said imaging plane, into an image signal which represents an inverted normal image obtained by flipping the inverted mirror image from side to side; and display means for inputting the image signal, which represents the inverted normal image, from said signal conversion means and for displaying an erected normal image; wherein said optical element comprises;
an image formation lens, placed in a stage prior to said image pickup device, for forming an image on the imaging plane of said image pickup device from the extraneous light; and
a pair of semitransparent mirrors placed in a stage prior to said image formation lens in such a manner as to form a predetermined angle and be symmetrical with respect to an optical axis of said image formation lens.
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Specification