Multi-direction camera in combination with a car
AssigneeNiles Parts Co., Ltd.
InventorMasamichi Ishibashi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multi-direction camera comprising a mirror 3 having a plurality of reflecting surfaces 31 and 32 disposed in front of a lens 4. The lens 4 receives light reflected from the mirror 3 from a plurality of directions and forms an image by the image sensor 7. The mirror 3 can be moved linearly by an actuator 8. The arrangement of the mirror 3 and lens 4 allows the camera to image road conditions of multiple directions at the same time. The camera can also image a road condition in a single direction with a wider scope manually or automatically when the road condition in that direction needs to be confirmed preponderantly.
Claims5
A multi-direction camera in combination with a car, comprising:
- a lens having a light receiving direction;
- and
- a mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces disposed in front of said lens, said lens being arranged to receive light reflected from the mirror from a plurality of directions to form images on an image sensor, said mirror being supported so as to be movable linearly relative to said lens;
- wherein one reflecting surface of said plurality of reflecting surfaces of said mirror is set facing a left direction of the car and the other reflecting surface is set facing a right direction of the car, respectively, and said mirror is arranged so as to be movable linearly relative to said lens in a direction perpendicular to the light receiving direction of said lens.
A multi-direction camera in combination with a car, comprising:
- a lens;
- and
- a mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces disposed in front of said lens, said lens being arranged to receive light reflected from the mirror from a plurality of directions to form images on an image sensor, said mirror being supported so as to be movable linearly relative to said lens;
- wherein said mirror is connected to an actuator so as to be movable linearly by said actuator;
- and
- wherein said actuator is connected with a right/left turn signal generating circuit of the car via a controller, and said mirror is arranged so as to be movable linearly corresponding to a signal derived from said right/left turn signal generating circuit.
A multi-direction camera in combination with a car,comprising:
- a lens;
- and
- a mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces disposed in front of said lens, said lens being arranged to receive light reflected from the mirror from a plurality of directions to form images on an image sensor, said mirror being supported so as to be movable linearly relative to said lens;
- wherein said plurality of reflecting surfaces of said mirror comprise a first reflecting surface set facing the left direction of the car and a second reflecting surface set facing the right direction of the car, said mirror being linearly movable relative to said lens from a first position in which both of said reflecting surfaces reflect light into said lens and a second position in which only one of said reflecting surfaces reflect light into said lens.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.