System and program, or the like

Abstract

To provide a system etc. more excellent than conventional systems.SOLUTION: Inside a branching device 500, there is provided a connection line which branches an image signal input from a rear view camera image signal input terminal to a signal output terminal 520 toward display device and a signal output terminal 530 toward recording device. When a signal for turning on a vehicle back lamp is input from a back lamp signal input terminal 560, the image signal input from the rear view camera image signal input terminal is output toward a display device 16 from the signal output terminal 520 toward display device. However, when a signal for turning on is not input, the image signal input from the rear view camera image signal input terminal is not output toward the display device 16 from the signal output terminal 520 toward display device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to, for example, systems and programs.

Background Art

[0002] In Patent Document 1, when a video signal is input to the video signal from the rearview camera, the video to be displayed on the display device is switched to the video from the rearview camera. When the video signal from the rearview camera is no longer input, the video to be displayed on the display device is switched to the video before switching to the video from the rearview camera. By performing such processing, a driver can display the video captured by the rearview camera on the display device only by putting the shift position back, and can check the situation behind the vehicle by looking at the display device. An apparatus is shown.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, the conventional systems have various problems. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a system, a program, etc. having characteristics superior to the prior art.

[0005] The object of the present invention is not limited to this, and the applicant also intends to obtain rights through divisional applications, amendments, etc. for configurations that aim to obtain the effects achieved by parts of the configurations disclosed in this specification, drawings, etc. For example, in this specification, the problems obtained by reading the parts described as "can" or "is possible" as "is a problem" are disclosed in this specification. The problems are described as independent ones, and the applicant also intends to obtain rights through divisional applications, amendments, etc. alone for the configurations for solving each problem. Even if the problems are implicitly understood from the description in the specification, the applicant intends to make part of the configurations described in this specification the scope of the claims through amendment or divisional application. In addition, the configurations for solving the problems obtained by combining these independent problems are also disclosed, and the applicant intends to obtain rights.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] (1) It includes a rear camera video signal input unit for inputting the video signal of the rear camera,

[0007] a signal output unit for display devices that outputs a signal to a display device for displaying the video taken by the rear camera based on the video signal input from the rear camera video signal input unit,

[0008] a signal output unit for recording devices that outputs a signal to a recording device for recording the video taken by the rear camera based on the video signal input from the rear camera video signal input unit, and is a device comprising a power supply connection unit that receives power supply from the outside, a rear lamp signal input unit that inputs a signal for controlling the lighting of the rear lamp of the vehicle by the vehicle, a rear camera power line connection unit that connects the power line on the rear camera side for supplying power to the rear camera, and comprises

[0009] When a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input unit, while outputting the video signal input from the back camera video signal input unit to the display device from the display device - oriented signal output unit,

[0010] When a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is not input from the back lamp signal input unit, it is configured not to output the video signal input from the back camera video signal input unit to the display device from the display device - oriented signal output unit,

[0011] It is preferable to adopt a system having a function of supplying power to the back camera power line connection unit by the power supply from the outside connected to the power connection unit regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input unit.

[0012] In this way, regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input unit, the power supply to the back camera power line connection unit is made by the power supply from the outside connected to the power connection unit. Therefore, even when the vehicle's shift is not in the reverse position, the video signal from the back camera can be output to the recording device, and it is possible to record the video of the back camera in the recording device even when the vehicle's shift is not in the reverse position. At the same time, for the display device, the video of the back camera is output when the shift is in the reverse position, and the video of the back camera is not output when the shift is not in the reverse position. Thus, the video of the back camera is not displayed on the display device except during reverse, preventing side glances and stares such as viewing the video of the back camera on the display device during driving, which contributes to safe driving.

[0013] This system is preferably installed in a vehicle. This system is preferably an apparatus installed in a vehicle. This system is preferably a system retrofitted to a vehicle after it is shipped from the vehicle manufacturer's factory. This system may be distributed among a plurality of housings and include some of its components, but it is particularly preferable to house it in one housing. The vehicle may be a special vehicle such as a forklift, for example, but is particularly preferably a vehicle having four or more wheels.

[0014] The rear camera is preferably a camera that mainly captures areas other than the front, and may be a camera that captures either the left or the right, but is particularly preferably a camera that captures the rear of the vehicle.

[0015] The rear camera video signal input section may be, for example, a wiring drawn from the outside into the housing, but preferably includes a connector that connects to a connector provided on the rear camera video signal line. The video signal may be a digital signal, but is preferably an analog signal, and particularly preferably an NTSC signal.

[0016] The display device may be simply a monitor, but is preferably a device having a drawing function in which a computer draws based on a program on the display means, and particularly preferably a device having a function of drawing necessary information for the driver of the vehicle on the display means, and particularly preferably a navigation device having a function of drawing a map. The display device is particularly preferably configured as in (2) described later.

[0017] The signal output section for the recording device may be, for example, a wiring drawn out from the outside into the housing, but preferably includes a connector that connects to a connector provided on the video signal line connecting to the recording device. As the recording device for recording the video captured by the rear camera, a drive recorder is particularly preferable.

[0018] As the "power connection part that receives power supply from the outside", the outside can be the side of a mobile battery or the like. In particular, it is preferably a battery that is pre - installed in the vehicle when shipped from the vehicle manufacturer, and it is preferably the battery side required for the operation of the vehicle itself for starting the vehicle and accessory products. The power connection part may be, for example, a wiring drawn into the housing from the outside, but it is preferably provided with a connector that connects to a connector provided on the power supply line from the outside. As the signal for the vehicle to control the lighting of the vehicle's back lamp, it is particularly good to use the power line to the vehicle's park lamp.

[0019] The back lamp signal input part may be, for example, a wiring drawn into the housing from the outside, but it is preferably provided with a connector that connects to a connector provided on the back lamp signal line.

[0020] The back lamp signal input part may be, for example, a wiring drawn into the housing from the outside, but it is preferably provided with a connector that connects to a connector provided on the back lamp signal line.

[0021] The back - camera power line connection part may be, for example, a wiring drawn into the housing from the outside, but it is preferably provided with a connector that connects to a connector provided on the power line of the park camera.

[0022] The wiring connected to the back - camera video signal input part and the wiring connected to the back - camera power line connection part are preferably provided in the same sheath. When connecting with a connector, it is particularly good to use one connector that connects the wiring connected to the back - camera video signal input part and the wiring connected to the back - camera power line connection part.

[0023] "When a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input section, while outputting the video signal input from the back camera video signal input section to the display device from the display device-oriented signal output section, when a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is not input from the back lamp signal input section, the video signal input from the back camera video signal input section is not output to the display device from the display device-oriented signal output section", in particular, a configuration using an electronic switch is preferable.

[0024] "Regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input section, the power supply to the back camera power line connection section is performed by the power supply from the outside connected to the power connection section", in particular, a configuration in which the power supply supplied from the vehicle's battery is supplied to the power line of the back camera via a fuse is preferable.

[0025] This system may be configured as a video branching device, for example. For example, it is advisable to cut the existing wiring between the existing back lamp that takes the power of the back camera from the vehicle's wiring to the back lamp and the back camera, and connect both wirings to the video branching device that is this system. Then, use a drive recorder having a front camera or the like as a recording device, and constantly supply power to the drive recorder from this system and send the video signal of the back camera. Use a car navigation as the display device, and the car navigation has a function of automatically switching the navigation screen to the screen of the video signal when a video signal is input. The video branching device is configured to output the video of the back camera to the navigation side when the vehicle's gear is in reverse and there is a power supply from the vehicle to the vehicle's back lamp, and not output the video of the back camera to the navigation side when the vehicle's gear is not in reverse and there is no power supply from the vehicle to the vehicle's back lamp.

[0026] (2) When there is a video signal from the signal output unit for the display device, the display device shall display a video based on the video signal, and when there is no video signal from the signal output unit for the display device, it shall be configured not to display a video based on the video signal.

[0027] In this way, it becomes possible to record the video of the backup camera in the recording device even when the vehicle's shift is not in the reverse position, and in the display device, the video of the backup camera is displayed when the shift is in the reverse position, and the video of the backup camera is not output when the shift is not in the reverse position. Therefore, it is possible to prevent side glances or fixations such as viewing the video of the backup camera on the display device during driving, contributing to safe driving. It is particularly preferable to use a display device equipped with a backup camera video signal input connector to which the wiring from the signal output unit for the display device of this system is connected. (3) It is provided with a signal output unit for the display device for outputting the backup lamp signal to the display device.

[0028] When a signal for turning on the vehicle's backup lamp is input from the backup lamp signal input unit, a signal for turning on the vehicle's backup lamp is output from the signal output unit for the display device to the display device.

[0029] When a signal for turning on the vehicle's backup lamp is not input from the backup lamp signal input unit, it is configured not to output a signal for turning on the vehicle's backup lamp from the signal output unit for the display device to the display device.

[0030] When a signal for turning on the backup lamp signal is input from the signal output unit for the display device to the display device, the display device shall display a video based on the video signal, and when a signal for turning on the backup lamp signal is not input from the signal output unit for the display device to the display device, it shall be configured not to display a video based on the video signal.

[0031] In this way, when the display device inputs a backlight signal, it can control whether the image of the back camera is displayed on the display means of the display device according to the state of the backlight signal.

[0032] The backlight signal output unit for the display device may be, for example, a wiring drawn from the housing to the side of the backlight signal input unit of the display device, but it is preferably provided with a connector that connects to a connector provided in the wiring connected to the side of the backlight signal input unit of the display device. The display device is preferably provided with a connector as the backlight signal input unit. (4) It is provided with a recording device power line connection part for connecting the power line of the recording device,

[0033] It is preferably configured to supply the external power connected to the power connection part from the recording device power line connection part to the recording device side regardless of the state of the signal input from the backlight signal input part.

[0034] In this way, the recording device connected to this system is supplied to the recording device side regardless of the state of the signal input from the backlight signal input part. Therefore, on the recording device side, it is not necessary to directly receive power supply from the vehicle and recording can be performed.

[0035] The wiring connected to the signal output unit for the recording device and the wiring connected to the recording device power line connection part are preferably provided in the same sheath. When connecting by a connector, it is particularly preferable to use one connector that connects the wiring connected to the signal output unit for the recording device and the wiring connected to the recording device power line connection part. (5) The recording device is provided with a front camera that photographs the front of the vehicle and a front camera video signal output unit that outputs a video signal photographed by the front camera, The system includes a front camera video signal input unit that inputs the video signal photographed by the front camera output from the front camera video signal output unit, and has a function of outputting the video signal input from the front camera video signal input unit from the signal output unit for the display device.

[0036] When a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input unit, instead of the video signal input from the front camera video signal input unit, the video signal input from the back camera video signal input unit is output toward the display device, while

[0037] when a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is not input from the back lamp signal input unit, instead of the video signal input from the back camera video signal input unit, the video signal input from the front camera video signal input unit may be output toward the display device.

[0038] In this way, the user can simply operate the shift, and when the shift is not in the reverse position, the video of the front camera can be displayed on the display device, and when the shift is in the reverse position, the video of the back camera can be easily displayed on the display device. It is possible to perform unified switching in this system without separately performing complicated wiring.

[0039] The front camera video signal input unit may be, for example, wiring drawn from the outside into the housing, but it may be provided with a connector that connects to a connector provided on the signal line that sends the video signal of the front camera.

[0040] For example, when using a navigation device as the display device, which has a function of outputting to the video signal input of the back camera of the navigation device, when the signal of the back lamp is input, the video of the back camera is output to the navigation side, and when the signal of the back lamp is not input, the video of the drive recorder used as a recording device is output to the navigation side.

[0041] (6) The recording device may be provided with setting means for setting whether to always output the video signal captured by the front camera from the front camera video signal output unit, or not to output it always and output the video signal reproduced during the reproduction of the video recorded in the recording device.

[0042] In this way, when the user plays the video, the reproduced video is displayed on the display device, but when it is not being played, the video is not displayed, and a mode that can contribute to safe driving can be selected. As a configuration that does not output a video signal, it is particularly preferable to adopt a configuration that does not output even a black or blue-back video and a configuration that there is no video signal itself.

[0043] Note that, without providing the setting means, the recording device may simply be configured not to always output the video signal captured by the front camera from the front camera video signal output unit and to output the reproduced video signal when reproducing the video recorded in the recording device.

[0044] For example, it is preferable to use a navigation as the display device and a drive recorder as the recording device, and to automatically display the rear camera when in reverse, the reproduced video of the drive recorder when playing back with the drive recorder, and the navigation screen otherwise.

[0045] (7) The display device includes a drawing function for a computer to draw based on a program in the display means, and includes a drawn video signal output unit that outputs a video signal drawn by the drawing function. The system includes a display device video signal input unit that inputs the video signal drawn by the drawing function output from the drawn video signal output unit. It has a function of outputting the video signal input from the display device video signal input unit from the signal output unit for the recording device.

[0046] When a signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input unit, it is preferable to adopt a configuration that outputs the video signal input from the back camera video signal input unit to the display device instead of the video signal input from the display device video signal input unit.

[0047] In this way, the computer of the display device can cause the recording device to record the video signal drawn by the display means based on the program, and when a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input unit, the computer of the display device can cause the recording device to record the video of the back camera instead of the video drawn by the display means based on the program.

[0048] The drawn video signal output unit may be, for example, a wiring drawn from the housing of the display device, but it is preferably provided with a connector provided in the display device. The display device video signal input unit may be, for example, a wiring drawn from the outside into the housing of the system, but it is preferably provided with a connector that connects to the connector provided on the video signal line from the side of the drawn video signal output unit of the display device.

[0049] For example, a drive recorder may be used as the recording device, and a configuration may be adopted in which the screen of the navigation is recorded by the drive recorder in synchronization with the front video as the video input of the rear camera or the third camera to the drive recorder. (8) It is preferably a program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the system according to any one of (1) to (7).

[0050] The inventions described in (1) to (8) above can be arbitrarily combined. For example, it may be configured such that at least a part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions described in (2) and subsequent items is added to all or a part of the configuration of the invention described in (1). In particular, it is preferable to use an invention in which at least a part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions described in (2) and subsequent items is added to the invention described in (1). Further, any configuration may be extracted from the inventions described in (1) to (8), and the extracted configurations may be combined. The applicant of the present application intends to obtain rights for inventions including these configurations. Also, even if there is a description such as "in the case of ~" or "when ~", it is not described as a configuration limited to that case or that time. These show examples of better configurations, and the applicant also intends to obtain rights for configurations that are not these cases or times. Also, the parts described in a sequential manner are not limited to this order. The present disclosure also includes configurations in which some parts are deleted or the order is changed, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for such configurations.

Effects of the Invention

[0051] According to the present invention, a system or the like superior to the conventional ones can be provided.

[0052] Note that the effects of the invention of the present application are not limited to this, and the effects exerted by the parts of the configurations disclosed in this specification, drawings, etc. are also disclosed, and the applicant also intends to obtain rights for the configurations that exert such effects by means of divisional applications, amendments, etc. For example, in this specification, the parts described as "can ~" or "is possible ~" are descriptions that clearly indicate the effects exerted, and even if there is no description such as "can ~" or "is possible ~", there are parts that show the effects. Also, even if there is no such description, there are effects grasped by the said configuration.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0053]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0054] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments shown below are one of the embodiments for providing the present invention, and the content of the present invention is not limitedly interpreted based on the following description.

[0055] Figures 1 to 12 are diagrams showing the configuration of a system as a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a functional block diagram of a drive recorder as a recording device, Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of the drive recorder, Figure 3 is an external configuration diagram of the main unit of the drive recorder, Figure 4 is an example of the state of attachment and detachment of a recording medium to the main unit and the installation position of the main unit, Figure 5 is an example of the attachment state of a front view camera to a vehicle, Figure 6 is an example of the attachment of an additional camera and the configuration of the camera, Figure 7 is a rear view camera as a back camera, Figure 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a branching device as the present system, a drive recorder as a recording device, a car navigation as a display device, an example of the attachment of an additional camera and the configuration of the camera, and the connection relationship between these, Figure 9 is the configuration of the remote control of the drive recorder and the attachment position to the vehicle, Figure 10 is an example of displaying the video of the rear view camera on the car navigation screen, Figure 11 is an example of the display of the car navigation screen during playback of the drive recorder, and Figure 12 is a screen for displaying the video recorded by the drive recorder.

[0056] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drive recorder as a recording device includes a main unit 1 (hereinafter also referred to as the body) having a control unit 10, a remote control 11, a GPS unit 12, which are connected to the control unit 10 of the main unit 1, and a branching device side video input terminal 13b, which is a connection terminal for connecting a signal line to a signal output terminal 530 for the recording device of the branching device 500 in FIG. 8, an additional camera 14, a front view camera 15, a display device 16, a built-in microphone 17, an external microphone 18, a memory card slot 19, an acceleration sensor 20, and a speaker 21. The display device 16 in this embodiment is a car navigation system (hereinafter also referred to as navigation), and is provided with two video input terminals, namely a rear view camera video input terminal and an external video input terminal. The switching between the video signal input to the external video input terminal and the navigation screen is performed in a toggle operation by detecting the user's pressing of the screen switching button on the side of the navigation. On the other hand, when a video signal is input to the rear view camera video input terminal, regardless of whether it is the display state of the navigation screen such as a map drawn by a computer or the display state of the video by the video signal input to the external video input terminal, it automatically switches to the screen of the video signal input from the rear view camera video input terminal. The rear view camera video input terminal is connected by a cable to the signal output terminal 520 for the display device of the branching device 500 in FIG. 8 described later. As will be described later, the branching device 500 outputs the video of the rear view camera 400 to the navigation side when the vehicle gear is in reverse and there is a power supply from the vehicle to the vehicle's park lamp, and does not output the video of the rear view camera 400 to the navigation side when the vehicle gear is not in reverse and there is no power supply from the vehicle to the vehicle's park lamp. In this way, by the user pressing the screen switching button on the side of the navigation, it is possible to switch between the state of displaying the video output from the drive recorder, such as the playback video of the drive recorder as a recording device, and the state of the navigation screen. At the same time, the user can simply put the vehicle's shift into reverse to view the video of the rear view camera 400 output from the branching device 500 in any screen display state, and can return to the original screen display state by setting the shift to a position other than reverse.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3(a), etc., on the front of the main unit 1 of the drive recorder as a recording device, there is an AV output terminal 16b which is connected to the external video input terminal of the car navigation which is the display device 16 and outputs a video signal and an audio signal to the external video input terminal of the display device 16 which is the car navigation, and a microphone terminal 18b which is a terminal for inputting an audio signal from the external microphone 18, an SD card slot 19b (corresponding to the memory card slot 19 in FIG. 1), and a slide lever 19c for locking and fixing the SD card when the SD card 2 (see FIG. 4(a)) is inserted into the SD card slot 19b. The slide lever 19c is for locking the SD card 2 when the SD card 2 is inserted. As shown in FIG. 4(a), the slide lever 19c is moved to the left side to insert the SD card 2 into the SD card slot 19b, and when the hand is released from the slide lever 19c, the slide lever 19c returns to the original position (FIG. 4(a)) to lock the SD card 2.

[0058] On the back surface (the surface opposite to the front) of the main unit 1, as shown in FIG. 3(b), there are a vehicle signal connection terminal 40b, a remote control connection terminal 11b, a GPS unit connection terminal 12b, a branch device side video input terminal 13b, an additional camera connection terminal 14b, and a front view camera connection terminal 15b, which are respectively connected to the control unit 10. Also, an opening is provided on the upper surface of the main unit, and a built-in microphone 17 connected to the control unit 10 is provided in the opening.

[0059] To each of these terminals, corresponding connectors are connected as shown in FIG. 2, and are connected to corresponding devices (each part) via the cords (cables) connected to the connectors. That is, the control unit 10 is connected to the display device 16 via the AV output connector 16a connected to the AV output terminal 16b, and is connected to the external microphone 18 via the microphone connector 18a connected to the microphone terminal 18b. Further, the control unit 10 is connected to the brake lamp wire 33 of the vehicle, the left turn signal wire 32 of the vehicle, the right turn signal wire 31 of the vehicle, the vehicle speed signal wire 30 of the vehicle, the ground wire of the vehicle, and the ACC system power supply of the vehicle via the vehicle signal connection connector 40a connected to the vehicle signal connection terminal 40b. Further, the control unit 10 is connected to the remote control 11 via the remote control connection connector 11a connected to the remote control connection terminal 11b, is connected to the GPS unit 12 via the GPS unit connection connector 12a connected to the GPS unit connection terminal 12b, and is connected to the signal output terminal 520 for the display device of the branching device via the branching device connection connector 13a connected to the branching device side video input terminal 13b, and is connected to the additional camera 14 via the additional camera connection connector 14a connected to the additional camera connection terminal 14b, and is connected to the front view camera 15 via the front view camera connection connector 15a connected to the front view camera connection terminal 15b. The front view camera connection terminal 15b and the additional camera connection terminal 14b are mini-pin jacks, and the branching device side video input terminal 13b is an RCA terminal, and they are terminals with different shapes.

[0060] The main unit 1 is installed inside the vehicle. For example, as shown in FIG. 4(b), it is installed in the vicinity of the driver's seat at a position where the driver can easily take out the SD card 2 and at a position where the cables connected to the above-described respective terminals do not interfere with the driving operation. For example, as shown in FIG. 4(b), it is fixed by pasting the bottom surface using double-sided tape on the center console at the position in front of the left of the driver's seat, the under cover of the instrument panel, or the like. At this time, it is installed with the front side of the main body facing the right side direction in FIG. 4(b) and the back side of the main body facing the left direction.

[0061] The front view camera 15 is a camera for photographing the front of the vehicle and outputs an NTSC signal as a video signal of the photographed video. As shown in FIG. 5, the front view camera 15 is fixed to the front glass in the vehicle interior with double-sided tape so that the lens faces the traveling direction as the direction of photographing the front of the vehicle. The fixing position shall be within 20% of the entire front glass from the upper part of the front glass in the vehicle interior (the range indicated by the symbol d in the figure). The power supply of the front view camera 15 is supplied from the control unit 10.

[0062] The additional camera 14 is a camera that can be attached at an arbitrary position to photograph the surrounding video of the vehicle and outputs an NTSC signal as a video signal of the photographed video. For example, as shown in FIG. 6(a), it is fixed to the front glass in the vehicle interior with double-sided tape so as to face the interior direction (from the front glass to the rear direction of the vehicle) as the photographing direction. The power supply of the additional camera 14 is supplied from the control unit 10.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 6(b), the additional camera 14 includes a normal image mode for outputting the photographed video as it is and a mirror image mode for outputting the photographed video with left and right reversed, and is provided with a setting switch 14s for setting the mode. The additional camera 14 switches between the normal image mode and the mirror image mode according to the state of the setting switch 14s and outputs the corresponding video signal. For example, when photographing the front direction of the vehicle, the normal image mode may be set, and when photographing the interior direction or the rear direction of the vehicle, the mirror image mode may be set.

[0064] The rearview camera 400 is an example of a rear camera, which is a camera for photographing the rear of the vehicle and outputs an NTSC signal as a video signal of the photographed video. The rearview camera 400 is installed, for example, in the vicinity of the license plate outside the back door of the vehicle as shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b). The viewing angle of the rearview camera 400 is shown in FIGS. 7(c) and 7(d). FIG. 7(c) is a view showing the vehicle as seen from the upper surface side of the vehicle, and shows the horizontal viewing angle when displayed on the display device 16. The viewing angle is 60 degrees to the left and right with respect to the shooting direction (120 degrees in total). FIG. 7(d) is a view showing the vehicle as seen from the side surface side of the vehicle, and shows the vertical viewing angle when displayed on the display device 16. The viewing angle is 43 degrees to the left and right with respect to the shooting direction (86 degrees in total).

[0065] With reference to FIG. 8, the wiring of the power supply for the rearview camera 400 and the wiring of the video signal from the rearview camera 400 will be described. The rearview camera 400 is connected to a branching device 500 which is an example of this system. The plus-side wiring 93 of the reverse lamp of the vehicle is connected to the branching device 500. That is, the plus-side wiring 93 of the reverse lamp and the signal line 81 are connected by an electro tap 80 and are configured to be connected to the backlamp signal input terminal 560 via the signal line 81 and the fuse 82. The plus-side wiring 93 of the reverse lamp of the vehicle is connected to one end of the reverse lamp and one end of the back position switch 92 of the shift lever. The other end of the reverse lamp 94 is connected to the minus terminal of the battery, and the other end of the back position switch 92 is connected to the plus terminal of the battery. The ground line 83 has one end connected to an existing screw or the like that is not painted on the vehicle, and the other end connected to the ground line of each part in FIG. 2. The unpainted screw on the vehicle is connected to the minus terminal of the battery 91. The back position switch 92 of the vehicle is configured to be turned on when the shift lever is in the back position and turned off when the shift lever is in a position other than the back position. As a result, while the shift lever is in the back position, current flows through the plus-side wiring 93 of the reverse lamp of the vehicle, and the reverse lamp 94 lights up. At this time, a voltage signal is supplied from the electro tap 83 to the backlamp signal input terminal 560 via the power supply line 81 and the fuse 82. On the other hand, while the shift lever is in a state other than the back position, no current flows through the plus-side wiring 93 of the reverse lamp of the vehicle, the reverse lamp 94 goes out, and no voltage signal is supplied either.

[0066] The branching device 500 includes a rear-view camera connection terminal 510 having a rear-view camera video signal input terminal for inputting the video signal of the rear-view camera 400 and a rear-view camera power line connection terminal for connecting the power line on the rear-view camera 400 side for supplying power to the rear-view camera 400. The branching device 500 further includes a signal output terminal 520 for the display device that outputs a signal to a display device for displaying the video captured by the rear-view camera 400 based on the video signal input from the rear-view camera video signal input terminal, and a signal output terminal 530 for the recording device that outputs a signal to the main unit 1 of the drive recorder, which is the recording device in this embodiment, for recording the video captured by the rear-view camera 400 based on the video signal input from the rear-view camera video signal input terminal.

[0067] In the opening provided in the rectangular parallelepiped housing of the branching device 500, there are provided a power connection terminal 550 for receiving power supply from outside the branching device 500 and a back lamp signal input terminal 560 for inputting a signal for the vehicle to control the lighting of the back lamp of the vehicle.

[0068] The housing of the branching device 500 is provided with a rear view camera connection terminal 510, a signal output terminal 520 for a display device, and a signal output terminal 530 for a recording device at the opening provided therein. Inside the housing, there is a connection line that branches the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal to the signal output terminal 520 for the display device and the signal output terminal 530 for the recording device. One end of the connection line branched to the signal output terminal 530 for the recording device is connected to the input terminal of the electronic switch, and the other end side of the electronic switch is connected to the signal output terminal 530 for the recording device. This electronic switch is provided inside the housing of the branching device 500, and when a voltage signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, it outputs the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal to the display device 16 from the signal output terminal 520 for the display device. On the other hand, when a voltage signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is not input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, it switches so as not to output the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal to the display device 16 from the signal output terminal 520 for the display device.

[0069] In contrast, the supply of power to the rear view camera power line connection terminal converts and supplies the voltage of the externally supplied power connected to the power connection terminal 550 regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560.

[0070] By doing so, regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, the power supply to the rear view camera power line connection terminal is made by the external power supply connected to the power connection terminal 550. Therefore, even when the vehicle is not in the reverse gear, the video signal from the rear view camera 400 can be output to the main unit 1 of the drive recorder which is a recording device, and the video of the rear view camera 400 can be recorded in the main unit 1 of the drive recorder which is a recording device even when the vehicle is not in the reverse gear. Also, for the display device, the video of the rear view camera 400 is output when the shift is in the reverse position, and the video of the rear view camera 400 is not output when the shift is not in the reverse position. Therefore, the video of the rear view camera 400 is not displayed on the display device except when in reverse, preventing side glances or stares such as viewing the video of the rear view camera 400 on the display device during driving, contributing to safe driving.

[0071] It is preferable that the path of this connection line be provided with a video signal amplification circuit for amplifying the video signal.

[0072] The GPS unit 12 is installed at a position in front of the dashboard, receives GPS signals, determines the current position from the received GPS signals, and sends the position information (longitude, latitude, etc.) of the determined current position to the control unit 10 in NMEA format data.

[0073] As shown in Fig. 9(a), the remote control 11 includes a first button 11p, a second button 11q, a third button 11r, a first lamp 11x, and a second lamp 12y. As shown in Fig. 9(b) with three installation patterns, it is fixed by pasting and attaching the back surface using double-sided tape at a position where the driver can easily operate, such as on the center console or the under cover of the instrument panel. The display device 16 is a liquid crystal monitor that inputs and displays NTSC signals such as car navigation and car TV.

[0074] The acceleration sensor 20 is provided inside the main unit 1 and is connected to the control unit 10. After the main unit 1 is fixed to the vehicle (for example, after being fixed as shown in Fig. 4(b)), when the control unit 10 detects that both the first button 11p and the second button 11q of the remote control 11 are pressed simultaneously for 2 seconds or more, initial settings are performed. This initial setting involves moving the vehicle straight forward and backward, detecting the direction of acceleration generated during this forward and backward movement with the acceleration sensor 20, detecting the correspondence between the three axes (x-axis, y-axis, z-axis) of the acceleration sensor 20 and the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and thereafter, setting the acceleration sensor 20 to output values with the front-rear direction of the vehicle as the X-axis, the left-right direction of the vehicle as the Y-axis, and the up-down direction of the vehicle as the Z-axis. The forward direction is set as the positive direction of the X-axis, the left direction as the positive direction of the Y-axis, and the upward direction as the positive direction of the Z-axis. Such an initial setting method can use a known method. The speaker 21 is provided inside the main unit 1 and is connected to the control unit 10.

[0075] The control unit 10 includes a microcomputer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, flash memory, various peripheral circuits, interfaces, etc., and is connected via interfaces for inputting or outputting respective signals to each part described with reference to Fig. 1. When the ACC of the vehicle is turned on, the control unit 10 is powered and starts operating. The control unit 10 expands the OS and application programs recorded in the flash memory onto the RAM by the bootloader recorded in the ROM, and executes the OS and application programs on the RAM to execute various processes described hereinafter and realize various functions. The OS is a multitasking OS, and realizes parallel processing by switching and executing various application programs.

[0076] After power-on, the control unit 10 acquires, as vehicle states at any time, the NMEA data from the GPS unit 12, and the signal states of the acceleration sensor 20, the brake lamp wire 33, the left turn signal wire 32, and the right turn signal wire 31, and performs data and signal state recording processing to record these data and signal states in a file at a predetermined time interval (for example, 30 times per second) on the memory card 2 mounted in the memory card slot 19.

[0077] In addition, the control unit 10 acquires the images of the front view camera 15, the additional camera 14, and the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 as a plurality of vehicle surrounding images, performs camera image display processing to be displayed on the display device 10, and performs video and audio recording processing to record, as reproducible data, the vehicle states recorded by the data and signal state recording processing and these vehicle surrounding images in time synchronization on the memory card 2.

[0078] The control unit 10 includes, as a peripheral circuit, a video capture circuit that captures the NTSC signals from the front view camera 15, the additional camera 14, and the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 as video data onto the RAM, respectively. The control unit 10 also includes, as a peripheral circuit, a video memory (VRAM) or the like, and a video generation circuit that outputs the drawing data drawn in the video memory as an NTSC signal to the display device 16 via an electronic switch described later.

[0079] After power-on, the control unit 10 performs camera image display processing to transfer the captured video data to the video memory and display it on the display device 16 at any time.

[0080] As a default process, the camera video display process outputs the video of the front view camera 15 to the display device 16. Also, in the camera video display process, when the pressing of the first button 11p of the remote control 11 is detected, the video transferred to the video memory and displayed on the display device 16 is switched in the order of the videos of the front view camera 15, the additional camera 14, and the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500. For example, when the navigation is in a state of displaying the video from the external video input terminal on the screen and the shift position is in the reverse, as shown in FIG. 10, the video captured by the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 is displayed in the display area 16a of the display device 16. Also, in the camera video display process, when a video signal is input to the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500, the video transferred to the video memory and displayed on the display device 16 is switched to the video from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500. When the video signal is no longer input to the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500, the video transferred to the video memory and displayed on the display device 16 is switched to the video before switching to the video from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500.

[0081] In this way, when the navigation is in a state of displaying the video from the external video input terminal on the screen, the driver only needs to set the shift position to reverse, and as shown in FIG. 10, the video captured by the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 is displayed in the display area 16a of the display device 16, and the driver can check the situation behind the vehicle by looking at the display device 16. In this way, based on the operation state of the vehicle by the driver, the control unit 10 determines and outputs the video to be preferentially output to the display device 16. Therefore, the driver does not need to switch the video with the remote control 11 along with the driving operation, and the video in the direction in which the vehicle will travel next will be output, and the appropriate video according to the driver's intention will be displayed at the appropriate timing.

[0082] The video and audio recording process is a process of recording the audio obtained from the built-in microphone 17 and the audio data obtained from the external microphone 18 after power-on, together with the video data captured from the front view camera 15, the additional camera 14, and the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500. For the video data of the front view camera 15, the video data of the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500, and the video data of the additional camera 14, the audio data obtained from the built-in microphone 17 is used as the left channel, and the audio data obtained from the external microphone 18 is used as the right channel, encoded in the MPEG format, and recorded in three files.

[0083] The file name of the file of the signal state recorded in the data·signal state recording process and the file names of the three MPEG files recorded by the video and audio recording process are recorded using the date and time when each file started to be recorded in each process from the real-time clock (clock) provided as a peripheral circuit of the microcomputer. Therefore, by reading the date and time of this file name, the position recorded at the same date and time of the data of each file can be specified. Thus, a playback process for playing back these files while taking temporal synchronization is possible. Note that the recording of these files ends when the supply of ACC power to the main body is cut off. The control unit 18 is provided with a backup power source having a battery that operates the control unit 18 and each connected unit for a period of time (5 seconds) required for ending the recording of the file when the ACC power is cut off. When the cut-off of the ACC power is detected, it is notified from the OS to the recording process, and the end process of recording all files is executed. Therefore, each recording file is generated between the power-on by vehicle ACCON and the power-off by ACC OFF.

[0084] When the control unit 10 detects that the second button 11q of the remote controller 11 is long-pressed (continuously pressed for 2 seconds or more), it starts a playback process of playing back the video from the beginning of the MPEG file currently being recorded for the video and audio of the front view camera 15 (starting a so-called chase playback that plays back while recording). For a certain period of time (5 seconds) from the start of the playback process, as shown in FIG. 11, an operation help 82, camera information 85 of the playback video, a playback state 84, and a playback video date and time 83 are displayed superimposed on the playback video 81. These displays are also performed for a predetermined period of time (3 seconds) when any button of the remote controller 11 is pressed during the playback process.

[0085] The operation help 82 indicates what processing is performed when any button of the remote controller 11 is pressed. As shown in FIG. 11, it shows the correspondence between the button positions of the remote controller 11 in a state where the remote controller 11 in FIG. 9 is rotated 45 degrees clockwise and the processing contents. When a button shown in black in the figure is pressed, it indicates that the processing described in characters on its right side is executed. For example, in the schematic diagram of the remote controller 11 on the left side of the part drawn as "Play / Stop / Slow" in FIG. 11, the button shown in black corresponds to the second button 11q. Each time only the second button 11q is detected to be pressed, it indicates that the screen display processing (that is, the playback processing content of the control unit 10) switches in the order of play → stop → slow. The current state of the screen display processing is displayed in the playback state 84 as "Playing", "Stopped", "Slowing". Also, information indicating which camera recorded the video currently being played back is displayed as the camera information 85. The camera information 85 is displayed as "CAM1" when the video of the file recorded by the front view camera 15 is being displayed, "CAM2" when the video of the file recorded by the additional camera 14 is being displayed, and "REAR" when the video of the file recorded by the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 is being displayed. The playback video date and time 83 is an area for displaying the date and time of the video of the file being displayed, and it is obtained by obtaining the recording date and time at the beginning of the file from the file name and the recording date and time of the currently displayed frame based on the frame information of the file and then displaying it.

[0086] During the playback process, if only the first button 11p is pressed, the file to be played is switched, and the video is played from the frame with the same date and time as the currently playing frame. By doing so, even if the file to be played is switched, a temporally continuous video will be displayed. As a result, regarding the playback video date and time 83, even if the file to be played is switched, it will continue to progress continuously. During the playback process, if only the third button 11r is pressed, the playback process is terminated and the camera video display process is performed (playback ends).

[0087] During the playback process, if the second button 11q and the third button 11r are pressed simultaneously, the file itself to be played is switched to the file that is one older than the currently playing file. That is, referring to the file name, the file recorded one before the currently playing file is identified from the date and time included in the file name, and the video is played from the beginning of that file. If there is no file older than the currently playing file, the currently playing file is played from the beginning.

[0088] During the playback process, if the first button 11p and the second button 11q are pressed simultaneously, the file itself to be played is switched to the file that is one newer than the currently playing file. That is, referring to the file name, the file recorded one after the currently playing file is identified from the date and time included in the file name, and the video is played from the beginning of that file. If there is no file newer than the currently playing file, the currently playing file is played from the beginning.

[0089] In this way, by operating the remote controller 11, the video of the front view camera 15, the additional camera 14, and the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 can be switched, and the desired current video can be displayed on the display device 16. Alternatively, the video that has been shot by the front view camera 15, the additional camera 14, and the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 and has already been recorded on the memory card 2 can be played back. By operating the remote controller 11, the playback video of the rear view camera 400 via the front view camera 15, the additional camera 14, and the branching device 500 can be switched, and the desired past video can be displayed on the display device 16. The control unit 10 performs control to switch to at least one of the videos of the vehicle surrounding video thus obtained or only the video obtained by playing back at least one of the videos recorded on the memory card 2.

[0090] In this embodiment, the control unit 10 performs control to switch to only at least one of the acquired vehicle surrounding videos and the video obtained by playing back at least one of the videos recorded on the memory card 2. However, the control unit 10 may further determine and output the video to be preferentially output to the display device 16, and display the video indicating the setting items related to the control, and the video indicating the vehicle state recorded on the memory card 2. Also, the control for determining and outputting the video to be preferentially output to the display device 16 is the control to switch to only the said video. However, further, it may be at least one of the control to switch to a video in which a predetermined video is superimposed on the said video, the control to display the said video in a video of a size larger than other videos, and the control to display the said video at the center of the display device 16 rather than other videos.

[0091] According to the processing of this embodiment, regardless of the video output to the display device 16, recording is performed on the memory card 2 for the acquired vehicle state and the plurality of vehicle surrounding videos acquired from the front view camera 15, the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500, and the additional camera 14. In this way, a plurality of vehicle surrounding videos at the time of a collision can be reliably recorded.

[0092] In this embodiment, the video is constantly recorded from ACCON to ACCOFF. However, instead of constantly recording, or while constantly recording, when the acceleration sensor 20 detects a state corresponding to a vehicle collision, regardless of the video output to the display device 16, the vehicle state, the front view camera 15, the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500, and the vehicle peripheral video acquired from the additional camera 14 may be recorded on the memory card 2. In this way, a plurality of vehicle peripheral videos at the time of collision can be reliably recorded. Further, when a collision is detected, the video output to the display device 16 may be preferentially recorded on the memory card 2. In this way, a video with a high possibility of recording the moment of collision can be reliably recorded.

[0093] In this embodiment, the video of the rear view camera 15 that captures the rear of the vehicle is recorded. However, it is not limited to this, and any video may be recorded. Also, as the operating state of the vehicle, any state may be acquired and recorded. For example, side cameras for acquiring the right and left side videos of the vehicle are provided respectively. The control unit 10 is connected to the in-vehicle LAN. As the operating state of the vehicle by the driver, when it is detected from the packets flowing through the in-vehicle LAN that the right turn signal has been turned on in a state where the vehicle speed is below a predetermined vehicle speed (for example, 10 km / h or less), control is performed to output the right side video of the vehicle with higher priority than other videos. On the other hand, when it is detected that the left turn signal has been turned on in a state where the vehicle speed is below a predetermined vehicle speed (for example, 10 km / h or less), it is preferable to adopt a configuration in which control is performed to output the left side video of the vehicle with higher priority than other videos. In this way, for example, when exiting the parking lot in either the left or right direction, or when trying to turn at an intersection with poor visibility, the video of the vehicle periphery in the direction where the turn signal is turned on in a state where the vehicle speed is below a predetermined vehicle speed will be displayed on the display device 16. Therefore, in such a situation that requires attention, the driver can easily check the video of the vehicle periphery in that direction by looking at the display device 16 without any special operation for display. On the other hand, when the vehicle speed exceeds the predetermined vehicle speed, even if the turn signal is turned on, the video of the vehicle periphery in the direction where the turn signal is turned on will not be displayed on the display device 16. Therefore, when the vehicle is traveling at a speed equal to or higher than the predetermined vehicle speed, the driver will not feel annoyed or distracted by the display of the vehicle periphery video on the display device 16. Also, the control unit 10 may be configured to record on the memory card 2 as reproducible data when determining the video to be output with higher priority to the display device 16 based on the operating state of the vehicle by the driver among a plurality of vehicle periphery videos. For example, when the vehicle speed is slower than a predetermined value and the turn signal is turned on, the video of the side camera may be displayed on the in-vehicle monitor, and the recording may be performed at the timing when the turn signal is turned on.

[0094] When playing back the data of the vehicle surrounding video recorded on the memory card 2, it is preferable to have a function to play back the playback video after inverting it horizontally or vertically. By doing so, even if the camera for shooting the vehicle surrounding video is installed upside down, the video can be played back in the correct orientation. Also, for example, the video shot by a rearview camera that outputs a video signal of a horizontally inverted video can also be played back after being horizontally inverted.

[0095] In addition, it is preferable to adopt a configuration in which the operation state of the vehicle by the driver, the acquired vehicle state, and a plurality of vehicle surrounding videos are recorded on the memory card 2 as data that can be played back in time synchronization. For example, as the operation state of the vehicle by the driver, by recording what the shift position is, it is possible to know whether there was a collision during reverse, whether engine braking was applied on a downhill slope, whether the vehicle was stopped, in neutral or parking (ECO driving), etc. Then, it is preferable to perform a process of recording, as data that can be played back in time synchronization, the information indicating the video preferentially output to the display device 16, the operation state of the vehicle by the driver, the acquired vehicle state, and a plurality of vehicle surrounding videos, on the memory card 2.

[0096] In this embodiment, the control unit 10 of the drive recorder is configured to perform camera video display processing by executing a program by a computer and generate the output video. However, even when the video cannot be generated by executing the program by the computer, if a signal of the video to be output preferentially to the display device 16 is detected, it is preferable to provide hardware that performs control to output the video preferentially over other videos. That is, the control unit 10 further preferably includes an electronic switch (video signal selector), which is hardware that performs control to detect that the shift position has become reverse and output the video of the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 preferentially over the videos of the front view camera 15 and the additional camera 14. A video signal line from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 and an output line from the video generation circuit of the control unit 10 are connected to this electronic switch. When a video signal is input to the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500, the electronic switch outputs the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 to the display device 16. When no video signal is input to the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500, the electronic switch outputs the output from the video generation circuit to the display device 16. Also, a signal indicating whether or not a video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 is input is output to the microcomputer provided in the control unit 18. When a signal indicating that a video signal is input to the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 is detected during the above-described playback process, the playback process is temporarily stopped. With the configuration shown and described in FIG. 8, while the shift lever is in a state other than the reverse position, the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 is not input to the electronic switch of the control unit 10. While the shift lever is in the reverse position, the video signal from the rear view camera 400 via the branching device 500 is input to the electronic switch of the control unit 10.

[0097] In this way, when the navigation is displaying the video from the external video input terminal, the driver can immediately check the situation behind the vehicle by looking at the display device 16 just by shifting the shift position to the reverse. In this way, based on the operating state of the vehicle by the driver, the control unit 10 determines and outputs the video to be preferentially output to the display device 16. Therefore, the driver does not need to switch the video with the remote control 11 along with the driving operation, and the video in the direction in which the vehicle will travel next will be output. Appropriate videos in accordance with the driver's intention will be displayed at appropriate timings. Since the camera video display process is realized by the execution of a program by the microcomputer, for example, there may be a case where the video cannot be generated by the camera video display process because the microcomputer is in the process of starting up the OS or the processing load of the microcomputer is high. In such a state, it is difficult to immediately reflect the operating state of the vehicle by the driver by the camera video display process and output the video of the rearview camera 400 via the branching device 500. However, when the signal of the video from the rearview camera 400 via the branching device 500 is detected by the electronic switch (hardware), the video from the rearview camera 400 via the branching device 500 is output preferentially over other videos. Thus, the operating state of the vehicle by the driver can be immediately reflected, and the video from the rearview camera 400 via the branching device 500 can be displayed on the display device 16.

[0098] Furthermore, it is determined by pattern matching processing on the video data acquired from the rearview camera 400 via the branching device 500 of the control unit 10 whether a person is captured in the video output preferentially to the display device 16, such as the video of the rearview camera 400 via the branching device 500. When a match is made with a pattern corresponding to a person, a process of emitting an alarm sound may be performed from the speaker 21. In this way, when the alarm sound is generated, it is possible to easily and immediately take an avoidance action such as stopping the vehicle. In addition, the driver can easily confirm whether the object of the alarm is an avoidance target or the like simply by looking at the display device 16 when the alarm sound is sounded without any special operation. For example, when a person is captured in the video of the side camera in the direction where the turn signal is on, it may be notified by an alarm sound, or when the reverse position is set and a person is captured in the video of the rear camera, it may be notified by an alarm sound.

[0099] In this embodiment, the branching device side video input terminal 13b, which is the input terminal of the rearview video that is the video output preferentially to the display device 16, is an RCA terminal, while the front view camera connection terminal 15b and the additional camera connection terminal 14b, which are the video input terminals of other videos, are mini pin jacks and have different shapes. In this way, it is easy to know which video input terminal the camera (rearview camera 400 via the branching device 500) that outputs the video preferentially should be connected to. The branching device side video input terminal 13b, the front view camera connection terminal 15b, and the additional camera connection terminal 14b are arranged inside the back surface of the main unit 1, and a memory card slot 19, which is the insertion port of the memory card 2, is provided on the front surface of the main unit 1, which is the surface facing the surface provided with these video input terminals. In this way, when inserting or removing the memory card 2 into or from the memory card slot 19, the cables connected to the video input terminals do not get in the way. Also, when inserting or removing the memory card 2 into or from the memory card slot 19, problems such as accidentally catching and pulling out the cables connected to the video input terminals are less likely to occur.

[0100] The data recorded on the memory card 2 can be retrieved by removing the memory card 2 from the memory card slot 19, inserting it into a personal computer, and playing it back using a program on the personal computer. Through processing by the program on the personal computer, for example, a viewer screen 100 as shown in FIG. 12 can be displayed. As shown in FIG. 12, the viewer screen 100 includes a menu bar 101, a display area 102, a display switching button 103, a volume knob 104, a speed display 105, a brake and turn signal display 106, an acceleration display 107, a latitude and longitude display 108, a display operation button 109, an acceleration sensor graph 110, a date and time display 111, a map 112, and a playlist list 113.

[0101] The display area 102 includes a front view camera video playback area 102a, an additional camera video playback area 102b, and a rear view camera video playback area 102c. When playing back the data of the vehicle surrounding videos of the front view camera, additional camera, and rear view camera recorded on the memory card 2, it has a function of playing back the playback video after inverting it horizontally or vertically. When right-clicking on the front view camera video playback area 102a, the additional camera video playback area 102b, or the rear view camera video playback area 102c, the playback video can be switched in the order of horizontal inversion, vertical inversion, horizontal and vertical inversion, and no inversion.

[0102] Also, based on the information indicating the video preferentially output to the display device 16 as described above, it is preferable to adopt a configuration in which a predetermined display indicating the video preferentially output to the display device 16 is performed among a plurality of vehicle surrounding videos being played back. In this way, it can be easily grasped later when playing back on a playback device such as a personal computer which video was being displayed on the display device 16. For example, record the start date and time and end date and time when the video from the rear view camera was input, and while playing back the video of that date and time, highlight the outer frame portion of the rear view camera video playback area 102c.

[0103] Note that although the viewer screen 100 is a screen displayed on a personal computer, it may be configured to output to a screen of a navigation device installed in a vehicle or the like, or to output to the display device 16, for example.

[0104] As described above, the present invention has been described using embodiments. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. The examples described in the above embodiments may be combined in any combination, or various changes or improvements may be made. In addition, the contents described in the claims, the background art, the problems to be solved by the invention, and the means for solving the problems can be appropriately applied to each embodiment, and an embodiment can be obtained by applying the common general knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[0105] This system may be configured as in this embodiment. This system may be an apparatus mounted on a vehicle as in the embodiment. This system may be a system retrofitted to a vehicle after factory shipment by a vehicle manufacturer. This system may be configured to be distributed in a plurality of housings and include a part of its configuration, but it is particularly preferable to accommodate it in one housing. As the vehicle, for example, a special vehicle such as a forklift may be used, but it is particularly preferable to use a vehicle having four or more wheels.

[0106] The rear view camera 400 is preferably a camera that mainly captures areas other than the front, and may be a camera that captures either the left or right, but is particularly preferably a camera that captures the rear of the vehicle.

[0107] The rear view camera video signal input terminal 510 may be, for example, a terminal provided on a substrate or the like for connecting wiring drawn from the outside to the housing, but it is preferable to provide a connector for connecting to a connector provided on the rear view camera 400 video signal line at the opening of the housing. The same configuration may be applied to each terminal in the following description. The video signal may be a digital signal, but is preferably an analog signal, and particularly preferably an NTSC signal.

[0108] The display device 16 may be merely a monitor, but it is preferably a device equipped with a drawing function for a computer to draw on the display screen based on a program. In particular, it is preferably a device equipped with a function of drawing necessary information for the driver of the vehicle on the display means. In particular, it is preferably a navigation device equipped with a function of drawing a map. The display device is particularly preferably configured as described below.

[0109] The signal output terminal 530 for the recording device may be, for example, a terminal provided on a substrate or the like for connecting a wiring drawn from the outside to the housing. However, it is preferable to provide a connector in the opening of the housing that connects to a connector provided on the video signal line connected to the main unit 1 of the drive recorder which is the recording device. As the recording device for recording the video taken by the rear view camera 400, it is particularly preferable to use a drive recorder as in the present embodiment.

[0110] As the "outside" of the "power connection terminal 550 that receives power supply from the outside", it is preferably the battery 91 provided in advance in the vehicle at the time of shipment from the vehicle manufacturer as in the present embodiment, and it is preferably the battery side necessary for the operation of the vehicle itself for starting and accessory products of the vehicle. However, it may also be the mobile battery side or the like. The power connection terminal 550 may be, for example, a terminal provided on a substrate or the like for connecting a wiring drawn from the outside to the housing. However, it is preferable to provide a connector in the opening of the housing that connects to a connector provided on the power supply line from the outside. As the signal for the vehicle to control the lighting of the vehicle's back lamp, it is particularly preferable to use the power line to the vehicle's park lamp.

[0111] The back lamp signal input terminal 560 may be, for example, a terminal provided on a substrate or the like for connecting a wiring drawn from the outside to the housing. However, it is preferable to provide a connector in the opening of the housing that connects to a connector provided on the back lamp signal line.

[0112] The rear view camera power line connection terminal may be provided, for example, as a terminal provided on a substrate or the like for connecting wiring drawn from the outside to the housing. However, it is preferable to provide a connector provided on the wiring connected to the power line of the pack camera at the opening of the housing.

[0113] The wiring connected to the rear view camera video signal input terminal and the wiring connected to the rear view camera power line connection portion may be provided in the same covering. When connecting with a connector, it is particularly preferable to use one connector for connecting the wiring connected to the rear view camera video signal input terminal and the wiring connected to the rear view camera power line connection portion.

[0114] When a signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, while outputting the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal 510 to the display device 16 from the signal output terminal 520 for the display device, when a signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is not input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, a configuration in which the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal is not output from the signal output terminal 520 for the display device to the display device is particularly preferably a configuration using an electronic switch.

[0115] Regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, a configuration in which the power supply to the rear view camera power line connection terminal is performed by the power supply from the outside connected to the power connection terminal 550 is particularly preferably a configuration in which the power supply supplied from the vehicle battery 91 is supplied to the power line of the rear view camera 400 via a fuse.

[0116] This system is preferably configured as a branching device as in this embodiment, or as a video branching device. For example, the existing wiring between the existing back lamp that takes power for the rearview camera 400 from the vehicle wiring to the back lamp and the rearview camera 400 may be cut, and both wirings may be connected to the video branching device which is this system. Then, a drive recorder having a front camera or the like is used as the recording device, and the drive recorder may be constantly supplied with power from this branching device 500 and send the video signal of the rearview camera 400. A car navigation system is used as the display device 16, and it is preferable that the car navigation system has a function of automatically switching the navigation screen to the screen of the video signal when a video signal is input. The video branching device outputs the video of the rearview camera 400 to the navigation side when the vehicle gear is in reverse and there is power supply from the vehicle to the vehicle's back lamp, and does not output the video of the rearview camera 400 to the navigation side when the vehicle gear is not in reverse and there is no power supply from the vehicle to the vehicle's back lamp.

[0117] The display device 16 is configured to display a video based on the video signal when there is a video signal from the signal output terminal 520 for the display device, and not to display a video based on the video signal when there is no video signal from the signal output terminal 520 for the display device.

[0118] Therefore, in the drive recorder which is the recording device, it is possible to record the video of the rearview camera 400 even when the vehicle shift is not in reverse, and in the display device, the video of the rearview camera 400 is displayed when the shift is in reverse, and the video of the rearview camera 400 is not output when the shift is not in reverse. Thus, it is possible to prevent side glances or stares such as viewing the video of the rearview camera 400 on the display device during driving, contributing to safe driving.

[0119] It is particularly preferable to use the display device 16 equipped with a rearview camera video signal input connector for connecting the wiring from the signal output terminal 520 for the display device of this branching device 500.

[0120] Note that the branching device 500 is provided with a backlight signal output terminal for the display device 16 that outputs a backlight signal for the display device 16. When a signal for lighting the vehicle's backlight is input from the backlight signal input terminal 560, a signal for lighting the vehicle's backlight is output to the display device from the backlight signal output terminal for the display device. When a signal for lighting the vehicle's backlight is not input from the backlight signal input terminal 560, a signal for lighting the vehicle's backlight is not output to the display device from the backlight signal output terminal for the display device. The display device 16 may be configured to display an image based on the video signal when a signal for lighting the backlight signal is input from the backlight signal output terminal for the display device, and not to display an image based on the video signal when a signal for lighting the backlight signal is not input from the backlight signal output terminal for the display device.

[0121] In this way, it is possible to control whether or not the video of the rearview camera 400 is displayed on the display means of the display device 16 according to whether the display device 16 receives the backlight signal.

[0122] The backlight signal output terminal for the display device may be, for example, a terminal on a substrate that connects a wiring drawn from the housing to the backlight signal input terminal 560 side of the display device. However, it is preferable to provide a connector that connects to a connector provided in the wiring connected to the backlight signal input terminal 560 side of the display device at an opening of the housing of the branching device 500. The display device may be provided with a connector as the backlight signal input terminal 560.

[0123] In addition, it is provided with a recording device power line connection part for connecting the power line of the recording device. As in this embodiment, an external power source connected to the power connection terminal 550 is supplied from the recording device power line connection terminal to the main unit 1 side of the drive recorder which is the recording device regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560. By doing so, the main unit 1 of the drive recorder which is the recording device connected to this branching device 500 is supplied to the main unit 1 side of the drive recorder which is the recording device regardless of the state of the signal input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560. Therefore, on the drive recorder side, it is not necessary to directly receive power supply from the vehicle and recording can be performed.

[0124] The wiring connected to the signal output terminal 530 for the recording device and the wiring connected to the recording device power line connection terminal are preferably provided in the same sheath. When connecting by a connector, it is particularly preferable to use one connector for connecting the wiring connected to the signal output terminal 530 for the recording device and the wiring connected to the recording device power line connection terminal.

[0125] The main unit 1 of the drive recorder, which is a recording device, is provided with a front camera that captures the front of the vehicle and a front camera video signal output terminal that outputs a video signal captured by the front camera. The branching device 500 includes a front camera video signal input terminal that inputs the video signal captured by the front camera output from the front camera video signal output terminal, and has a function of outputting the video signal input from the front camera video signal input terminal from the display device signal output terminal 520. When a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, instead of the video signal input from the front camera video signal input terminal, the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal 510 is output toward the display device. On the other hand, when a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is not input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, instead of the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal 510, the video signal input from the front camera video signal input terminal is output toward the display device. It may be configured as such.

[0126] In this way, the user can simply operate the shift, and when the shift is not in the reverse position, it is possible to display the video of the front camera on the display device, and when the shift is in the reverse position, it is easily possible to display the video of the rear view camera 400 on the display device. It is possible to perform unified switching with this branching device 500 without separately performing complicated wiring.

[0127] The front camera video signal input terminal may be, for example, wiring drawn from the outside into the housing, but it is preferable to include a connector that connects to a connector provided on the signal line that sends the video signal of the front camera.

[0128] For example, a navigation device may be used as the display device 16, and it may be configured to have a function of outputting to the rear view camera video input terminal of the navigation device. When a back lamp signal is input, the video of the rear view camera 400 is output to the navigation side, and when a back lamp signal is not input, the video of the drive recorder used as a recording device is output to the navigation side.

[0129] The drive recorder as a recording device may be provided with a setting function for setting whether to always output the video signal captured by the front camera from the front camera video signal output terminal or not to output it always and output the reproduced video signal during the reproduction of the video recorded in the recording device. In this way, the user can select a mode that contributes to safe driving, where the reproduced video is displayed on the display device during video reproduction, but not when it is not in the reproduction state. As a configuration where the video signal is not output, it is particularly preferable to adopt a configuration where neither black nor blue-back video is output, and there is no video signal itself.

[0130] Note that without providing the setting function, the recording device may simply be configured not to always output the video signal captured by the front camera from the front camera video signal output terminal and to output the reproduced video signal during the reproduction of the video recorded in the recording device. For example, when using a navigation as the display device and a drive recorder as the recording device, it is preferable to automatically display the rear view camera 400 when backing, the reproduced video of the drive recorder during playback, and the navigation screen otherwise on the navigation screen.

[0131] The display device 16 is provided with a drawing function for a computer to draw on the display screen based on a program, like the map display function of a car navigation, and is provided with a drawing video signal output terminal for outputting the video signal drawn by the drawing function. The branching device 500 has a display device video signal input terminal for inputting the video signal drawn by the drawing function output from the drawing video signal output terminal, and a function for outputting the video signal input from the display device video signal input terminal from the signal output terminal 530 for the recording device. When a signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, it is preferable to have a configuration that outputs the video signal input from the rear view camera video signal input terminal 510 to the display device instead of the video signal input from the display device video signal input terminal.

[0132] In this way, the recording device can record the video signal drawn by the computer of the display device on the display screen based on the program. When a signal for turning on the vehicle's back lamp is input from the back lamp signal input terminal 560, the computer of the display device can record the video of the rearview camera 400 instead of the video drawn on the display screen based on the program.

[0133] The drawn video signal output terminal may be, for example, a wiring drawn from the housing of the display device, but it is preferably provided with a connector provided in the display device. The display device video signal input terminal may be, for example, a terminal on a substrate for connecting a wiring drawn from the outside to the housing of the display device, but it is preferably provided with a connector in the opening of the housing of the display device that connects to the connector provided in the video signal line from the side of the drawn video signal output terminal of the display device.

[0134] For example, a drive recorder may be used as the recording device, and the drive recorder may be configured to record the navigation screen in synchronization with the front video as the input of the rear camera or the video of the third camera. The switching of the video of the function of the branching device 500 may use a chip having an electronic switch function such as a video selector that switches according to the voltage state of the back lamp signal input terminal 560, or may be configured as a program for causing the computer of the microcomputer to monitor and switch the voltage state of the back lamp signal input terminal 560 using a microcomputer or the like.

[0135] Note that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the configurations explicitly described in the specification, but also includes combinations of various aspects of the present invention disclosed in this specification within its scope. Among the present invention, the configuration for which a patent is sought is specified in the appended claims, but even a configuration that is not currently specified in the claims has the intention of being the subject of the claims in the future with the configurations disclosed in this specification.

[0136] The invention of the present application is not limited to the configurations described in the above-described embodiments. The constituent elements of the above-described embodiments and modification examples may be arbitrarily selected and combined. Also, any constituent element of each embodiment or modification example may be arbitrarily combined with any constituent element described in the means for solving the invention or a constituent element obtained by embodying any constituent element described in the means for solving the invention. Regarding these, there is an intention to obtain rights in amendments or divisional applications of the present application. Even if there are descriptions such as "in the case of ~" or "when ~", it is not described as a configuration limited to that case or that time. The present application also discloses configurations other than these cases and times, and has an intention to obtain rights. Also, the order in the descriptions with an order is not limited to this order. The present application also discloses configurations in which some parts are deleted or the order is changed, and has an intention to obtain rights.

[0137] Also, due to a change to a design registration application, there is an intention to obtain rights for the overall design or a partial design. Although the drawings depict the entire device in solid lines, the drawings include not only the overall design but also partial designs claimed for a part of the device. For example, not only can a part of the members of the device be a partial design, but the drawings also include a partial design of a part of the device regardless of the members. As a part of the device, it may be a part of the members of the device or a part of the members. Regarding the overall design, of course, there is an intention to obtain rights for a partial design in which an arbitrary part of the solid-line part of the drawings is made into a broken-line part. Also, regarding the modules, members, parts, etc. inside the housing of the device, those shown in the drawings are all independently subject to transactions, and similarly, there is an intention to make a change to a design registration application to obtain rights.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0138] 2 Memory Card 10 Control Unit 11 Remote Control 12 GPS Unit 14 Additional Camera 15 Front View Camera 16 Display device 17 Built-in microphone 18 External microphone 19 Memory card slot 20 Acceleration sensor 21 Speaker 400 Rear view camera 500 Branch device 510 Rear view camera connection terminal 520 Signal output terminal for display device 530 Signal output terminal for recording device 550 Power connection terminal 560 Back lamp signal input terminal

Claims

1. A front camera video signal input unit for inputting a video signal captured by a front camera, which has a function of outputting the video signal input from the front camera video signal input unit from a signal output unit for a display device, and when a signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is input from a back lamp signal input unit, instead of the video signal input from the front camera video signal input unit, outputs the video signal input from a back camera video signal input unit to the display device, while when a signal for lighting the vehicle's back lamp is not input from the back lamp signal input unit, instead of the video signal input from the back camera video signal input unit, outputs the video signal input from the front camera video signal input unit to the display device. A branching device characterized by the above.

2. A system including the branching device according to Claim 1 and a recording device, wherein the recording device includes a front camera for photographing the front of the vehicle and a front camera video signal output unit for outputting a video signal captured by the front camera, and the recording device is provided with setting means for setting whether to always output the video signal captured by the front camera from the front camera video signal output unit or not to output it normally and output the video signal of the reproduced video during the reproduction of the video recorded in the recording device. A system characterized by the above.

3. A system including the branching device according to Claim 1 and the display device in the claim, wherein the display device is configured to display a video based on the video signal when there is a video signal from the signal output unit for the display device of the branching device, and not to display a video based on the video signal when there is no video signal from the signal output unit for the display device of the branching device. A system characterized by the above.

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