Opening / closing state monitoring system

Abstract

To monitor a state of an opening / closing body with a simple configuration without using a physical switch.SOLUTION: An opening / closing state monitoring system includes: an opening / closing body that is disposed on a surface of a vehicle body and moves to open and close; a camera that is mounted on a vehicle and being capable of capturing an image of a region including a location where the opening / closing body is disposed; and an opening / closing detection unit that detects an opening / closing state of the opening / closing body based on an image captured by the camera.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an opening / closing state monitoring system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, an open / close state monitoring system that detects the open / close state of an open / close body such as a lid is known (for example, Patent Document 1). The open / close state monitoring system described in Patent Document 1 estimates the position of the open / close body after an open / close operation based on the amount of rotation of the output shaft of an electric motor accompanying the opening / closing operation of the open / close body. Therefore, even without physical switches, sensors, potentiometers, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as physical switches) for detecting the closed position (fully closed position) or open position (fully open position) of the open / close body, the state of the open / close body can be monitored based on the estimated position and the open / close body can be moved between the closed and open positions. Furthermore, if the estimated position of the open / close body deviates from the actual position for some reason, this open / close state monitoring system performs a learning process to re-learn the estimated position. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the open / close body from being moved open or closed based on an incorrect estimated position. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-75492 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in a system in which the opening and closing of the opening / closing body is controlled using the position estimation function of the electric motor as described above, the control configuration of the electric motor becomes complicated, and the cost of avoiding erroneous opening and closing movement of the opening / closing body increases.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of these points, and aims to provide an opening / closing status monitoring system that can monitor the status of an opening / closing body with a simple configuration without using physical switches. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an opening / closing state monitoring system comprising an opening / closing body that is placed on the surface of a vehicle body and moves to open and close, a camera mounted on the vehicle and capable of photographing an area including the location of the opening / closing body, and an opening / closing detection unit that detects the opening / closing state of the opening / closing body based on images captured by the camera.

[0007] According to this configuration, the state of the opening / closing body can be monitored with a simple configuration without using physical switches. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle equipped with an opening / closing state monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an opening / closing body of a vehicle equipped with an opening / closing state monitoring system according to an embodiment is open; [Figure 3] 1A is a diagram showing an image captured by a camera provided in the open / close state monitoring system of the embodiment when the open / close body is closed, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of the same. [Figure 4] 1A is a diagram showing an image captured by a camera provided in the open / close state monitoring system of the embodiment when the open / close body is open, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of the same. [Figure 5] 1 is a system configuration diagram of an open / close state monitoring system according to an embodiment; [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control routine executed in the open / close state monitoring system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the open / close state monitoring system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0010] The open / close state monitoring system 1 of this embodiment is a system that monitors the open / close state of an open / close body mounted on a vehicle. The vehicle 2 on which the open / close state monitoring system 1 is mounted may be any vehicle in which an open / close body moves to open and close, and may be, for example, a gasoline vehicle, a diesel vehicle, an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle, a hydrogen battery vehicle, or the like, or may be a passenger car, a truck, a bus, a train, a motorcycle, a bicycle, or the like.

[0011] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 includes an opening / closing body 10. The opening / closing body 10 is a member that is disposed on the vehicle body surface 2a and moves to open and close by a predetermined operation. The opening / closing body 10 is a lid that opens and closes an energy supply port such as a fuel filler port or a charging port that is provided for refueling the vehicle 2 or replenishing energy by charging the battery. Note that a charging gun or the like may be connectable to the energy supply port manually or electrically.

[0012] The opening-closing body 10 is formed in a plate shape so as to close a vehicle body opening provided in the vehicle body or a vehicle body-side opening of a box body arranged at the vehicle body opening and accommodating the energy refill port (hereinafter, these vehicle body openings of the vehicle body or vehicle body-side openings of the box body will be collectively referred to simply as opening 2b). The opening-closing body 10 moves between a closed position (i.e., fully closed position) where it closes opening 2b to cover the energy refill port, and an open position (i.e., fully open position) where it opens opening 2b to expose the energy refill port to the outside of the vehicle. Note that the opening-closing body 10 may close opening 2b by being flush with a frame portion around the periphery of opening 2b or with the vehicle body surface 2a in the closed position. The surface of the opening-closing body 10 may also be curved to match the vehicle body surface 2a.

[0013] The opening / closing body 10 as a lid may be directly connected to the vehicle body surface 2a, such as the box body, via a hinge, or may be connected via an arm extending like an arm. The opening / closing body 10 may be supported so as to be rotatable about one axis, or may be supported so as to be rotatable about two axes. The opening / closing body 10 may be connected via two or more arms so that the opening / closing body 10 moves to open and close in a direction substantially parallel to the vehicle body surface 2a. The opening / closing movement of the opening / closing body 10 may be centered on an axis substantially parallel to the vehicle body surface 2a, a horizontal axis, or a vertical axis.

[0014] The opening / closing body 10 is provided on the side of the vehicle 2. The opening / closing body 10 is not limited to the above-mentioned energy supply lid, but may be any body that moves to open and close on the vehicle body surface 2a, such as a vehicle door or window. Furthermore, the opening / closing body 10 is not limited to being provided on the side of the vehicle 2, but may also be provided on the front or rear of the vehicle.

[0015] Furthermore, the opening / closing body 10 may be locked in the closed position by a locking mechanism, unlocked by manual operation by a vehicle occupant by pulling a wire, and biased toward the open position by a biasing member, or may be moved between the closed and open positions by power from an electric motor.

[0016] 1 and 5, the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 includes a camera 20. The camera 20 is capable of capturing an image of an area R including the location of the opening / closing body 10 on the vehicle body surface 2a. Specifically, the area R captured by the camera 20 includes part or all of the area in which the outline or opening 2b of the opening / closing body 10 is captured. For example, the area R may include an area in which the outline or opening 2b of the opening / closing body 10 is continuously captured as the opening / closing body 10 moves between the closed position and the open position, or may include at least a part of an area in which the outline or opening 2b of the opening / closing body 10 is captured when the opening / closing body 10 is closed but the outline or opening 2b of the opening / closing body 10 is no longer captured when the opening / closing body 10 is open.

[0017] The camera 20 has an imaging element such as a CCD or CMOS. The camera 20 is mounted on the vehicle 2 in accordance with the location of the opening-closing body 10. When the opening-closing body 10 is provided on the side of the vehicle body as described above, the camera 20 may be disposed on the side of the vehicle body, for example, on a stay portion that protrudes laterally from the vehicle body surface 2a. The camera 20 may be either non-detachably mounted on the vehicle 2 or detachably mounted on the vehicle 2.

[0018] It is preferable that the camera 20 is placed in a location and direction that makes it easy to detect the open / closed state of the opening / closing body 10 from its placement position. The camera 20 may be a dedicated camera that photographs only the opening / closing body 10, or it may be a camera that photographs the rear of the vehicle, including a part of the vehicle body surface 2a that includes the location where the opening / closing body 10 is placed. Hereinafter, the camera 20 is assumed to be attached to a stay portion 2c (see FIG. 1) that protrudes laterally from the vehicle body surface 2a and photographs the rear of the vehicle.

[0019] Furthermore, if vehicle 2 is equipped with two side cameras arranged on the left and right sides of the vehicle body to capture images of the rear of the vehicle, and side mirrors serving as monitors that display images V of the rear of the vehicle captured by each side camera so that they can be viewed by vehicle occupants (particularly the driver), camera 20 may be the side camera used in the side mirrors, and more specifically, it may be the side camera of the two side cameras on the side where opening / closing body 10 is located. In this case, stay portion 2c to which camera 20 is attached may be one provided exclusively for the side camera, or may be one integrated with the side mirror serving as a monitor. Hereinafter, camera 20 is assumed to be a side camera used in the side mirrors.

[0020] As shown in Fig. 5, the open / close state monitoring system 1 includes an open / close detection unit 30. An image V captured by the camera 20 is sent to the open / close detection unit 30. The open / close detection unit 30 detects the open / close state of the open / close body 10 based on the image V captured by the camera 20. The open / close detection unit 30 is provided in an on-board control device mainly composed of a microcomputer. Preferably, this on-board control device performs processing to display the image V captured by the camera 20 on a monitor serving as a side mirror.

[0021] When the opening-closing body 10 is closed, the image V of the camera 20 captures the opening-closing body 10 in the closed position, as shown in Figures 3(A) and (B). On the other hand, when the opening-closing body 10 is open, the image V of the camera 20 captures the opening-closing body 10 in the fully open position or the half-open position, as shown in Figures 4(A) and (B). In other words, different states are captured in the image V of the camera 20 when the opening-closing body 10 is closed and when it is open.

[0022] The open / close detection unit 30 has an image processing unit 31 and a discrimination unit 32. The image processing unit 31 processes the image V sent from the camera 20. The image processing unit 31 performs edge processing and feature extraction, and, for example, detects the attitude of the open / close body 10 relative to the vehicle body surface 2a from the image V, and grasps the state of the open / close body 10. Note that the image processing unit 31 does not directly detect the attitude of the open / close body 10 itself, but may instead detect objects or lines (for example, the outline of the opening 2b) that appear in the image V when the open / close body 10 is closed but that do not appear in the image V when the open / close body 10 is open.

[0023] The discrimination unit 32 is a component that discriminates whether the state of the opening-closing body 10 obtained by image processing by the image processing unit 31 is an open state. The open state indicates a state in which the opening-closing body 10 is not in a closed position, and includes a fully open position and a half open position. The closed state indicates a state in which the opening-closing body 10 is in a closed position. The open / close detection unit 30 stores in advance patterns that distinguish between when the opening-closing body 10 is in a closed state and when it is in an open state as viewed from the position of the camera 20. The discrimination unit 32 compares the image V captured by the camera 20 with this pattern to make the above discrimination.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 5, the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 includes a notification unit 40. The notification unit 40 is a component that notifies the occupants of the vehicle 2 that the opening / closing body 10 is in an open state, i.e., not in the closed position. The notification unit 40 is a display unit, such as an instrument panel, that displays information visible to the vehicle occupants, or a speaker or buzzer that outputs sound audible to the vehicle occupants, that is mounted on the vehicle 2. Information indicating the determination result of the discrimination unit 32 is sent to the notification unit 40. The notification unit 40 makes the above-mentioned notification when the determination result of the discrimination unit 32 indicates that the opening / closing body 10 is in the open state.

[0025] Next, the operation of the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The open / close state monitoring system 1 monitors the open / close state of the open / close body 10, particularly when the vehicle 2 is started and further while the vehicle 2 is traveling. The timing for monitoring the open / close body 10 by the open / close state monitoring system 1 is not limited to when the vehicle 2 is traveling, but may also include when the vehicle 2 is stopped or before starting. This monitoring may also be performed every predetermined time (e.g., one second). This monitoring may also be discontinued if it is detected that the open / close body 10 is in the closed position while the vehicle 2 is traveling, or if it is detected that the open / close body 10 is in the closed position for a predetermined period of time. In this case, the monitoring may be resumed when the vehicle 2 is stopped or when a vehicle door is opened in the vehicle 2.

[0026] In the open / close state monitoring system 1, the camera 20 captures an image of an area R including the location of the open / close body 10 on the vehicle body surface 2a. The image V captured by the camera 20 is sent to the open / close detection unit 30. When the image V captured by the camera 20 is input to the open / close detection unit 30 (step S100 in the routine shown in FIG. 6), the image processing unit 31 processes the input image V. The image processing unit 31 processes the image V to detect the state of the open / close body 10, such as its attitude (step S110).

[0027] The discrimination unit 32 discriminates whether the state of the opening-closing body 10 obtained by image processing by the image processing unit 31 is in the open state (step S120). If it is determined that the state of the opening-closing body 10 is not in the open state, it is determined that the opening-closing body 10 is in a normal state where it is maintained in the closed position, and the current routine is terminated without any further processing. On the other hand, if it is determined that the state of the opening-closing body 10 is in the open state, it is determined that the opening-closing body 10 is in an abnormal state where it is not in the closed position, and the notification unit 40 notifies the vehicle occupant of that state (step S130).

[0028] In this way, according to the opening / closing state monitoring system 1, the opening / closing body 10 placed on the body surface 2a of the vehicle 2 can be photographed by the camera 20 of the vehicle 2, and the opening / closing state of the opening / closing body 10 can be detected based on the image V photographed by the camera 20.

[0029] In the above configuration, in order to monitor the open / closed state of the opening / closing body 10, it is not necessary to place physical switches, sensors, potentiometers, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as physical switches) for detecting the open / closed position of the opening / closing body 10, for example, near the location where the opening / closing body 10 is located. Also, in a configuration in which the opening / closing body 10 is moved to open or close by the power of an electric motor, it is not necessary to use an electric motor with a position estimation function (for example, a stepping motor or a brushless motor), and it is possible to use an inexpensive electric motor. Therefore, monitoring of the open / closed state of the opening / closing body 10 can be achieved with a simple configuration without using physical switches, and can be achieved inexpensively.

[0030] Furthermore, since physical switches are not required as described above, it is not necessary to provide space for arranging the physical switches near the location where the opening / closing body 10 is disposed, thereby avoiding restrictions on the design near the location where the opening / closing body 10 is disposed. Furthermore, since a wire harness to be connected to the physical switches is not required, it is not necessary to provide space for routing the wire harness near the location where the opening / closing body 10 is disposed.

[0031] Furthermore, in the open / close state monitoring system 1, the camera 20 is a side camera that is attached to the side mirror of the vehicle 2 and captures images of the area behind the vehicle from the side of the vehicle body. That is, the camera 20 is a dual-purpose camera that has both the function of being attached to the side mirror to capture images of the area behind the vehicle and the function of capturing images of the state of the open / close body 10. Therefore, when the vehicle 2 is equipped with a side camera for the side mirror, an existing camera can be used to monitor the open / close state of the open / close body 10, and there is no need to install a dedicated camera, so that the open / close state of the open / close body 10 can be monitored at low cost with a simple configuration.

[0032] In the above embodiment, the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 includes the notification unit 40, which notifies the vehicle occupant that the opening / closing body 10 is in the open state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 may include a closing operation unit that, when it determines that the opening / closing body 10 is in the open state, moves the opening / closing body 10 from the open state to the closed position, in addition to or instead of the notification by the notification unit 40. This closing operation unit may use an electric motor.

[0033] In the above embodiment, the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 determines whether the opening / closing body 10 is in the open state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the opening / closing state monitoring system 1 may determine whether the opening / closing body 10 is in the closed state, or may detect whether the opening / closing body 10 is in a state between the closed position and the open position.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the notification unit 40 is a display unit, speaker, buzzer, etc. mounted on the vehicle 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the notification unit 40 may be a unit that notifies the occupant of the vehicle 2 using a vehicle seat, a headrest, etc., or a unit that wirelessly communicates with a mobile terminal carried by the occupant of the vehicle 2.

[0035] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Furthermore, this specification not only discloses the technical ideas indicated by the citation relationships set forth in the claims at the time of filing, but also discloses technical ideas obtained by appropriately combining the matters set forth in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1: Open / close state monitoring system, 2: vehicle, 2a: vehicle body surface, 2b: opening, 2c: stay portion, 10: open / close body, 20: camera, 30: open / close detection unit, 31: image processing unit, 32: discrimination unit, 40: notification unit.

Claims

1. an opening / closing body that is disposed on a surface of a vehicle body and moves to open and close; a camera mounted on the vehicle and capable of photographing an area including the location of the opening / closing body; an open / close detection unit that detects the open / close state of the open / close body based on an image captured by the camera; An opening / closing status monitoring system comprising:

2. 2. The door opening / closing state monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the camera is a side camera disposed on a side of the vehicle body and used for a side mirror.

3. The open / close detection unit an image processing unit that processes the image captured by the camera; a determination unit that determines whether the state of the opening / closing body obtained by image processing of the image processing unit is an open state; The opening / closing state monitoring system according to claim 1 , comprising:

4. The opening / closing state monitoring system according to claim 3 , further comprising a notification unit that notifies a vehicle occupant when the determination unit determines that the opening / closing body is in the open state.

5. 5. The opening / closing state monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing body is a lid that moves to open and close between a closed position that covers the energy refill port of the vehicle and an open position that exposes the energy refill port to the outside of the vehicle.

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