Driver monitoring device and automobile provided with same

Abstract

Provided is a driver monitoring device that demonstrates superior performance for imaging the state of the face of a driver. This driver monitoring device (100) is used in an automobile having: a front pillar garnish (80) that is installed in front of the driver's seat and is disposed obliquely so that the rearward side is higher than the forward side; and a steering wheel that the driver sitting on the driver's seat uses for steering. The driver monitoring device (100) comprises a camera unit (30) that images the state of the face of the driver. The camera unit (30) is provided in the front pillar garnish (80).

Description

Driver monitoring device and automobile equipped with same

[0001] The present invention relates to a driver monitoring device for monitoring a driver of an automobile.

[0002] As an example of this type of driver monitoring device, Patent Document 1 discloses a driver monitoring device that has a camera mounted on the steering column that captures an image of the driver's face in order to detect the driver's driving state.

[0003] JP 2011-154721 A

[0004] However, as shown in the image of Fig. 5, the height of the steering column 90 is lower than the height of the face Pf of the driver P. Therefore, in the technology described in the document, the camera 300 is oriented so as to look up at the face Pf of the driver P, which may make it difficult to detect the state of the captured face Pf of the driver P (particularly the driver's line of sight PLe), as shown by the dashed line labeled CS in the image of the imaging range in the figure.

[0005] Furthermore, if the camera 300 is mounted on the steering column 90, the steering wheel 91 is interposed between the camera 300 and the face Pf of the driver P, which may cause the driver's arm Pa to obstruct the image capture. Therefore, the technology described in the document leaves room for further improvement in terms of the ability to capture the state of the driver's face Pf. The present invention has been made in light of these problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a driver monitoring device that can capture the state of the driver's face with good accuracy, and a vehicle equipped with the same.

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, one aspect of the present invention provides a driver monitoring device for use in an automobile having a front pillar that is installed in front of the driver's seat and arranged at an angle so that the rear side is higher than the front side, and a steering wheel that is steered by a driver seated in the driver's seat, and the driver monitoring device is equipped with a monitoring camera that captures images of the driver's facial condition, and the monitoring camera is mounted on the front pillar.

[0007] In addition, in order to solve the above problem, an automobile according to one aspect of the present invention is an automobile having a front pillar installed in front of the driver's seat and arranged at an angle so that the rear side is higher than the front side, and a steering wheel that is steered by a driver seated in the driver's seat, and is equipped with a driver monitoring device according to one aspect of the present invention on the front pillar.

[0008] According to the present invention, the state of the driver's face can be captured with good accuracy.

[0009] 2(a) is a schematic explanatory diagram of a driver monitoring device mounted on a front pillar, showing an image of the front interior of the vehicle cabin viewed from the side of the driver's seat. It is a perspective view of a front pillar garnish, where (a) is a front view of the portion where the driver monitoring device is mounted, (b) is a view from the left side, and (c) is a view from the back of the portion where the driver monitoring device is mounted. It is an enlarged view of the driver monitoring device portion of FIG. 2(a). It is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the main parts of the front pillar, front pillar garnish, and driver monitoring device, showing the Z-Z cross section in FIG. 3. It is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an example of the arrangement of a conventional driver monitoring device, showing an image of the front interior of the vehicle cabin viewed from the side of the driver's seat.

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A driver seated in the driver's seat drives a vehicle by manipulating a steering wheel. The front pillars of this embodiment are installed in front of the driver's seat and are obliquely positioned so that the rear side is higher than the front side. The drawings are schematic. Therefore, it should be noted that the relationship between thickness and planar dimensions, ratios, etc., differ from the actual ones, and the drawings also include portions where the relationship between dimensions and ratios differ. Furthermore, the embodiments described below are merely examples of devices and methods embodying the technical concept of the present invention. The technical concept of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments in terms of the materials, shapes, structures, arrangements, etc., of the components.

[0011] 1 to 3, the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment is mounted on a front pillar garnish 80 of an automobile. Note that the figures show an example of a left-hand drive vehicle, in which the front pillars are approximately symmetrical and have the same number of pillars on each side, and the driver's seat side of the front pillars is covered by the front pillar garnish 80. The driver monitoring device 10 is mounted on the left pillar portion of the front pillar garnish 80, facing the front pillar garnish 80.

[0012] More specifically, as shown in Fig. 4, the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment includes a monitoring device main body 20 that is disposed inside a front pillar garnish 80. An opening 81 into which the monitoring device main body 20 is attached is formed in the front portion of the front pillar garnish 80. A frame member called a finisher 60 that covers the periphery of the inner edge 82 is attached to the inner edge 82 of the opening 81, and a light-transmittable screen 50 is supported via this finisher 60.

[0013] In this embodiment, an engagement groove 54 is formed around the entire periphery of the screen 50, and the engagement groove 54 around the periphery of the screen 50 is fitted into an engagement protrusion 63 provided on the inner edge of the opening of the finisher 60. In this way, the screen 50 is supported by the inner edge 82 of the opening 81 of the front pillar garnish 80 via the finisher 60.

[0014] The monitoring device main body 20 has a base portion 21 formed to follow the shape of the front portion of the front pillar garnish 80, and an appropriate position of the base portion 21 is fixed to the front pillar 100 side behind the front pillar garnish 80. On the front side of the base portion 21, a lighting unit mounting portion 22 and a camera unit mounting portion 23 are formed by recessed steps. The lighting unit 40 is mounted to the lighting unit mounting portion 22, and the camera unit 30 is mounted to the camera unit mounting portion 23.

[0015] The screen 50 is formed in a stepped shape having an upper vertical surface 51 and a lower vertical surface 52, and the lighting unit 40 is arranged inside the front pillar garnish 80 at a position opposite the upper vertical surface 15, and the camera unit 30 is arranged inside the front pillar garnish 80 at a position opposite the lower vertical surface.

[0016] In this embodiment, in this arrangement, the upper surface of the camera unit mounting portion 23 doubles as the lower surface of the lighting unit mounting portion 22, serving as a concave step that forms the mounting portion, so that the lighting unit 40 is positioned close to the camera unit 30 and is installed at a higher position than the camera unit 30 and closer to the driver P.

[0017] In this embodiment, the screen 50 has an upper vertical surface 51 that faces the imaging lens 31 of the camera unit 30 and the lighting unit 40, respectively. The lower vertical surface 52 faces the illumination light projecting portion 41 of the lighting unit 40. These two facing surfaces 51, 52 are connected by a surface that is parallel to an upper surface 61 of the finisher 60 when the screen 50 is attached to the finisher 60. In particular, in this embodiment, the screen 50 is supported at a position on the rear side of the front pillar garnish 80 relative to an imaginary plane K that connects the inner edge 82 of the opening 81 formed in the front pillar garnish 80 with the inner edge 82 of the front pillar garnish 80 via the finisher 60.

[0018] The lighting unit 40 is configured to be able to project, for example, near-infrared light as illumination, and is installed in front of the driver P so that the near-infrared light is projected from the lighting projector 41 toward the face Pf of the driver P. When projecting near-infrared light, in order to obtain desired imaging information, it is preferable that the camera unit 30 captures the face Pf of the driver P by limiting the wavelength band using, for example, a wavelength limiting filter that limits appropriate wavelengths.

[0019] Here, when monitoring the face Pf of the driver P, taking into consideration the imaging ability of the face Pf (particularly the imaging ability of the driver's line of sight PLe), it is preferable that the monitoring device main body 20 is positioned so that the camera unit 30 can capture an image of the driver's face Pf from the front.

[0020] 1, the camera unit 30 is provided at a position higher than the upper edge height 91t of the steering wheel 91. In particular, in the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment, the imaging center axis CL of the camera unit 30 is set horizontally and at a position higher than the upper edge height 91t of the steering wheel 91 so as to be suitable for capturing images at the height of the eye line PLe of the driver P (for example, the average eye line height of an adult male in a seated position based on statistics).

[0021] Next, the effects of the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment and the automobile equipped with the same will be described. In the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment, the camera unit 30 is provided on the front pillar 100 of the vehicle, as shown in Fig. 4. Therefore, when monitoring the driver's face Pf, the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment has better image capture capability for the driver's face Pf than an arrangement in which the driver's face Pf is viewed from a low position, as shown in Fig. 5 [Invention 1, Invention 8].

[0022] In particular, in the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment, as shown in Figures 1 to 4, the camera unit 30 is provided on the front pillar garnish 80 of the vehicle. Therefore, the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment has good imaging capabilities for the driver's face Pf, takes into consideration collision safety for the driver P, and, as can be seen in Figure 2(b), is also extremely aesthetically pleasing when viewed from the driver P's side [Invention 2].

[0023] 1, the camera unit 30 in the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment is provided at a position higher than the height 91t of the upper edge of the steering wheel 91. As a result, the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment has better image capture capability for the driver's face Pf because there are no obstacles, such as the steering wheel 91, in the middle of the camera unit 30. Furthermore, because the camera unit 30 is provided at a position higher than the height 91t of the upper edge of the steering wheel 91, there is no risk of the driver's arm Pa interfering with image capture [Invention 3].

[0024] 1, in the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment, the imaging center axis CL of the camera unit 30 is set horizontally. This allows the driver's face Pf to be captured in a posture as close to a frontal view as possible. In particular, this makes it easier to detect the state of the driver P's line of sight PLe compared to an imaging posture in which the imaging center axis CL intersects with the driver's line of sight PLe [Invention 4].

[0025] 4, the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment further includes an illumination unit 40 on the front pillar garnish 80 that illuminates the face Pf of the driver P, so that the state of the face Pf of the driver P can be better imaged by illuminating the face Pf of the driver P with the illumination unit 40. In particular, the illumination unit 40 of this embodiment is installed close to the camera unit 30, at a position higher than the camera unit 30 and closer to the driver P, so that the illumination is disposed near the imaging center axis CL. This makes it less likely that a shadow will be cast on the illuminated object, which is suitable for better imaging the state of the face Pf of the driver P [Invention 5].

[0026] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment comprises a monitoring device main body 20 including a camera unit 30 and a lighting unit 40, and a screen 50 arranged opposite the imaging lens 31 of the camera unit 30 of the monitoring device main body 20, and the monitoring device main body 20 is fixed to the front pillar 100 side within the front pillar garnish 80, so that the monitoring device main body 20 can be fixed robustly and reliably, and the screen 50 can be supported with a simple configuration.

[0027] In particular, in the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment, the screen 50 is supported at a position further back on the front pillar garnish 80 than the imaginary plane K that connects the inner edge 82 of the opening 81 formed in the front pillar garnish 80 via the finisher 60, thereby taking into consideration collision safety for the driver P and, as can be seen in Figure 2(b), also providing an extremely excellent aesthetic appearance when viewed from the driver P's side [Invention 6].

[0028] 4, the screen 50 of the driver monitoring device 10 of this embodiment employs a configuration having two opposing surfaces 51, 52 that respectively face the camera unit 30 and the lighting unit 40. These two opposing surfaces 51, 52 are connected by a surface that is parallel to the upper surface 61 of the finisher 60 when the screen 50 is attached to the finisher 60. This not only provides excellent light transmittance for the camera unit 30 and the lighting unit 40, but also provides an excellent aesthetic appearance when viewed from the driver P side, as can be seen in FIG. 3 [Invention 7].

[0029] As explained above, the driver monitoring device of this embodiment and the automobile equipped with the same have excellent imaging capabilities for capturing the state of the driver's face. Note that the driver monitoring device and the automobile equipped with the same according to the present invention are not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0030] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Driver monitoring device 20 Monitoring device main body 21 Base unit 22 Lighting unit mounting unit 23 Camera unit mounting unit 30 Camera unit (monitoring camera) 31 Imaging lens 40 Lighting unit (lighting equipment) 41 Lighting projecting unit 50 Screen 51 Upper vertical surface (opposing surface) 52 Lower vertical surface (opposing surface) 53 Parallel surface 54 Engagement groove 60 Finisher 61 Upper surface 62 Lower surface 63 Engagement protrusion 80 Front pillar garnish 81 Opening 82 Inner edge 90 Steering column 91 Steering wheel 100 Front pillar P Driver Pf Driver's face PLe Driver's line of sight Pa Driver's arm CL Imaging center axis CS Imaging range K Virtual surface

Claims

1. A driver monitoring device for use in a motor vehicle, comprising a front pillar disposed in front of a driver's seat and obliquely arranged such that the rear side is higher than the front side, and a steering wheel steered by a driver seated in the driver's seat, comprising a monitoring camera for imaging the state of the driver's face, wherein the monitoring camera is provided on the front pillar, the front pillar has a front pillar garnish on the side surface on the driver's seat side, the monitoring camera is provided on the front pillar garnish, the front pillar garnish further comprises lighting equipment for illuminating the driver's face, the lighting equipment is installed at a position higher than and closer to the driver than the monitoring camera, in proximity to the monitoring camera, comprising a monitoring device body including the monitoring camera and the lighting equipment, and a screen disposed opposite to the imaging lens of the monitoring camera of the monitoring device body, the monitoring device body is fixed to the front pillar side within the front pillar garnish, the screen is supported at a position deeper inside the front pillar garnish than a virtual plane connecting the opening edge of the front pillar garnish to the inner edge of an opening formed in the front pillar garnish via a finisher, the screen has two opposing surfaces respectively facing the monitoring camera and the lighting, and the space between the two opposing surfaces is connected by a surface parallel to the upper surface of the finisher in a state where the finisher is mounted, characterized by the driver monitoring device.

2. (Deleted)

3. The driver monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring camera is provided at a position higher than the upper edge height of the steering wheel.

4. The monitoring camera according to claim 1, wherein the imaging central axis is set horizontally, for the driver monitoring device.

5. (Deleted)

6. (Deleted)

7. (Deleted)

8. An automobile having a front pillar installed in front of the driver's seat and obliquely arranged so that the rear side is higher than the front side, and a steering wheel steered by a driver seated in the driver's seat, wherein the front pillar is provided with the driver monitoring device according to any one of claims 1, 3 to 4.