JPH10271364A - Monitoring camera device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring camera device, capable of changing a monitoring area without depending on a manual operation even after it has been installed, which is formed in comparatively small size and with a small protruding amount from an installation surface. SOLUTION: This device is freely rotatably held on a base 2, the installation surface of which a mount 3, on which a camera 1 for monitoring is installed, is fixed. Plural perfmsnent magnets 5 are alternately arranged to different poles on the mount 3, and electromagnets 6 with magnetic poles opposite to the permanent magnets 5 are arranged on the base 2. The mount 3 is rotated by a magnetic force between the permanent magnets 5 and the electromagnets 6 by properly exciting the electromagnets 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surveillance camera using a TV camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a surveillance camera device of this type is often mounted with a ceiling as an installation surface, and an angle adjustment mechanism for adjusting the optical axis of the surveillance camera in order to set a surveillance area according to the installation location. Many are equipped with. In a general angle adjustment mechanism, it is possible to adjust the angle of two axes, that is, rotation in a plane parallel to the installation surface and rotation around one axis parallel to the installation surface. As described above, this type of surveillance camera device is often installed on a ceiling surface, so that a plane parallel to the installation surface is hereinafter referred to as a horizontal plane, and a rotation angle from a fixed position in the horizontal plane is defined as a pan angle and a horizontal plane. Is called a tilt angle.

However, in a surveillance camera device for so-called fixed point monitoring in which the surveillance area after installation is fixed, almost no angle adjustment is required after installation. The tilt angle is manually controlled. That is, when adjusting the pan angle θ and the tilt angle φ as shown in FIG.
The operation is performed by directly touching the camera 1 with the hand.

On the other hand, in a surveillance camera device used in a place where the monitoring area is frequently changed after installation, as shown in FIG. 4, a motor is used to adjust both the pan angle θ and the tilt angle φ. (The pan and the tilt angles φ of the camera 1 are controlled by a motor, such as those described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-1793, etc.). This type of surveillance camera device is used when a single surveillance camera device has a wide monitoring area or when the camera 1 having a relatively narrow field of view obtains detailed information on the monitoring area. Drive units 21a, 21b
Is controlled using a wired or wireless controller 22. The drive unit 21b is for adjusting the tilt angle φ, and is driven to rotate together with the camera 1 by the drive unit 21a for adjusting the pan angle θ. Further, in this type of drive units 21a and 21b, a geared motor is often used in order to obtain a rotational speed suitable for adjusting the angle of the camera 1.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional surveillance camera device, both the pan angle and the tilt angle are manually adjusted, and both of them are adjusted using a drive source such as a motor. Things are provided. However, there is a problem that a device that is manually adjusted cannot be used in a place where the monitoring area after installation is frequently changed. On the other hand, the one using two drive units 21a and 21b has a problem that the size becomes large and the amount of protrusion from the installation surface (ceiling surface) becomes large, making the appearance unsightly.
The use of the two drive units 21a and 21b has a problem that the number of parts is large, the configuration is complicated, and the control system is also complicated, which leads to an increase in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable a monitoring area to be changed without manual operation even after installation, and to have a relatively small size. Provided is a surveillance camera device that has a small amount of protrusion from an installation surface, has a relatively small number of parts, and has a relatively simple control system and can be provided at a lower cost than a conventional configuration using two drive units. Is to do.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a base fixed to an installation surface on which a monitoring camera is installed, and a base rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the installation surface. A mounting base that is held and to which the camera is mounted, a rotating magnet that is fixed to the mounting base and a plurality of poles are alternately arranged in different poles in the rotation direction of the mounting base, and is fixed to the base at a position that can face the magnetic pole of the rotating magnet. And a multi-pole electromagnet for applying a rotational force to the mounting base by excitation. According to this configuration, the rotating magnet is provided on the mounting base on which the camera is mounted, the electromagnet is provided on the base, and the mounting base is rotated with respect to the base by the magnetic force between the electromagnet and the rotating magnet. Compared with the conventional configuration using a unit, it can be provided at a lower cost. Further, it is possible to change the monitoring area without manual operation, and it is small in size, has a small amount of protrusion from the installation surface, and has a relatively small number of parts, as compared with those using two drive units. The control system has a relatively simple configuration.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the mounting base is provided with an angle adjusting mechanism that enables the angle of the optical axis of the camera with respect to the installation surface to be manually adjusted. According to this configuration, by appropriately setting the optical axis of the camera by the angle adjusting mechanism, when the camera is rotated by the rotating magnet and the electromagnet, the overlapping part of the field of view of the camera is reduced and the camera is further widened. Monitoring of the monitoring area becomes possible.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, a cover made of a transparent material for covering the camera is provided on a base. According to this configuration, the dust proof structure and the drip proof structure are realized by the cover.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first to third aspects, a posture sensor for detecting a posture of the camera, and image data output from the camera based on the posture of the camera detected by the posture sensor. Conversion means for performing affine transformation so that the vertical direction of the monitoring area and the vertical direction of the image data coincide with each other, and image display means for displaying the affine-transformed image data on the screen. According to this configuration, the up-down direction of the monitoring area and the up-down direction of the image displayed on the image display unit can be matched, and the image displayed on the image display unit can be easily recognized.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, a base 2 is fixed to an installation surface C such as a ceiling surface, and a mounting base 3 is rotatably held on a base 2 via a rotating shaft 4. Is done. A monitoring camera 1 is mounted on the lower surface of the mounting base 3 via an angle adjusting mechanism (not shown). The angle adjusting mechanism enables the tilt angle, which is the angle of the camera 1 with respect to the horizontal plane (that is, the angle of the optical axis of the camera 1 with respect to the vertical direction), to be manually adjusted. Here, a ball joint type is used. ing. However, the camera 1 is configured to apply a frictional force to such an extent that the camera 1 does not rotate around the axis due to external vibration or the like. A cover 9 that covers the camera 1 is detachably connected to the base 2. The cover 9 is formed using a transparent synthetic resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate, and is formed in a bowl shape having an open upper surface so as to cover the camera 1, the base 2, and the mounting base 3. Are unevenly engaged. Therefore,
It can be removed from the base 2 as needed.

The mounting base 3 has a square horizontal section, and four permanent magnets 5 are fixed to each side surface. The permanent magnets 5 are arranged so as to have different polarities alternately in the rotation direction of the mount 3. That is, the mounting base 3 and the four permanent magnets 5
Thus, rotating magnets having different polarities alternately in the rotation direction of the mount 3 are formed. Here, the permanent magnet 5
Are arranged so as to have a magnetic force in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis 4.

On the other hand, an electromagnet 6 is arranged on the base 2 at a position capable of facing the permanent magnet 5. Four electromagnets 6 are provided in the circumferential direction of the mounting base 3, and the electromagnets 6 are excited so as to have alternately different polarities. Here, it is desirable that the permanent magnet 5 and the electromagnet 6 are magnetically coupled by an appropriate yoke so as to form a magnetic path. For example, it is desirable that a yoke is provided on the mounting base 3 so that the permanent magnets 5 are magnetically coupled to each other via the yoke, and that the electromagnet 6 is also magnetically coupled to the inside of the base 2 via the yoke.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the magnetic poles of the electromagnet 6 protrude from the lower surface of the base 2 and face the permanent magnets 5, so that the electromagnets 6 are provided within the vertical dimension where the mounting base 3 is provided. The thickness in the vertical direction does not increase as compared with the conventional configuration in which the angle adjustment is performed only by manual operation as in the conventional configuration in which the drive unit is provided.

In the above configuration, the mounting base 3 can be rotated by 90 degrees in accordance with the switching of the polarity of the electromagnet 6. That is, if the electromagnet 6 is excited as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the mount 3 is stopped. However, if the polarities of all the electromagnets 6 are set to different polarities from this position, the mount 3 is turned off. It is possible to rotate by 90 degrees. However, if both the permanent magnets 5 and the electromagnets 6 are arranged at equal intervals, the rotation direction of the mounting base 3 cannot be uniquely determined to be clockwise or counterclockwise. It is desirable to arrange them.

A position sensor 7 composed of a potentiometer is provided on the upper surface of the base 2, and the rotation angle of the mounting base 3 is detected by the position sensor 7. That is, camera 1
A control circuit 8 is provided for processing a video signal from the controller and for giving a command value for exciting the electromagnet 6. The control circuit 8 compares the command value from the control circuit 8 with a value detected by the position sensor 7, and It is determined whether or not the pan angle of 3 is the designated position. Further, by knowing the relationship between the magnetic poles of the permanent magnet 5 and the electromagnet 6 based on the detection value of the position sensor 7, it is also possible to control the polarity of the electromagnet 6 so as to rotate the mounting base 3 continuously. It is possible. Here, if the number of poles is about four, the mounting table 3
Cogging (a phenomenon in which the rotation speed fluctuates) occurs in the rotation of. However, since the member having a relatively large inertial mass consisting of the camera 1, the mounting base 3, and the permanent magnet 5 rotates, the cogging is reduced. A power supply circuit 10 for supplying power to the camera 1 and the electromagnet 6 is provided.

The tilt angle of the camera 1 by the angle adjusting mechanism is appropriately set at the time of construction, and it is not necessary to monitor directly below in many cases. Will be set. With the above-described configuration, only the pan angle is controlled according to the command value from the control circuit 8, so that the control system has a simple configuration, and the monitoring area can be easily changed after installation. Moreover, as described above, both the pan angle and the tilt angle are not manually changed, so that the vertical dimension is not increased, and the projection from the installation surface is small, so that the appearance is not impaired. .

By the way, since an angle adjusting mechanism for adjusting the tilt angle of the camera 1 such as a ball joint that can turn the camera 1 in an arbitrary direction is used, a video signal from the camera 1 is directly used as a CRT. Further, when displayed on the image display means 11 such as a liquid crystal display, the vertical direction of the monitoring area and the image display means 11 may not match depending on the direction of the camera 1. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a posture sensor 12 for detecting the angle of the camera 1 is provided near the camera 1.
The position of the image displayed on the image display means 11 is corrected according to the posture (up, down, left, right) of the camera 1 detected by the posture sensor 12. The camera 1 is used as the posture sensor 12.
Use a gyro sensor fixed to.

Since the image position correction processing is easier by digital processing, the video signal output from the camera 1 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 13 and stored in the image memory 14. You. By performing the affine transformation on the image stored in the image memory 14 as described above, the position of the image displayed on the image display unit 11 can be corrected. Since the affine transformation can be performed by controlling the reading order of the image data from the image memory 11, the correction parameter calculating unit 15 first calculates the correction amount according to the posture of the camera 1 based on the information detected by the posture sensor 12. The address conversion means 16 controls the reading order of the image data from the image memory 11 based on the obtained correction amount. A / D converter 13, image memory 1
4. Correction parameter calculation means 15, address conversion means 1
6 constitutes conversion means.

As described above, regardless of the tilt angle of the camera 1, the upper and lower sides of the image displayed on the image display means 11 can be matched with the upper and lower sides of the monitoring area. The display means 11 displays an image which is easy to recognize. It should be noted that dedicated processing hardware is provided for the processing system related to affine transformation, and high-speed processing can be expected by using such hardware.

The above-described angle adjusting mechanism need not always be provided, and the tilt angle of the camera 1 may be appropriately set so that a required monitoring area is obtained according to the field of view of the camera 1. Further, although an example in which a ball joint type is used as the angle adjusting mechanism is shown, a configuration in which a shaft provided in the camera 1 is supported by the mounting base 3 may be adopted. Even if the display unit 11 is turned upside down, there is no other positional relationship, so that image correction is easy. Although a potentiometer is used as the position sensor 7, it may be replaced with a rotary encoder. Alternatively, it is also possible to detect the position of the mounting base 3 by disposing a Hall element at an appropriate position receiving the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 5. is there.

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the base is fixed to an installation surface on which a monitoring camera is installed, and the camera is held by the base so as to be rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the installation surface. Mounting base, a rotating magnet that is fixed to the mounting base, and a plurality of poles are alternately arranged in different directions in the rotation direction of the mounting base. It is equipped with a multi-pole electromagnet that applies rotational force to the base, the rotating magnet is provided on the mounting base on which the camera is mounted, the electromagnet is provided on the base, and the mounting base is formed by the magnetic force between the electromagnet and the rotating magnet. In contrast to this, there is an advantage that it can be provided at low cost as compared with the conventional configuration using a drive unit for two axes. Further, it is possible to change the monitoring area without manual operation, and it is small in size, has a small amount of protrusion from the installation surface, and has a relatively small number of parts, as compared with those using two drive units. There is an advantage that the control system has a relatively simple configuration.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus, wherein the angle adjustment mechanism for manually adjusting the angle of the optical axis of the camera with respect to the installation surface is provided on the mounting table. By setting the axis appropriately,
When the camera is rotated by the rotating magnet and the electromagnet, there is an advantage that the overlapping part of the field of view of the camera is reduced and a wider monitoring area can be monitored.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a cover made of a transparent material for covering the camera is provided on a base.
There is an advantage that a dust-proof structure and a drip-proof structure are realized by the cover. An attitude sensor for detecting the attitude of the camera, and image data output from the camera based on the attitude of the camera detected by the attitude sensor. A conversion unit that performs affine transformation so that the vertical direction of the image coincides with the image, and an image display unit that displays the image data after the affine conversion by the conversion unit on the screen. There is an advantage that the vertical direction of the image to be displayed can be made to coincide with the vertical direction, and the image displayed on the image display means can be easily recognized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a sectional view,
(B) is a bottom view.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the same.

3A and 3B show a conventional example, wherein FIG. 3A is a side view and FIG. 3B is a bottom view.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera 2 Base 3 Mounting stand 4 Rotating axis 5 Permanent magnet 6 Electromagnet 7 Position sensor 8 Control circuit 9 Cover 11 Image display means 12 Attitude sensor 13 A / D conversion unit 14 Image memory 15 Correction parameter calculation means 16 Address conversion means

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Tanikawa 1048 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yura Kawamura 1048 Okadoma Kadoma Kadoma City, Osaka Pref. Inventor: Tomoyuki Tanaka 1048, Kadoma, Kazuma, Kadoma, Osaka Pref., Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. (72) Inventor: St. Takahashi 1048, Kadoma, Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka 1048 Oji Kadoma Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenichi Hagio 1048 Oji Kadoma Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A base fixed to an installation surface on which a monitoring camera is installed, a mounting base to be held by the base so as to be rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the installation surface and to which the camera is mounted, A rotating magnet fixed to the mounting base and having a plurality of poles alternately arranged in different directions in the rotation direction of the mounting base; A surveillance camera device comprising: a pole electromagnet. 2. The surveillance camera device according to claim 1, wherein an angle adjusting mechanism that allows an angle of an optical axis of the camera with respect to an installation surface to be manually adjusted is provided on the mounting base. 3. The surveillance camera device according to claim 1, wherein a cover made of a transparent material for covering the camera is provided on a base. 4. A posture sensor for detecting a posture of the camera, and a vertical direction of a monitoring area and a vertical direction of the image data with respect to image data output from the camera based on the posture of the camera detected by the posture sensor. 4. The surveillance camera device according to claim 1, further comprising: a conversion unit that performs an affine transformation so as to match the image data; and an image display unit that displays image data after the affine conversion by the conversion unit on a screen.