US 12,216,389 B2
In-vehicle camera
Tetsuya Oba, Tokyo (JP); and Kazuhisa Takashima, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 17/623,656
Filed by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Sep. 25, 2019, PCT No. PCT/JP2019/037563
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 29, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/059393, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 1, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0291572 A1, Sep. 15, 2022
Int. Cl. G03B 17/55 (2021.01); B60R 11/04 (2006.01); B60R 16/03 (2006.01); G03B 30/00 (2021.01); H04N 23/51 (2023.01); H04N 23/52 (2023.01); B60R 11/00 (2006.01)
CPC G03B 17/55 (2013.01) [B60R 11/04 (2013.01); B60R 16/03 (2013.01); G03B 30/00 (2021.01); H04N 23/51 (2023.01); H04N 23/52 (2023.01); B60R 2011/0026 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An in-vehicle camera comprising:
a lens barrel to form an image of light from a subject on a sensor surface of an imaging element;
a circuit board on which an image processing circuit is mounted, the image processing circuit being wire-connected to the imaging element and performing image processing to recognize the subject from a video signal output from the imaging element; and
a housing including an installation face to be attached to a vehicle inner face of a front windshield or a rear windshield of a vehicle that slopes in a front-rear direction, a vent hole formed at each of ends located on a lower side and an upper side when the installation face is attached along the vehicle inner face, and a holder to hold the lens barrel with a portion thereof exposed from the installation face such that an optical axis extends toward an outside of the vehicle, the housing accommodating the circuit board while separating the image processing circuit and the lens barrel from each other in a direction that is parallel to the installation face and is perpendicular to the optical axis, wherein
a ventilation passage connecting the vent hole on the lower side and the vent hole on the upper side is formed between an inner face of the housing on a side of the installation face and the circuit board in a path that is away from the lens barrel and passes through a region in which the image processing circuit is disposed,
wherein, in the direction that is parallel to the installation face and is perpendicular to the optical axis, an opening region of the vent hole on the lower side includes a range in which the image processing circuit is disposed, and
wherein an opening region of the vent hole on the upper side is narrower than the opening region of the vent hole on the lower side, and an end thereof closer to the lens barrel is located inside the range in which the image processing circuit is disposed.