IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,194,927
Granted Patent B2
US 12,194,927 · App. 17/804,929 · Granted Jan 14, 2025

Glass for vehicles and camera unit

Inventors: Tatsuo Nagashima (Chiyoda-ku, JP); Yutaka Kitajima (Chiyoda-ku, JP)
Assignee: AGC Inc.
B60R11/04B60J1/02G02B1/11
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,194,927
App. No.
17/804,929
Granted
Jan 14, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Glass ( 1 ) for vehicles includes a light blocking region (A 2 ) in which a far-infrared ray transmission region (B) provided with an opening and a far-infrared ray transmission member arranged in the opening, and a visible light transmission region (C) transmitting visible light are formed. The opening is formed between an upper edge part ( 1 a ) of the glass ( 1 ) and a first position (P 1 ) in a first direction from the upper edge part ( 1 a ) toward a lower edge part ( 1 b ) of the glass ( 1 ), the first position (P 1 ) is a position at which a distance from the upper edge part ( 1 a ) is 30% of a length from the upper edge part ( 1 a ) to the lower edge part ( 1 b ), and between a second position (P 2 ) and a third position (P 3 ) in a second direction from a side edge part ( 1 c ) toward a side edge part ( 1 d ) of the glass ( 1 ) for vehicles. A length (L 2 a ) in the second direction from the second position (P 2 ) to the third position (P 3 ) is 55% of a length (L 2 ) from the side edge part ( 1 c ) to the side edge part ( 1 d ), and a length of the longest straight line among straight lines connecting optional two points within a surface on a vehicle exterior side is equal to or smaller than 80 mm.

Claims (30)

1. Glass for vehicles, the glass comprising a light blocking region, wherein

a far-infrared ray transmission region provided with an opening and a far-infrared ray transmission member arranged in the opening, and a visible light transmission region transmitting visible light are formed in the light blocking region,

the opening is

formed between an upper edge part of the glass and a first position in a first direction from the upper edge part toward a lower edge part of the glass, the first position is a position at which a distance from the upper edge part is 30% of a length from the upper edge part to the lower edge part, and

formed between a second position and a third position in a second direction from one side edge part toward another side edge part of the glass, the second position is closer to the one side edge part than a center of the glass, and the third position is closer to the other side edge part than the center of the glass and a distance from the center is equal to that of the second position, wherein a length from the second position to the third position in the second direction is 55° of a length from the one side edge part to the other side edge part, and

a length of the longest straight line among straight lines connecting optional two points within a surface on a vehicle exterior side of the opening is equal to or smaller than 80 mm.

2. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein a perspective distortion amount in a periphery of the opening is equal to or smaller than 0.2.

3. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein a distance between a center of the visible light transmission region and a center of the far-infrared ray transmission region is equal to or smaller than 200 mm.

4. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein the visible light transmission region and the far-infrared ray transmission region are arranged side by side in the second direction.

5. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein average transmittance of far-infrared rays having a wavelength from 8 to 13 μm of the far-infrared ray transmission member is equal to or larger than 25%.

6. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein the far-infrared ray transmission member includes at least one material selected from the group consisting of ZnS, Ge, Si, and chalcogenide glass.

7. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of a surface on a vehicle exterior side and a surface on a vehicle interior side of the far-infrared ray transmission member includes 1 to 12 layers of antireflection films, and a layer closest to the vehicle exterior side among the antireflection films on the vehicle exterior side is a diamond-like carbon film.

8. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein a surface on the vehicle exterior side of the far-infrared ray transmission member is formed to be continuous to a surface on the vehicle exterior side of the light blocking region.

9. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein the far-infrared ray transmission member is attached with at least one of a urethane-based bonding agent and an acrylic-based bonding agent.

10. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein an area of the opening on a surface on the vehicle interior side is smaller than an area of the opening on a surface on the vehicle exterior side.

11. The glass for vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein the glass for vehicles is configured to be mounted on a vehicle including a far-infrared camera and a visible light camera, a diameter of the largest circle, among circles formed inside a projection drawing obtained by projecting the far-infrared ray transmission member in an optical axis direction of the far-infrared camera, is equal to or larger than 12 mm, and an average thickness of the far-infrared ray transmission member is equal to or larger than 1.5 mm.

12. A camera unit comprising:

the glass for vehicles according to claim 1 ;

a far-infrared camera; and

a visible light camera, wherein

the far-infrared camera is mounted on the glass for vehicles so as to be able to take a thermal image of the outside through the far-infrared ray transmission region, and the visible light camera is mounted on the glass for vehicles so as to be able to take an image of the outside through the visible light transmission region.

13. The camera unit according to claim 12 , wherein an optical axis of the far-infrared camera is substantially parallel with an optical axis of the visible light camera, and a distance between the optical axis of the far-infrared camera and the optical axis of the visible light camera is equal to or smaller than 200 mm.

14. The camera unit according to claim 12 , comprising:

a first visible light camera and a second visible light camera as the visible light camera, wherein

the far-infrared camera is positioned between the first visible light camera and the second visible light camera.

15. The camera unit according to claim 12 , comprising:

a first far-infrared camera and a second far-infrared camera as the far-infrared camera, wherein

the visible light camera is positioned between the first far-infrared camera and the second far-infrared camera.

16. The camera unit according to claim 12 , wherein the far-infrared camera is mounted on the glass for vehicles via a bracket, and an inner part of the bracket is kept vacuumed or an insulating material is filled in the inner part of the bracket.

17. The camera unit according to claim 12 , wherein the far-infrared camera is mounted on the glass for vehicles via a bracket, and further includes a temperature regulator for adjusting a temperature within the bracket.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 1, 2022
From: NAGASHIMA, TATSUO; KITAJIMA, YUTAKA
To: AGC INC.
Reel/Frame 060071/0312 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2019-221472 · Dec 6, 2019 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTJP2020044935 · Dec 2, 2020
Related Publication 20220289121A1 · Sep 15, 2022
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