A camera system for a motor vehicle is described. Incident radiation is guided to a radiation receiving unit by means of one or more deflecting mirrors, where at least one deflecting mirror is configured to swivel. The swivelable deflecting mirror has a first mirror side, which is suitable for deflecting incident radiation, and a second mirror side, which is also suitable for deflecting incident radiation. The second mirror side exhibits a curvature shape that is different from that of the first mirror side. The swivelable deflecting mirror can be oriented in such a manner that incident radiation can be guided to the receiving unit by selecting one of the first or the second mirror side as an effective mirror surface.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a camera system according to the invention.
Claims
1. A camera system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
an optical system in which incident radiation is guided to a radiation receiving unit by means of at least one swivelable deflecting mirror, the at least one swivelable deflecting mirror comprising a first mirror side suitable for deflecting incident radiation, and a second mirror side suitable for deflecting incident radiation, wherein the second mirror side exhibits a curvature shape that is different from a curvature shape of the first mirror side, and wherein the at least one swivelable deflecting mirror is swivelable in such a manner that incident radiation can be guided to the receiving unit by swiveling the deflecting mirror to selectively switch between the first and the second mirror sides.
2. The camera system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one swivelable deflecting mirror comprises two mirror sides.
3. The camera system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one swivelable deflecting mirror is orientable such that a selected one of the first and second mirror sides reflects radiation from different directions towards the radiation receiving unit.
4. The camera system, as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one swivelable deflecting mirror is orientable about at least two rotational axes.
5. The camera system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one swivelable deflecting mirror is swivelable about a rotational axis such that the incident radiation originating from multiple directions is selectively reflected to the radiation receiving unit by an effective mirror surface, and such that the effective mirror surface is selectable by switching between the first and the second mirror sides.
6. The camera system, as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a drive of the camera system for swiveling the at least one swivelable deflecting mirror, and a related drive controller.
7. The camera system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first and second mirror sides of the swivelable deflecting mirror of the camera system corresponds to a different vehicle function.
8. The camera system, as claimed in claim 7, wherein the camera system is switchable between various vehicle functions by switching between the first and the second mirror sides of the swivelable deflecting mirror.
9. The camera system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the radiation receiving unit is suitable for receiving infrared radiation.
10. The camera system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a surface of the first mirror side of the deflecting mirror and a surface of the second mirror side of the deflecting mirror are suitable for reflecting infrared radiation.
11. The camera system, as claimed in claim 10, wherein the surfaces of the first and the second mirror sides of the deflecting mirror comprise at least one of fine-grade steel and germanium.
12. An optical system for reflecting incident radiation, comprising:
a swivelable deflecting mirror for reflecting the incident radiation towards a radiation receiving unit;a first mirror side of the swivelable deflecting mirror having first optical characteristics;a second mirror side of the swivelable deflecting mirror having second optical characteristics; anda drive mechanism for selecting an effective reflective surface of the swivelable deflecting mirror by switching between the mirror sides.
13. The optical system according to claim 12, wherein the drive mechanism swivels the swivelable deflecting mirror about two planes of rotation.
14. The optical system according to claim 12, wherein the drive mechanism swivels the swivelable deflecting mirror to reflect to the radiation receiving unit incident radiation originating from different directions.
15. The optical system according to claim 14, wherein the swivelable deflecting mirror swivels by about −30 degrees to about +30 degrees in a first plane of rotation to reflect the radiation originating from different directions.
16. The optical system according to claim 14, wherein the swivelable deflecting mirror swivels by about ±15 degrees in a second plane of rotation to reflect the radiation originating from different directions.
17. The optical system according to claim 14, wherein the swivelable deflecting mirror swiveled by about 180 degrees to switch the effective mirror surface between the first and the second mirror sides.
18. The optical system according to claim 12, further comprising additional mirror sides of the swivelable deflecting mirror selectable by the drive mechanism.
19. The optical system according to claim 12, wherein the swivelable deflecting mirror is optimized to reflect infrared radiation.
20. The optical system according to claim 12, wherein the first mirror side has a first curvature, and the second mirror side has a second curvature.
21. The optical system according to claim 12, further comprising a controller unit of the drive mechanism for commanding a swivel function of the swivelable deflecting mirror to reflect incident radiation from different directions, and a switching function to select an effective reflective surface of the swivelable deflecting mirror.
22. The optical system according to claim 12, wherein the swivelable deflecting mirror and the drive mechanism are integrable in an automotive component.
Patent Application
20070176083
