Patent ID: 6786609
Filing Date: 2004-09-07
Classification: B60R,H04N

Abstract:
An apparatus for watching around a vehicle, comprising:an imaging device including; a casing disposed on an outer side of said vehicle and having a pair of right and left transmission window portions in either side of said casing; a prism contained in said casing in the form of an isosceles triangle in section with a vertical angle directed to a front part of said casing, the right and left sides of said prism which correspond to the equal sides of the isosceles triangle being directed to the respective right and left transmission window portions; and an imaging element disposed to the rear of said prism and used for converting a ray of light from the left and right sides of said prism into respective left and right image signals by concentrating light on an imaging plane via an imaging lens, the ray of light being incident on one of the right and left sides of said prism, reflected from the other side of said prism and emitted from the rear side of said prism to said left and right image signals; and an internal reflection preventive means for preventing stray light from undergoing total reflection forms a light transmission window on the rear side of said prism, the internal reflection preventive means being sufficiently sized to cover at least a portion of the rear side of said prism and prevent stray light entering from the left and right sides of said prism from entering into the opposing left and right image signals.