Abstract:
A monitoring system for a vehicle is provided. The monitoring system includes at least one mirror having at least one first camera lens disposed thereon, wherein the first camera lens monitors an environment at a front side of the vehicle.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to a monitoring system, and more particularly to a monitoring system for a car.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Speaking of driving, a raw recruit, or even an experienced driver, must have had the experience of colliding with some object, such as a car or a fixture, when backing a car, due to an unclear sight. Therefore, a radar monitoring system for car backing has been recently developed to solve the above problem, as shown in  FIG. 1 . The radar monitoring system has at least one camera lens  12  disposed at the rear side of the car  11 . Accordingly, the driver can judge the distance between the car  11  and the object at the rear side by watching the images displayed on the monitor (not shown) inside the car. The images are transmitted from the camera lens  12  when backing the car so as to avoid collision. However, the driver are only allowed to get the view at the rear side of the car through the radar monitoring system. This often results in collision with other objects when backing the car, and thus the driver has to spend much money on repairing the car.  
         [0003]     From above description, it is known that how to develop a new monitoring system for a car with the advantage of preventing the car from colliding with other objects has become a major problem to be solved. In order to overcome the drawbacks in the prior art, an improved monitoring system for a car is provided in the present invention. The provided monitoring system not only solves the problem described above, but is simple and easy to be performed.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an improved monitoring system for a car is provided. The monitoring system has camera lenses disposed on the driving mirrors of the car. When the car is backed, the camera lenses are aimed at salients at the front side of the car and images thereof are transmitted to the monitor inside the car. With the cooperation of the conventional radar monitoring system for car backing, the driver can easily control the situation around the car during car backing. This efficiently prevents the car from colliding with other objects.  
         [0005]     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a monitoring system for a vehicle includes at least one mirror having at least one first camera lens disposed thereon, wherein the first camera lens monitors an environment at a front side of the vehicle.  
         [0006]     Preferably, the first camera lens is aimed at a salient at the front side of the vehicle.  
         [0007]     Preferably, the first camera lens is aimed at the salient at a front right side of the vehicle.  
         [0008]     Preferably, the first camera lens is aimed at the salient at a front left side of the vehicle.  
         [0009]     Preferably, the vehicle is a car.  
         [0010]     Preferably, the mirror further comprises a turn signal disposed thereon.  
         [0011]     Preferably, the mirror further comprises at least one sensor disposed thereon for providing a sound to warn a driver when the vehicle is about to collide with an object.  
         [0012]     Preferably, the object is one of another vehicle and a fixture.  
         [0013]     Preferably, the first camera lens is one of a charge-coupled device camera lens and a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor camera lens.  
         [0014]     Preferably, the monitoring system further includes at least one second camera lens disposed at a rear side of the vehicle for monitoring a back view of the vehicle.  
         [0015]     Preferably, the monitoring system further includes a monitor disposed inside the vehicle for displaying images transmitted from the first camera lens and the second camera lens when the vehicle is backed.  
         [0016]     The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed descriptions and accompanying drawings, in which: 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the radar monitoring system for car backing according to the prior art;  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing the monitoring system for car backing according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 3 ( a ) is a front view of the driving mirror according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3 ( b ) is a back view of the driving mirror according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating the circuit of the monitoring system for car backing according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  shows the monitor in use according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0023]     The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. Please refer to  FIG. 2  and FIGS.  3 ( a ) and  3 ( b ).  FIG. 2  shows the monitoring system for car backing according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIGS.  3 ( a ) and  3 ( b ) respectively show the front and back views of the driving mirror according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The monitoring system includes two driving mirrors  22  and  23  having the function of monitoring, wherein the driving mirror  22  has a camera lens  221  disposed thereon as shown in  FIG. 3 ( a ) and the driving mirror  23  has a camera lens  231  disposed thereon as shown in  FIG. 3 ( b ). The environment at the front side of the car  21  are monitored through the camera lenses  22  and  23 . The camera lens  22  on the right side is aimed at the salient at the front right side  24  of the car  21 , while the camera lens  23  on the left side is aimed at the salient at the front left side  25  of the car  21 . Through monitoring the salients at the front right side  24  and the front left side  25  of the car  21 , the driver can prevent the car  21  from colliding with other objects when backing the car  21 . The camera lenses  22  and  23  are hidden inside the driving mirrors  22  and  23  so that they are not conspicuous and do not occupy any additional space. Preferably, the camera lenses  221  and  231  are charge-coupled device camera lenses or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor ones. Besides, the number of the camera lens on each driving mirror is not limited to one. That is, the number of the camera lens on each driving mirror can be added according to a practical demand.  
         [0024]     Moreover, the monitoring system of the present invention further includes turn signals  222  and  232  which are respectively disposed on the driving mirrors  22  and  23  to obviously warn the backward vehicles when making a turn. The turn signals  222  and  232  are made of light-emitting diodes or traditional light bulbs. In addition, the monitoring system of the present invention further includes sensors  223  and  233  which are respectively disposed on the driving mirrors  22  and  23  for providing a sound to warn the driver when the car  21  is about to collide with other objects, so as to avoid accidents. Please refer to  FIG. 4 , which shows the circuit of the monitoring system for car backing according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the monitoring system of the present invention further includes a monitor  41  disposed inside the car  21  for displaying images transmitted from the respective camera lenses  221  and  231  on the driving mirrors  22  and  23  when the car is backed. Hence, the driver can react properly to the environment according to the images. The use of the monitor  41  is shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0025]     Certainly, the monitoring system of the present invention is combined with the conventional radar monitoring system for car backing to adequately achieve the function of monitoring. Therefore, the monitoring system of the present invention further includes at least one camera disposed at the rear side of the car  21  for monitoring the back view of the car  21 . The arrangement of the camera is the same as that in  FIG. 1 . Because the camera lenses  221  and  231  respectively disposed on the driving mirrors  22  and  23  and the camera lens disposed at the rear side of the car  21  are able to transmit images back to the monitor  41 , the images are able to be displayed on the monitor  41  in various ways. For instance, only the image of the front right side of the car  21  is displayed, or the images of the front right and front left sides of the car  21  and those of the rear side of the car  21  are displayed simultaneously. The way of displaying is selected by the driver according to a practical demand.  
         [0026]     In conclusion, the monitoring system of the present invention has camera lenses disposed on the driving mirrors. When the car is backed, the camera lenses are aimed at salients at the front side of the car and transmit images thereof to the monitor inside the car. With the cooperation of the conventional radar monitoring system for car backing, the driver can easily control the situation around the car while backing the car. This efficiently prevents the car from colliding with other objects. Accordingly, the present invention can effectively solve the problems and drawbacks in the prior arts, and thus fits the demand of the industry and is industrially valuable.  
         [0027]     While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.