Patent ID: 7245207

Claim:
A system for monitoring an area behind a vehicle comprising: a housing having elongated flanges extending from the housing for mounting to the rear portion of a vehicle; a camera provided within the housing, wherein the camera produces an image signal based upon a received image; a transmitter operably coupled to the camera for transmitting the image signals; a display device having a means for mounting the display device within a passenger compartment of the vehicle, the display device further comprising a receiver for receiving the image signal; an image processing unit operably connected to the receiver, wherein the image processing unit is capable of manipulating the image signal in order to rotate the received image to an upside-down orientation; the display device operably connected to the image processing unit and adapted to display the received image; and wherein the camera and the transmitter are activated when the vehicle is placed into reverse and the display device is activated upon receiving an image signal from the transmitter.