US-20260124999-A1 - VEHICULAR DRIVER MONITORING SYSTEM

US20260124999A1US 20260124999 A1US20260124999 A1US 20260124999A1US-20260124999-A1

Abstract

A vehicular driver monitoring system includes an interior rearview mirror assembly having a mirror head accommodating a mirror reflective element. A driver monitoring camera and a near infrared light emitter are accommodated by the mirror head. With the mirror head adjusted to provide a rearward view to a driver of the vehicle, (i) a normal vector of the mirror reflective element is angled away from a centerline axis of the vehicle and toward the driver side of the interior cabin of the vehicle, (ii) a principal viewing axis of the driver monitoring camera is angled more toward the centerline axis of the vehicle than the normal vector of the mirror reflective element and (iii) a principal axis of illumination of a near infrared light emitter is angled more toward the centerline axis of the equipped vehicle than the normal vector of the mirror reflective element.

Inventors

Michael J. Baur

Assignees

MAGNA MIRRORS OF AMERICA, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251229

Claims (20)

1 . A vehicular driver monitoring system, the vehicular driver monitoring system comprising: an interior rearview mirror assembly comprising a mirror head adjustable about a mounting structure configured to mount the interior rearview mirror assembly at an interior portion of an interior cabin of a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driver monitoring system, wherein the mirror head accommodates a mirror reflective element; wherein the interior portion of the equipped vehicle comprises an in-cabin side of a windshield of the equipped vehicle; wherein the equipped vehicle comprises a centerline axis that longitudinally bisects the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle; wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, and with a driver of the equipped vehicle seated at a driver side of the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle, the mirror head is adjustable by the driver of the equipped vehicle relative to the mounting structure to adjust a rearward view provided by the mirror reflective element to the driver of the equipped vehicle; a driver monitoring camera accommodated by the mirror head; wherein the driver monitoring camera accommodated by the mirror head has a principal viewing axis; a near infrared light emitter accommodated by the mirror head, wherein the near infrared light emitter, when electrically powered to emit light, emits near infrared light having a principal axis of illumination; wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, the driver monitoring camera and the near infrared light emitter move together and in tandem with the mirror head when the mirror head is adjusted by the driver of the equipped vehicle relative to the mounting structure to provide the rearward view to the driver of the equipped vehicle; wherein the principal axis of illumination of the near infrared light emitter is not parallel to a normal vector of the mirror reflective element that extends perpendicular from a planar front surface of the mirror reflective element; wherein the principal viewing axis of the driver monitoring camera is not parallel to the normal vector of the mirror reflective element that extends perpendicular from the planar front surface of the mirror reflective element; and wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, and with the mirror head adjusted by the driver of the equipped vehicle relative to the mounting structure to provide the rearward view to the driver of the equipped vehicle, (i) the normal vector of the mirror reflective element is angled away from the centerline axis that longitudinally bisects the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle and toward the driver side of the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle, (ii) the principal viewing axis of the driver monitoring camera is angled more toward the centerline axis of the equipped vehicle than the normal vector of the mirror reflective element so that the driver monitoring camera views at least a portion of the driver side of the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle and at least a portion of a passenger side of the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle and (iii) the principal axis of illumination of the near infrared light emitter is angled more toward the centerline axis of the equipped vehicle than the normal vector of the mirror reflective element.
2 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, and with the mirror head adjusted by the driver of the equipped vehicle relative to the mounting structure to provide the rearward view to the driver of the equipped vehicle, the vehicular driver monitoring system is operable to detect presence of a passenger disposed within the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle via processing of image data captured by the driver monitoring camera.
3 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, image data captured by the driver monitoring camera is processed at an electronic control unit (ECU).
4 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 3 , wherein the mirror head of the interior rearview mirror assembly accommodates the electronic control unit (ECU).
5 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 3 , wherein the electronic control unit (ECU) is located in the equipped vehicle separate from the interior rearview mirror assembly, and wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, image data captured by the driver monitoring camera is transferred from the interior rearview mirror assembly to the electronic control unit (ECU) for data processing at a data processor disposed at the electronic control unit (ECU).
6 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the principal viewing axis of the driver monitoring camera is at an angle relative to the normal vector of the mirror reflective element, and wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, the angle between the principal viewing axis of the driver monitoring camera and the normal vector of the mirror reflective element remains constant as the mirror head is adjusted relative to the mounting structure, and wherein the principal axis of illumination of the near infrared light emitter is at an angle relative to the normal vector of the mirror reflective element, and wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, the angle between the principal axis of illumination of the near infrared light emitter and the normal vector of the mirror reflective element remains constant as the mirror head is adjusted relative to the mounting structure.
7 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the passenger side of the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle comprises where a front passenger seat is located within the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle.
8 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the driver monitoring camera is accommodated by the mirror head behind the mirror reflective element and views through the mirror reflective element, and wherein the near infrared light emitter is accommodated by the mirror head behind the mirror reflective element, and wherein the near infrared light emitter, when electrically powered to emit light, emits near infrared light that passes through the mirror reflective element.
9 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 8 , wherein the mirror reflective element comprises a transflective mirror reflector.
10 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 9 , wherein the transflective mirror reflector transmits greater than 60% of incident near infrared light having a wavelength of 940 nm.
11 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 9 , wherein the mirror reflective element comprises an electrochromic mirror reflective element.
12 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 11 , wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, and with the mirror head adjusted by the driver of the equipped vehicle relative to the mounting structure to provide the rearward view to the driver of the equipped vehicle, the vehicular driver monitoring system is operable to detect presence of a passenger disposed within the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle via processing of image data captured by the driver monitoring camera.
13 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 9 , wherein the mirror reflective element comprises a prismatic mirror reflective element.
14 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 9 , wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, image data captured by the driver monitoring camera is processed at an electronic control unit (ECU).
15 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 14 , wherein the mirror head of the interior rearview mirror assembly accommodates the electronic control unit (ECU).
16 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 14 , wherein the electronic control unit (ECU) is located in the equipped vehicle separate from the interior rearview mirror assembly, and wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, image data captured by the driver monitoring camera is transferred from the interior rearview mirror assembly to the electronic control unit (ECU) for data processing at a data processor disposed at the electronic control unit (ECU).
17 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 16 , wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, the data processor at the electronic control unit (ECU) of the equipped vehicle processes image data captured by the driver monitoring camera to determine at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) driver drowsiness and (ii) driver gaze direction.
18 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror head accommodates electronic circuitry that comprises a data processor operable to process image data captured by the driver monitoring camera, and wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, the data processor processes image data captured by the driver monitoring camera to determine at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) driver attentiveness, (ii) driver drowsiness and (iii) driver gaze direction.
19 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, a data processor at the equipped vehicle processes image data captured by the driver monitoring camera to determine at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) driver attentiveness, (ii) driver drowsiness and (iii) driver gaze direction.
20 . The vehicular driver monitoring system of claim 19 , wherein an electronic control unit (ECU) is located in the equipped vehicle separate from the interior rearview mirror assembly, and wherein the data processor is disposed at the electronic control unit (ECU), and wherein, with the interior rearview mirror assembly mounted at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, image data captured by the driver monitoring camera is transferred from the interior rearview mirror assembly to the electronic control unit (ECU) for data processing at the data processor at the electronic control unit (ECU).

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/935,720, filed Nov. 4, 2024, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,509,003, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/315,607, filed May 11, 2023, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,134,358, which claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63/364,739, filed May 16, 2022, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of interior rearview mirror assemblies for vehicles. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is known to provide a mirror assembly that is adjustably mounted to an interior portion of a vehicle, such as via a double ball pivot or joint mounting configuration where the mirror casing and reflective element are adjusted relative to the interior portion of a vehicle by pivotal movement about the double ball pivot configuration. The mirror casing and reflective element are pivotable about either or both of the ball pivot joints by a user that is adjusting a rearward field of view of the reflective element. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A vehicular driver monitoring system includes a vehicular interior rearview mirror assembly. The mirror assembly includes a mirror head adjustably attached at a mounting base, the mounting base configured to attach at an interior portion of a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driver monitoring system. The mirror head includes a mirror reflective element. With the mounting base attached at the interior portion of the vehicle, the mirror head and the mirror reflective element are adjustable relative to the mounting base to adjust a rearward view of a driver of the vehicle when viewing the mirror reflective element. With the mounting base attached at the interior portion of the vehicle, adjusting the mirror head and mirror reflective element relative to the mounting base adjusts a first angle between a normal vector of the mirror reflective element and a centerline axis of the vehicle. A driver monitoring camera is accommodated by the mirror head behind the mirror reflective element and views through the mirror reflective element. With the mounting base attached at the interior portion of the vehicle, a second angle between a principal axis of a field of view of the driver monitoring camera and the normal vector of the mirror reflective element is an oblique angle. These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle equipped with a driver monitoring system; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a plan view of a vehicle including a driver monitoring camera that views through a mirror reflective element of the interior rearview mirror assembly at a perpendicular angle relative to a plane of the mirror reflective element; FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the transmission of visible and infrared or near infrared light, respectively, for the mirror reflective element of the driver monitoring system of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a plan view of a vehicle including a driver monitoring camera that views through the mirror reflective element at an oblique angle relative to the plane of the mirror reflective element; and FIG. 6 is a plan view of a vehicle including a driver monitoring camera that is fixed and where the mirror reflective element moves relative to the camera as the mirror head and mirror reflective element are adjusted relative to the fixed driver monitoring camera. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, a vehicle 10 includes a driver monitoring system 12 that includes at least one interior viewing imaging sensor or camera, such as a rearview mirror imaging sensor or camera 16 (FIG. 1). Optionally, an interior viewing camera may be disposed at the windshield of the vehicle, such as an interior viewing camera accommodated by a windshield electronics module mounted at the cabin facing side of the vehicle windshield. The vision system 12 includes a control or electronic control unit (ECU) 18 having electronic circuitry and associated software, with the electronic circuitry including a data processor or image processor that is operable to process image data captured by the sensor or camera or cameras, whereby the system 12, via processing of captured image data at the ECU 18, may monitor driver attentiveness or the like (although shown in FIG. 1 as being part of or incorporated in or at an interior rearview mirror assembly 20 of the vehicle, the control and/or the display device may be disposed elsewhere at or in the vehicle). The data transfer or signal communication from the sensor or camera to the ECU may comprise a