VWGoA - Ex. 1006
`Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. - Petitioner
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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov. 12, 1996
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`Sheet 1 of 4
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`5,574,443
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`F 16.1 PRIOR ART
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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov. 12, 1996
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`Sheet 2 of 4
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`5,574,443
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`Nov. 12, 1996
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`Sheet 3 of 4
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`5,574,443
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`1
`VEHICLE MONITORING APPARATUS WITH
`BROADLY AND RELIABLY REARWARD
`VIEWING
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`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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`When a car is backing rearwardly as shown in FIG. 1, a
`television camera C may be mounted on a rear portion of the
`car for sensing any object or subject 0 positioning at a rear
`side of the car for transmitting the image of the object O to
`be displayed on a television TV placed in a front portion of
`the car in order for preventing collision on the object 0 when
`backing the car.
`However, an “imaginative” arrow A aiming rightwardly
`behind the car will be inverted for changing its orientation
`when focusing into the camera C through a lens L of the
`camera C and the image A1 of the arrow A sensed by the
`camera C will be changed to a leftward orientation. By a
`synchronous scanning and transmitting of the image A1
`from the camera C to the cathode ray tube (CRT) in the
`television TV, a picture of the arrow A1 will be reproduced
`on the television to show the arrow A1 of leftward aiming
`which is however opposite to the real direction of the arrow
`A. By the way, the location or orientation of the object image
`Oi shown on the television TV will be opposite to that of the
`real object 0. If the car driver wants to prevent collision on
`the object such as a kid, an animal or a fragile property by
`watching the conventional television as shown in FIG. 1, he
`may back his car rightwardly (R) when falsely or mislead-
`ingly “guided” by the picture Oi displayed on the television
`to possibly cause injury or damage to the real object O
`positioning at a rear right side of the car.
`It is therefore invented by the present inventor to disclose
`a monitoring apparatus of a car for watching a television
`picture having its orientation as same as that of a real subject
`or object behind a car.
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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`The object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle
`monitoring apparatus
`including a rear video camera
`mounted on a rear portion of a vehicle, a right video camera
`mounted on a right sideview mirror, a left video camera
`mounted on a left-sideview mirror, a mirror-effect circuit
`connected across two poles of a pair of horizontal deflection
`coils of a horizontal deflection and oscillation circuit of a
`television receiver electrically connected to the video cam-
`eras for inverting an image or picture orientation to be the
`same as an‘ orientation of the real subject positioned at a rear
`side of the vehicle, whereby upon a backing, a rightward
`turning or a leftward turning of the vehicle, a corresponding
`video camera will be initiated to transmit a “picture” of the
`subject positioned at the rear side of the vehicle to display
`a picture on a television placed in the vehicle having a same
`orientation of the picture as that of the true subject for
`preventing an accidental collision because of falsely backing
`or turning of vehicle for driving safety.
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`FIG. 1 is a top view illustration of a car mounted with a
`conventional television camera and television.
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`FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention.
`FIG. 3 is a partial sectional drawing of a video camera of
`the present invention.
`FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the present invention.
`FIG. 5 shows a mirror-efiect circuit of this invention.
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`FIG. 6 shows a system control circuit of the present
`invention.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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`As shown in FIGS. 2-6, the present invention comprises:
`a car or vehicle 1; a plurality of video cameras 2 preferably
`made of charge coupled device (CCD) including a rear video
`carnera.CCD1 mounted on a rear portion 11 of the car 1, a
`right video camera CCD2 mounted in a right-sideview
`mirror 13 of the car 1, a left video camera CCD3 mounted
`in a left-sideview mirror 14 of the car 1; a television receiver
`3; a mirror-efi'.”ect circuit 4 connected in the television
`receiver 3; a sound-signal sensor 5 including a microphone
`51 mounted on a rear portion of the car 1 (but not limited)
`for picking up sound signal from a rear side of the car 1 and
`connected to a sounding circuit 32 of the television receiver
`3; a system control circuit 6 for automatically actuating the
`video cameras 2 the mirror-effect circuit 4 and the sound-
`signal sensor 5 connected to the television receiver 3; and a
`display means 7 which is substantially a television set or
`monitor having a cathode ray tube (CRT)
`therein and
`installed in a front portion 10 in the car 1 such as mounted
`on a dashboard or in the center console of the car 1 and
`electrically connected to a power source P.S. as on-off
`controlled by a display switch 71.
`The television receiver 3 as shown in FIG. 4 is a con-
`ventional television—signal receiving circuit including: an
`audio and video receiving circuit 30 having an antenrraANT
`for receiving the picture and sound signals which are fed to
`the tuner consisting of a RF amplifier (RF AMP), a local
`oscillator (LOCAL OSC.), and a mixer (MIXER), an inter-
`mediate frequencies (IF) amplifier (IF AMP) for amplifying
`the output signals from the mixer, a detector (DET) for
`detecting the video signals which are amplified by the video
`amplifier (V. AMP) and then applied to the cathode of the
`picture tube (CRT), and the detector (DET) also for detect-
`ing the audio signals which are sent to the sounding circuit
`32 through the sounding-circuit contactor RL4/4 of a mirror-
`effect relay RL4 to a loudspeaker SP through the audio
`intermediate frequencies stages (IF STAGES), audio detec-
`tor (AUDIO DET), and audio amplifier (AUDIO AMP) as
`shown in FIG. 4; and a deflection circuit 31, connected to the
`video amplifier (V. AMP) through a deflection-circuit con-
`tactor FLA/3 of the mirror-effect relay RL4, and including a
`synchronous separator (SYNC SEPARATOR), synchronous
`amplifier (SYNC AMP), an integrating circuit
`(1. CKT)
`connected to a vertical deflection and oscillation circuit
`(VDO) having two poles V1, V2 of vertical deflection coils
`horizontally disposed on two opposite sides of the picture
`tube CRT, a differentiating circuit (D. CKT) connected to a
`horizontal deflection and oscillation circuit (HDO) having
`two poles H1, H2 of horizontal deflection coils Hc vertically
`disposed on two opposite sides of the picture tube CRT. The
`numeral AGC is an automatic gain control for controlling
`the bias of RF and IF amplifiers of the television receiver 3.
`The receiver 3 is so conventional and will not be
`described in detail in this specification.
`The rear video camera CCD1 may also be mounted on a
`wind deflector 12 on a rear portion of the car 1 as shown in
`dotted line of FIG. 2. The microphone 51 of the sound-signal
`sensor 5 may be mounted on a rear portion of the car 1.
`The video camera 2 an shown in FIG. 3 includes: a camera
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`of charge coupled device CCD electrically connected to a
`power source P.S., a housing 22 encasing the camera of
`charge coupled device in the housing 21, a light-transmis-
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`sive shield 22 made of dark color and having a fiat surface
`and covering an outer portion of the housing 21 allowing
`optical focusing of an external subject or object positioned
`at a rear side of the car 1 into the camera CCD for
`transmitting video signals Vo towards the display means 7,
`and an illuminator 23 mounted in the housing 21 such as an
`infrared illuminator for a visible sensing of the external
`subject at night or darkness.
`The light-transmissive shield 22 made of dark color may
`make the camera CCD inside the housing 21 invisible from
`an outside watching for preventing an intentional breaking
`or damaging of the camera CCD by someone. Meanwhile,
`the shield 22 may protect the camera CCD for an easy
`maintenance and cleaning on the shield 22 without contact-
`ing a lens of the camera.
`The mirror-effect circuit 4 includes: a mirror-effect relay
`RL4 including a first relay contactor RL4/1 and a second
`relay contactor RL4/2 reversely connected to a first and a
`second pole H1, H2 of the horizontal deflection coils Hc
`connected to a horizontal deflection and oscillation circuit
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`HDO of the television receiver 3 to operatively change the
`conventional left-to-right scanning direction to a right-to-
`left scanning direction to thereby reverse the right~and—left
`picture orientation on a conventional television camera and
`a cathode ray tube of a left-to-right scanning to have a
`right-and-left orientation of a picture shown on the display
`means 7 to be same as that of a true subject or object
`positioned at a rear side of the car 1 (like a mirror producing
`a same—direction image of the subject) upon actuation of a
`third relay contactor (a deflection circuit contactor) RL4/3 of
`the mirror-eflfect relay RL4 when backing the car or turning
`the car rightwardly or leftwardly.
`As shown in FIG. 5, the first pole HI of the conventional
`horizontal deflection coils He is normally connected (normal
`close, NC) to the horizontal deflection and oscillation circuit
`HDO of the television receiver 3, and the second pole H2 of
`the horizontal deflection coils He is normally (NC)
`grounded. The first relay contactor RL4/1 of the present
`invention is normally connected to the first pole H1 of the
`horizontal deflection coils He and is operatively grounded,
`when the mirror—eifect relay RL4 is actuated to close the
`third relay contactor RL4/3 of the mirror-efl"ect relay RL4
`such as when backing the car or turning the car rightwardly
`or leftwardly; while the second relay contactor RL4//2 is
`normally connected to the horizontal deflection and oscil-
`lation, coil HDO and is operatively connected to the second
`pole H2 of the horizontal deflection coils He when the
`mirror-effect relay RL4 is actuated.
`The sound-signal sensor 5 includes: a microphone 51
`mounted on an outer portion of the car 1 for picking up
`sound signals from a surrounding of the car 1 for inputing
`sound signals into the sounding circuit 32 of the television
`receiver 3 through a sounding—circuit contactor which is a
`fourth contactor RL4/4 of the mirror-effect relay RL4,
`whereby upon actuation of the mirror-efiect relay RL4 to
`close the sounding circuit contactor RL4/4,
`the sound or
`audio signals from the television receiver 3 will be detected
`and amplified by the sounding circuit 32 for sounding the
`sound signal through the loud speaker SP.
`The system control circuit 6 as shown in FIG. 6 includes:
`a backing relay RL1 electrically connected in series with a
`car—backing switch SW1 which is actuated when backing the
`car and is connected in series with a car—backing lamp L1
`and connected with a car key switch or main switch SW0
`which is connected in between two poles of the power
`source P.S. and will be closed such as when inserting the car
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`key into its key hole (not shown) for powering the control
`circuit 6; a right-tum relay RL2 electrically connected in
`series with a right-tum switch SW2 which is actuated when
`turning the car rightwardly, with the right-tum switch SW2
`connected with a right-turn lamp L2 provided with a flasher
`Fr for indicating the right-turning of the car; a left-tum relay
`RL3 electrically connected in series with a left-tum switch
`SW3 which is actuated when turning the car leftwardly, with
`the left-tum switch SW3 connected with a left~tum lamp L3
`provided with a flasher F1 for indicating the left—turning of
`the car; and a mirror-effect relay RL4 parallelly connected
`with each first contactor RL1/1, RL2/1, and RL3/1 of the
`backing relay RL1, right-tum relay RL2, and left-tum relay
`RL3 respectively, whereby upon actuation of each relay RL]l
`or RL2 or RL3, the mirror-effect relay RL4 will be actuated
`to drive the mirror-effect circuit 4 for reversing the scanning
`orientation for reliably showing a picture on the display
`means 7 having a same right-and left orientation with that of
`a true subject at a rear side of the car and to synchronously
`drive the sound-signal sensor 5 for sounding the sound
`signal as picked up by the microphone S1 of the sensor 5.
`Each relay RL1, RL2 or RL3 may be connected in series
`with a test switch T1, T2 or T3 for a manual switching on
`for watching the picture as received by the display means 7.
`By the way, a subject such as an arrow A as shown in FIG.
`2 when focusing on the camera, its image Ai may change its
`direction. However, the inverting scanning of this invention
`from a right side to the left side will change the orientation
`of the picture Ap when reproduced on the display means 7
`to have a same orientation of the true subject A to have a
`reliable showing of the position and orientation of a rear
`subject or object for enhancing a driving safety especially
`when backing or turning a car. The two sideview mirrors are
`also provided with right and left cameras CCD2, CCD3 for
`a broader rearview when driving the car or turning the car
`rightwardly or leftwardly.
`In order for a clear observation of both a right or left side
`scene and a rear side scene on a unique television 7 when
`backing and turning the car rearwardly and sidewardly
`simultaneously, a further relay RL5 and a timing controller
`61 such as a flip-flop RA and RB may be provided as shown
`in a right portion of FIG. 6, which, the system control circuit
`6 includes: a simultaneously backing and turning relay RL5
`connected in parallel with a second contactor RL2/2, RL3/2
`of each right-tum relay RL2 and left-tum relay RL3, and
`connected in series with a second contactor RL1/2 of the
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`the backing and turning relay RL5
`backing relay RL1;
`normally closed to electrically and parallelly connect the
`rear, the right and the left video cameras CCD1, CCD2, CD3
`respectively through each third contactor RL]l/3, RL2/3,
`R13/3 of the backing relay RL1, the right-tum relay RL2 and
`the left-tum relay RL3; and the backing and turning relay
`RL5 operatively actuated when the backing relay RL1 and
`either the right-tum relay RL2 or the left-tum relay RL3 are
`simultaneously actuated to primarily operate the rear video
`camera CCD1 and then alternatively operate either the right
`video camera CCD2 or left video camera CCD3 upon the
`actuation of either the right-tum relay RL2 or the left-tum
`relay RL3 when a norrnally-open contactor RB/2 of a timing
`controller 61 is operatively closed by the timing controller
`61 in a predetermined time interval, thereby alternatively
`switching on the rear camera CCD1 or the right camera
`CCD2 when the car is backed rearwardly and rightwardly;
`and alternatively switching on the rear camera CCD1 or the
`left camera CCD3 when the car is backed rearwardly and
`leftwardly, and thereby showing a picture of the subject
`either at the rear side or the right (or left) side of the car on
`the display means 7.
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`The timing controller 61 as shown in FIG. 6 may be a
`flip-flop, RA and RB, wherein when RA is on, RB is off, the
`contactor RB/2 of the flip-flop will be intermittently closed
`and opened to alternatively switch on or off the right camera
`CCD2 or the left camera CCD3 with respect to a switch-ofi
`or switch-on of the rear camera CCD1, A RC timing constant
`can be pre-set by the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 of RA of
`the flip-flop. In the circuit of the relay RL5 and timing
`controller 61, several diodes D0, D1, D2, D3, Da and Db are
`provided to allow a single-direction current flow in the
`relevant contactors for ensuring a reliable control of the
`system control circuit 6 of the present invention.
`Other timing controllers may be modified in this inven-
`tion. The present invention may be modified without depart-
`ing from the spirit and scope‘ of this invention.
`The present invention provides a broader rearview and
`sideview for a car driver and also provides a true orientation
`of a picture display on the television in commensuration
`with the orientation of a true subject at a rear side of the car
`for enhancing traflic safey.
`I claim:
`1. A vehicle monitoring apparatus comprising:
`a car (1) having a rear video camera (CCD1) mounted on
`a rear portion (11) of the car (1), a right video camera
`(CCD2) mounted in a right-sideview mirror (13) of the
`car (1), and a left video camera (CCD3) mounted in a
`left-sideview mirror (14) of the car (1);
`a television receiver (3) including an audio and video
`receiving circuit (30), a deflection circuit (31) and a
`sounding circuit (32) for receiving video signals from
`said video cameras (CCD1, CCD2, CCD3) and for
`receiving audio signals from a sound-signal sensor (5)
`mounted on the car (1);
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`a display means (7) having a cathode ray tube (CRT)
`therein and mounted in the car (1);
`a mirror-eifect circuit (4) connected to the deflection
`circuit (31) of the television receiver (3) for inverting
`two poles (H1, H2) of a pair of horizontal deflection
`coils (Hc) of the deflection circuit (31) for changing a
`left to right scanning direction to a right to left scanning
`direction for reproducing a picture on the cathode ray
`tube (CRT) of the display means (7) in response to a
`true subject positioned at a rear side of the car (1),
`thereby reversing a right-and-left picture orientation
`from the left-to-right scanning direction to have right-
`and-left orientation of the picture shown on the display
`means (7) to be same as that of the true subject at the
`rear side of the car (1) for safely driving the car (1)
`when backing or turning the car (1); and
`a system control circuit (6) for controlling the actuation of
`the cameras (CCD1, CCD2, CCD3), the mirror-effect
`circuit (4) and the sound-signal sensor (5).
`2. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1,
`wherein said rear video camera (CCD1) is mounted on a
`wind deflector on a rear portion of the car (1).
`3. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1,
`wherein each said video camera includes: a camera of charge
`coupled device (CCD) electrically connected to a power
`source (P.S.), a housing (21) encasing the camera of charge
`coupled device in the housing (21), a light-transrnissive
`shield (22) made of dark color having a flat surface and
`covering an outer portion of the housing (21) allowing
`optical focusing of an external subject positioned at a rear
`side of the car (1) into the camera for transmitting video
`signals (V0) towards the display means (7), and an illumi-
`nator (23) mounted in the housing (21) for a visible sensing
`of the external, subject at night.
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`4. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1,
`wherein said mirror-effect circuit (4) includes: a mirror-
`effect relay (RL4) including a first relay contactor (RL4/1)
`and a second relay contactor (RL4/2) reversely connected to
`a first and a second pole (H1, H2) of the horizontal deflection
`coils (Hc) connected to a horizontal deflection and oscilla-
`tion circuit (HDO) of the television receiver (3) to opera-
`tively change a left-to-right scanning direction to a right-to-
`left scarming direction to thereby reverse the right-and-left
`picture orientation from the left-to-right scanning direction
`to have a right-and-left orientation of a picture shown on the
`display means (7) to be same as that of a true subject
`positioned at a rear side of the car (1) upon actuation of a
`third relay contactor (RL4/3) of the mirror-effect relay (RL4)
`when backing the car or turning the car rightwardly or
`leftwardly; the first pole (H1) of the horizontal deflection
`coils (Hc) normally connected to the horizontal deflection
`and oscillation circuit (HDO) of the television receiver 131,
`and the second pole (H2) of the horizontal deflection coils
`(Hc) normally grounded; said first relay contactor RL4/1)
`normally connected to the first pole (H1) of the horizontal
`deflection coils (Ho) and operatively grounded when the
`mirror-effect relay (RL4) is actuated to close the third relay
`contactor (RL4/3) of the mirror-effect relay (RL4) when
`backing the car or turning the car rightwardly or leftwardly;
`‘and the second relay contactor (RL4//2) normally connected
`to the horizontal deflection and oscillation coil (HDO) and
`operatively connected to the second pole (H2) of the hori-
`zontal deflection coils (Hc) when the mirror-effect relay
`(RL4) is actuated.
`S. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1,
`wherein said sound-signal sensor (5) includes: a microphone
`(51) mounted on an outer portion of the car (1) for picking
`up sound signals from a surrounding of the car (1) for
`inputting sound signals into the sounding circuit (32) of the
`television receiver (3) through a sounding-circuit contactor
`(RL4/4) of the mirror-efi“ect relay (RL4), whereby upon
`actuation of the mirror-effect relay (RL4)
`to close the
`sounding circuit contactor (RL4/4), the sound signals from
`the television receiver (3) will be detected and amplified by
`the sounding circuit for sounding the sound signal through
`loudspeaker (SP).
`6. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 1,
`wherein said system control circuit (6) includes: a backing
`relay (RL1) electrically connected in series with a car-
`backing switch (SW1) which is actuated when backing the
`car and connected with a car key switch (SW0) which is
`connected in between two poles of a power source (P.S.) and
`will be closed when inserting the car key into a key hole in
`the car for powering the system control circuit
`(6); a
`right-tum relay (RL2) electrically connected in series with a
`right-tum switch (SW2) which is actuated when turning the
`car rightwardly; a left-tum relay (RL3) electrically con-
`nected in series with a left-tum switch (SW3) which is
`actuated when turning the car leftwardly: and a mirror-eifect
`relay (RL4) parallelly connected with each first contactor
`(RL1/1, RL2/1), and (RL3/1) of the backing relay (RL1),
`right-tum relay (RL2), and left-tum relay (RL3) respec-
`tively, whereby upon actuation of each of said relays, the
`mirror-effect relay (RL4) will be actuated to reverse the
`scanning direction of a picture reproduced on the display
`means (7) thereby reversing the right-and-left picture ori-
`entation from the left-to-right scanning direction to have a
`right-and-left orientation of the picture shown on the display
`means (7) to be same as that of the true subject at a rear side
`of the car and to synchronously drive the sound-signal
`sensor (5) for sounding the audio signals as picked up by a
`microphone (51) of the sensor (5).
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`7. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 6,
`wherein said system control circuit (6) includes: a simulta-
`neously backing and turning relay (RL5) connected in
`parallel with each second contactor (RL2/2, RL3/2) of the
`right-turn relay (RL2) and left—turn relay (RL3), and con-
`nected in series with a second contactor (RL1/2) of the
`backing relay (RL1); the backing and turning relay (RL5)
`normally closed to electrically parallelly connect the rear,
`the right and the left video cameras (CCD1, CCD2, CCD3)
`respectively through each third contactor (RL1/3, RL2/3,
`RL3/3) of the backing relay (RL1),
`the right-turn relay
`(RL2) and the left-turn relay (RL3); and the backing and
`turning relay (RL5) operatively actuated when the backing
`relay (RL1) and either the right-turn relay (RL2) or the
`left—turn relay (RL3) are simultaneously actuated to operate
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`the rear video camera (CCD1) and then alternatively operate
`either the right video camera (CCD2) or left video camera
`(CCD3) upon the actuation of either the right-turn relay
`(RL2) or the left-turn relay (RL3) when a norma1ly—open
`contactor (RB/2) of a timing controller (61) is operatively
`closed by the timing controller (61) in a pre-determined time
`interval.
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`8. A vehicle monitoring apparatus according to claim 7,
`wherein the timing controller (61) is a flip—flop and the
`contactor (RB/2) of the flip-flop is intermittently closed and
`opened to alternatively switch on or off the right camera
`(CCD2) or the left camera (CCD3) with respect to a switch-
`ofif or switch~on of the rear camera (CCD1).
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