US 5,027,200 · Granted 1991-06-25
The 1991 Camera-and-Screen System That Invented the Backup Camera
Before backup cameras became standard in cars, this patent described mounting a video camera on the side or rear of your vehicle and wiring it to a screen inside so the driver could see what's behind or beside them. It's the direct ancestor of the camera systems that now help prevent accidents in parking lots.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a video camera mounted to a motor vehicle directed sideways or rearward, connected to a CRT display screen visible to the driver, plus any enhancement methods to improve what that camera captures. What's protected here is the core assembly: camera positioning, wiring it to an in-cabin display, and the techniques for making the image clearer or easier to scan.
Why it matters
This patent staked out the foundational idea of using video surveillance to extend a driver's view beyond their natural line of sight. The timing—filed in 1990, granted in 1991—means this inventor was thinking about backup and side-view camera systems years before they became a regulatory requirement. Modern backup cameras on nearly every new car descend directly from this patent concept.
Real-world use
When you reverse your car and a live video feed appears on your dashboard screen showing the ground behind you, you're using technology this patent originally locked down.
Original USPTO abstract
Apparatus permits viewing of traffic or other conditions to the rear and side of a motor vehicle having opposite sides, and includes video camera structure mounted to the vehicle and directed sidewardly relative to the vehicle, and CRT structure operatively connected to the camera structure to display the camera output on a CRT screen zone or zones, to be viewed by the driver, and enhancement means is associated with the video camera structure to enhance viewing or scanning thereof, to the rear and side of the vehicle.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,027,200
- Filing date
- 1990-07-10
- Grant date
- 1991-06-25
- Assignee
- Edward Petrossian / Petrossian Ashkhen A
- Inventor(s)
- PETROSSIAN; EDWARD, PETROSSIAN; ASHKHEN A.
- CPC class
- H04N7/181
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