Apparatus and method for assessing vehicle wheel alignment

An apparatus for the diagnostic assessment of the wheel alignment of a vehicle equipped with wheels having tyres coupled to respective rims, comprising:

• at least one track for contact with the tyres of the vehicle, and oriented in a longitudinal direction;
• at least one measuring platform which is located along the track and which has a top face defining a contact surface for the tyres and spaced from a supporting surface;
• at least one lateral force sensor connected to the measuring platform and configured to detect a lateral force applied to the measuring platform transversely to the longitudinal direction and to a weight force;
• a processing unit connected at least to the lateral force sensor to receive a measurement signal representing at least the lateral force,
• wherein the processing unit is programmed to store at least one forward travel measurement signal and one return travel measurement signal detected at least by the lateral force sensor in temporal succession at a forward travel instant at which the wheel of the vehicle surmounts the measuring platform as it moves along the track in a forward travel direction, and at a return travel instant at which the wheel of the vehicle surmounts the measuring platform as it moves along the track in a return travel direction, opposite to the first direction, respectively, and is programmed to process the forward and return travel measurement signal to determine at least an angle of camber for that wheel.