Method and apparatus for indicating and adjusting toe-setting
AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorRichard A. LaValley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for indicating and adjusting the toe-setting for a front axle assembly, including means for clamping against oppositely disposed brake backing plate mounting surfaces, with cooperating sensor means for indicating toe-in or toe-out before and during manual adjustment of the tie rod to establish a desired toe-setting.
Claims7
A method for indicating and adjusting the tow-setting of a front axle assembly including a front axle having a steering knuckle including a brake backing plate mounting surface and an associated spindle pivotally mounted on each end thereof, and a tie rod operatively connected between the brake backing plate mounting surfaces and adapted to change the relative angularity of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces upon selective manual rotation of the tie rod, said method comprising the steps:
- a. mounting a pair of spaced relatively movable reference plates, each having sensors mounted thereon, on the spindles on the outboard side of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces;
- b. slidably moving the reference plates along the spindles toward each other until the sensors operatively contact the brake backing plate mounting surfaces and activate visual indicator means indicative of the spatial positions of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces relative to the spatial positions of the reference plates;
- c. rotating the tie rod to selectively adjust the relative spatial positions of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces relative to the reference plates until the desired toe-setting relationship is indicated by the visual indicators;
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- d. securing the tie rod in adjusted position to maintain the desired toe-setting relationship.
A method for indicating and adjusting the toe-setting of a front axle assembly including a front axle having a steering knuckle including a brake backing plate mounting surface and an associated spindle pivotally mounted on each end thereof, and a tie rod operatively connected between the brake backing plate mounting surfaces and adapted to change the relative angularity of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces upon selective manual rotation of the tie rod, said method comprising the steps:
- a. mounting a pair of spaced relatively movable reference plates, each having a pair of sensors mounted thereon and one having a pivot pin formed thereon intermediate the pair of sensors, on the spindles on the outboard side of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces;
- b. slidably moving the reference plates along the spindles toward each other until the sensors of one reference plate and the pivot pin of the other reference plate contact the respective brake backing plate mounting surfaces and activate visual indicator means indicative of the spatial positions of one brake backing plate mounting surface relative to the respective spatial positions of the pair of sensors adjacent the pivot pin;
- c. rotating the tie rod to selectively pivot the brake backing plate mounting surface about the pivot pin, relative to the respective spatial positions of the adjacent pair of sensors, until the desired toe-setting relationship is indicated by the visual indicators;
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- d. securing the tie rod in adjusted position to maintain the desired toe-setting relationship.
A method for indicating and adjusting the toe-setting of a front axle assembly including a front axle having a steering knuckle including a brake backing plate mounting surface and an associated spindle pivotally mounted on each end thereof, and a tie rod operatively connected between the brake backing plate mounting surfaces and adapted to change the relative angularity of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces upon selective manual rotation of the tie rod, said method comprising the steps:
- a. mounting a pair of spaced relatively movable reference plates, each having a pair of air sensors mounted thereon and one having a pivot pin forming thereon intermediate the pair of air sensors, on the spindles on the outboard side of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces;
- b. slidably moving the reference plates along the spindles toward each other until one pair of air sensors abuts against the adjacent brake backing plate mounting surface and the other pair of air sensors is spaced apart from the adjacent brake backing plate mounting surface as a result of the intermediate pivot pin abutting against the adjacent brake backing plate mounting surface, the air sensors thereby activating visual indicator means indicative of the respective positions of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces relative to the respective positions of the two pairs of air sensors;
- c. rotating the tie rod to selectively adjust the relative positions of the brake backing plate mounting surface and the pair of spaced apart air sensors, pivoting the adjacent brake backing plate mounting surface about the pivot pin until the desired toe-setting relationship is indicated by the visual indicators;
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- d. securing the tie rod in adjusted position to maintain the desired toe-setting relationship.
A method for adjusting the toe-setting of a front axle assembly including a front axle having a steering knuckle including a brake backing plate mounting surface and an associated spindle pivotally mounted on each end thereof, and a tie rod operatively connected between said brake backing plate mounting surfaces and adapted to change the relative angularity of said brake backing plate mounting surfaces upon selective manual rotation of the tie rod, said method comprising the steps:
- a. providing relatively movable oppositely disposed clamping means, each having position sensors mounted thereon;
- b. providing visual indicators responsive to signals from said sensors for indicating the relative positions of, and, hence, the toe-in relationship between said brake backing plate mounting surfaces;
- c. mounting said relatively movable oppositely disposed clamping means on respective spindles;
- d. slidably moving said clamping means along said spindles until said sensors operatively contact said brake backing plate mounting surfaces;
- e. manually rotating said tie rod to selectively adjust the relative toe-in positions of said brake backing plate mounting surfaces with respect to said sensors, until the desired toe-setting relationship is indicated by said visual indicators;
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- f. securing said tie rods in adjusted position to maintain the desired toe-setting relationship.
For use with a front axle assembly including a front axle having a steering knuckle including a brake backing plate mounting surface and an associated spindle pivotally mounted on each end thereof, and a tie rod operatively connected between the brake backing plate mounting surfaces and adapted to change the relative angularity of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces upon selective rotation of the tie rod, thereby adjusting toe-in relationship of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces, a toe-setting indicating machine comprising a base plate, relatively movable first and second reference plates slidably mounted on opposite ends of said base plate, a pair of sensors mounted on each of said first and second reference plates, means for mounting each of said first and second reference plates on said spindles, control means for moving said reference plates along said spindles causing said sensors to operatively contact respective brake backing plate mounting surfaces, a condition panel mounted adjacent said control means including a set of visual indicators mounted thereon for indicating in response to signals from said sensors the spatial position of said brake backing plate mounting surfaces with respect to the spatial position of said sensors, said relative positions and said signals changing in response to rotation of said tie rods.
For use with a front axle assembly including a front axle having a steering knuckle including a brake backing plate mounting surface and an associated spindle pivotally mounted on each end thereof, and a tie rod operatively connected between the brake backing plate mounting surfaces and adapted to change the relative angularity of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces upon selective rotation of the tie rod, thereby adjusting toe-in relationship of the brake backing plate mounting surfaces, a toe-setting indicating machine comprising a base plate, a first clamping member slidably mounted on one end of said base plate, a second clamping member secured to the other end of said base plate, a cylinder mounted at an intermediate location along said base plate and operatively connected to said first clamping member, a pair of sensors mounted on oppositely disposed surfaces of each of said first and second clamping members, an inverted V-block formed on the bottom of each of said first and second clamping members for mounting on said spindles, a control panel including control means mounted thereon or actuating said cylinder for clamping and unclamping said first and second clamping members against respective brake backing plate mounting surfaces, a condition panel mounted adjacent said control panel including a set of visual indicators mounted thereon for indicating the direction that said tie rod must be rotated to relatively change the position of said brake backing plate mounting surfaces with respect to said sensors to thereby establish the desired toe-setting, and a master control panel for regulating the power to said sensors for actuating said respective visual indicators in response to signals from said sensors indicative of the position of said brake backing plate mounting surfaces with respect to the position of said sensors, said signals varying in response to rotation of said tie rods.
For use with a front axle assembly including a front axle having a wheel supporting member formed on each end thereof, a generally vertical opening formed through the wheel supporting member, an end portion of the axle being pivotally mounted on the wheel supporting member via a kingpin mounted through the opening, a spindle extending substantially horizontally from each wheel supporting member, a brake backing plate mounting surface formed on each wheel supporting member perpendicular to the axis of the spindle and having mounting holes formed in the upper half thereof, a laterally extending tie rod arm formed on the lower portion of each wheel supporting member, a tie rod end secured to the end of each tie rod arm, and a tie rod threadedly connected between the tie rod ends and adapted to converge or spread the tie rod arms upon selective rotation of the tie rod, thereby adjusting toe-in of the brake backing mounting surfaces, a toe-setting machine comprising a base plate, a first intermediate member slidably mounted on one end of the base plate, a second clamping member secured to the other end of the base plate, a cylinder mounted at an intermediate location along the base plate and operatively connected to the first clamping member, a pair of guide pins and a pair of air sensors mounted on oppositely disposed surfaces of each of the first and second clamping members, the guide pins being adapted to fit into the mounting holes formed in the upper half of each brake backing plate mounting surface, a pivot pin formed on the second clamping member intermeidate the air sensors thereof, an inverted V-block formed on the bottom of each of the first and second clamping members for mounting on the horizontally extending spindles, a pair of handlebars mounted on the second clamping member, an operator control panel mounted adjacent the handlebars and including control buttons mounted thereon for clamping and unclamping operations, a condition panel mounted adjacent the control panel including a set of visual indicators mounted thereon, and a master control panel for regulating the air to the air sensors and for actuating respective visual indicators in response to signals from the air sensors to indicate the direction that the tie rod must be rotated to relatively converge or spread the tie rod arms thereby pivoting the second brake backing plate mounting surface about the pivot pin and adjusting the relationship between the latter surface and the adjacent air sensors to establish desired toe-setting, as indicated by the visual indicators.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.