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US 5,206,984 AGranted
Apparatus for mounting a balance weight on a tire wheel
AssigneeKokusai Keisokuki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsSigeru Matumoto, Nobuo Kotaki
Life of this patent
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AssigneeKokusai Keisokuki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsSigeru Matumoto, Nobuo Kotaki
Estimating the term…
The present invention relates to a balance weight mounting apparatus for a tire wheel by which a balance weight can be automatically mounted on the tire wheel. A six-axes manipulator has a weight holder and hammer head provided at the distal end of the arm thereof. The weight holder and the hammer head can be moved by the operation of the manipulator to the location to which a balance weight is fed by a parts feeder and also can be moved within the plane perpendicular to the circumferential direction of a tire wheel supported by a tire wheel support unit. The balance weight of a predetermined weight fed by the parts feeder is gripped by the weight holder 32, abutted against that portion of the rim, on which this balance weight is to be mounted, of the tire wheel supported by the tire wheel support unit, and then mounted thereon by being driven by the hammer head.
A tire wheel balance weight mounting apparatus for mounting a balance weight on a rim of a tire wheel, said balance weight having a weight portion and a clip portion, said apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
Machines for simply fitting together or separating metal parts or objects, or metal and non-metal parts, whether or not involving some…
By adding material to the body to be tested, e.g. by correcting-weights: the body being a vehicle wheel
Means to assemble or disassemble: with means to test work or product
Means to assemble or disassemble: vehicle wheel
Term ended 12 Mar 2012 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for mounting a balance weight on a tire wheel, more specifically to a balance weight mounting apparatus for a tire wheel by which a balance weight having a weight portion and a clip portion is mounted on the rim of a tire wheel through the clip portion.
In general, a balance weight is fixed to or mounted on the outer circumference of the rim of the tire wheel of a vehicle in order to correct the unbalanced rotation of the tire wheel.
The balance weight is composed of a weight portion and a clip portion and is fixed by clamping the outer circumference of the rim between the weight portion disposed along the outer surface of the rim of the tire wheel and the clip portion. This balance weight is mounted on the tire wheel by a worker who manually strikes the clip portion with a hammer so as to deform it to wrap the outer edge of the rim of the tire wheel.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a balance weight driving system to which one embodiment of a balance weight mounting apparatus for a tire wheel according to the present invention is applied;
FIG. 2 is an overall side view of a balance weight mounting apparatus of one embodiment;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged back view of a weight holder and hammer head portion when a balance weight is attached to the rim of the tire wheel;
Hereinafter, one embodiment of a balance weight mounting apparatus for a tire wheel according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the schematic arrangement of a balance weight driving system 10 employing one embodiment of a balance weight mounting apparatus 12 for a tire wheel 14 according to the present invention. The balance weight driving system 10 is provided with the balance weight mounting apparatus 12 for executing a mounting operation of a balance weight 16 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) to the tire wheel 14, a tire wheel support unit 18 on which the tire wheel 14 having a rim 20 and a tire 22 attached to the outer periphery of the rim 20 (shown in FIG. 2) is supported and a parts feeder 24 for supplying the balance weight 16 to a predetermined location. The tire wheel support unit 18 and the parts feeder 24 are disposed within the turning range RE of an arm 26 of a manipulator 28 which is included in the balance weight mounting apparatus 12.
As shown in an overall side view of FIG. 2, the manipulator 28 includes a main body 30 settled on a base on the ground, the arm 26 attached to the main body 30 and movable so as to having a six-axes freedom, and a moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the arm 26 to the predetermined position within the turning range RE. The balance weight mounting apparatus 12 further includes a weight holder 32 and a hammer head 34 both attached to a distal arm portion 26a of the arm 26 of the six-axes manipulator 28.