Method and apparatus for determining the alignment of motor vehicle wheels

A method for determining the alignment of a motor vehicle wheel comprising the steps of:

• (a) defining a spatial reference system;
• (b) providing a target having a plurality of geometrically configured components defining a pattern on the target, said components having known geometric characteristics and relationships to each other;
• (c) locating the target on the wheel such that it has a determinable relationship to the wheel;
• (d) viewing the target along a viewing path to form a detected image of the components of the target, said viewing path having a known relationship to said spatial reference system;
• (e) determining geometric characteristics of at least two of the components of the detected image and the relationship therebetween;
• (f) relating the determined characteristics and relationship of the detected image components to the known geometric characteristics and relationship of corresponding components on the target to determine the angular orientation of the target relative to the spatial reference system;
• and
• (g) using said angular orientation to determine the alignment of the wheel relative to the spatial reference system.

An apparatus for determining the alignment of at least one motor vehicle wheel relative to at least one viewing path comprising:

• means defining a target on the wheel and having a determinable relationship to the wheel, said target means including a plurality of target elements of known geometric characteristics and relationships;
• imaging means for viewing said target means along said one viewing path and for developing element information defining geometric characteristics and relationships of target elements of the viewed image;
• computational means for relating said element information to the known geometric characteristics and relationships of said target elements to first determine the orientation of said target means relative to the viewing axis and to then develop alignment information evidencing the present alignment of the wheel;
• and
• means responsive to said alignment information and operative to provide an indication of the present alignment useful in performing alignment adjustments to the wheel.

A method for determining the orientation of an object relative to a viewing path comprising the steps of:

• establishing a target on the object such that the target has a determinable relationship to the object and wherein the target includes a plurality of elements of known geometric characteristics and relationships;
• viewing the target along the viewing path to form at least one detected image thereof;
• determining the geometric characteristics and relationships of at least two elements of the detected image;
• relating the determined characteristics and relationships to the known geometric characteristics and relationships of corresponding elements of the target to determine the angular orientation of the target relative to the viewing path;
• and
• using said angular orientation and said determinable relationship to determine the orientation of said object.

A method for determining the orientation of an object relative to a known reference comprising the steps of:

• establishing a target on the object wherein said target includes a plurality of target elements of known geometric characteristics and relationships;
• rotating the object and the target about an axis of rotation and through a number of different rotational positions;
• viewing the target as it and the object are rotated to form a plurality of discrete detected images of the target elements, each of the detected images being formed at a different rotational position of the target and object;
• determining the geometric characteristics and relationships of the target elements for each of the detected images;
• relating each of the determined geometric characteristics and relationships to said known geometric characteristics and relationships of the target elements to determine the spatial position of the target elements at each of the different rotational positions at which the target was viewed;
• defining a surface of revolution by integrating the different spatial positions of the target elements;
• using the surface of revolution to determine the orientation of said axis of rotation;
• and
• relating the orientation of said axis of rotation to said known reference to determine the orientation of the object relative thereto.

An apparatus for determining the orientation of an object relative to a viewing path comprising:

• means for defining a target on the object wherein said target has a determinable relationship to the object and wherein said target includes a plurality of elements of known geometric characteristics and positional relationships;
• imaging means for viewing the target along the viewing path and for developing a detected image of the target;
• computational means for determining the geometric characteristics and positional relationships of at least two elements of the detected image and for relating the determined characteristics and positional relationships to the known geometric characteristics and positional relationships of corresponding elements on the target to determine the orientation of the target relative to the viewing axis;
• and
• means for using said determined orientation of the target of the to determine the orientation of the object.

An apparatus for determining the alignment of motor vehicle wheels comprising:

• target means including at least a first target object having a first plurality of known geometric attributes with known spatial interrelationships;
• optical inspection means establishing a spatial reference system including a first viewing path intersecting said first target object when it is attached to a first wheel of a vehicle under inspection, said optical inspection means being operable to inspect a first image of said first target object as viewed along said first viewing path and to generate first image information describing the geometric attributes and interrelationships of the first image;
• processing means for relating said first image information to predetermined reference information describing the known geometric attributes and relationships of said first target object to determine the angular orientation of said first target object relative to said spatial reference system and to generate first orientation information commensurate therewith;
• and
• means for using said orientation information to indicate the alignment of said first wheel.

An apparatus for determining the alignment of at least one motor vehicle wheel, comprising:

• means defining a target associated with the wheel and having a determinable relationship to the wheel, said target having a plurality of known geometric attributes with known interrelationships;
• imaging means for viewing said target along a single viewing path and for developing image information defining corresponding geometric attributes and interrelationships of the viewed image;
• computational means for relating said image information to the known geometric attributes and interrelationships of said target to first determine the orientation of said target relative to the viewing axis and to then develop alignment information evidencing the alignment of the wheel;
• and
• means responsive to said alignment information and operative to provide an indication of the alignment useful in performing alignment adjustments to the wheel.

An apparatus for determining the orientation of an object relative to a single viewing path comprising:

• means defining a target associated with the object and having a determinable relationship to the object, said target including a plurality of known detectable attributes having known interrelationships;
• imaging means for viewing the target along the viewing path and for developing electronic signals representation of the viewed image of the target;
• computational means having information stored therein defining said known attributes and relationships, and responsive to said electronic signals, and operative to relate said electronic signals to the stored information and to determine the orientation of the target relative to the viewing path;
• and
• means for using said determined orientation of the target to determine the orientation of the object.

An apparatus for determining the alignment of motor vehicle wheels comprising:

• target means including a plurality of target objects, each having a plurality of known attributes with known geometries and spatial interrelationships, each said target object being adapted for attachment to a wheel of a motor vehicle;
• optical inspection means establishing a spatial reference system including a plurality of viewing paths, each of which intersect one of said target objects when the target objects are attached to the wheels of a vehicle under inspection, said optical inspection means being operable to inspect an image of each target object as viewed along its corresponding viewing path and to generate image information describing the attributes and interrelationships of each image;
• processing means for relating the image information corresponding to each target object to predetermined reference information describing the known attributes and relationships of each said target object to determine the angular orientation of each said target object relative to said spatial reference system and to generate first orientation information commensurate therewith;
• and
• indicator means for using said orientation information to indicate the alignment of each wheel of the vehicle.

A method for determining the alignment of an object comprising the steps of:

• establishing at least one target on the object such that each target has a determinable relationship to the object and wherein each target includes a plurality of known detectable attributes having known geometric characteristics and interrelationships;
• viewing the targets along corresponding viewing paths to form at least one detected image of each target;
• determining the geometric characteristics and interrelationships of at least two attributes of each detected image;
• relating the determined characteristics and interrelationships of the attributes of the detected images to the known geometric characteristics and interrelationships of corresponding attributes of the corresponding targets to determine the angular orientation of each target relative to a corresponding viewing path;
• and
• using said angular orientations and said determinable relationships to determine the alignment of said object.