Method and apparatus for determining geometrical data of a motor vehicle wheel mounted rotatably about an axis of rotation
AssigneeSnap-On Equipment Srl A Unico Socio
InventorFrancesco Braghiroli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for determining geometrical data of a motor vehicle wheel 2 mounted rotatably about an axis of rotation 1, in which in at least two planes 19, 20 which are perpendicular to the axis of rotation 1, the distances of a plurality of measurement points on a respective periphery of the corresponding part of the wheel (wheel rim 9) from a reference location 5 and the rotary angle positions of the respective measurement points are measured and the position of the motor vehicle wheel 2 with respect to the axis of rotation 1 is determined from the measurement values.
Claims17
A method of determining geometrical data of a motor vehicle wheel, the method comprising the steps of:
- mounting the wheel rotatably about an axis of rotation on a main shaft of a wheel balancing machine;
- scanning a plurality of measurement points on the rotating wheel in contactless mode in at least two planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation and on a respective periphery of the corresponding part of the wheel;
- measuring spacings of said plurality of measurement points from a reference location and rotary angle positions of the respective measurement points;
- and determining the position of the motor vehicle wheel with respect to the axis of rotation from the measured values of said spacings and said rotary angle positions, the scanning being carried out by a scanning light beam that has an unchanging direction at least during a revolution of the wheel.
Apparatus for determining geometrical data of a motor vehicle wheel comprising a main shaft of a wheel balancing machine;
- clamping means to mount the wheel rotatably about an axis of rotation on the main shaft of the wheel balancing machine;
- a contactless scanning device which scans, with a scanning light beam, measurement points on at least two peripheries on parts of the wheel, the two peripheries being in planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation, wherein a direction of the scanning light beam remains unchanged at least during revolution of the wheel;
- a spacing measuring device connected to the scanning device which measures spacings of the measurement points scanned on the wheel from a reference location;
- a rotary angle sensor for determining the respective rotary angle positions of the scanned measurement points during rotation of the wheel about the axis of rotation;
- and an evaluation device to which the spacing measuring device and the rotary angle sensor are connected, wherein the evaluation device has a computer which determines the position of the motor vehicle wheel and the position of the geometrical axis of the wheel with respect to the axis of rotation from the spacings of the measurement points from the reference location and the respective rotary angle positions of the measurement points.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.