Vehicle wheel alignment system and methodology
AssigneeSnap-on Incorporated
InventorSteven W. Rogers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hybrid wheel alignment system and methodology use passive targets for a first pair of wheels (e.g. front wheels) and active sensing heads for another pair of wheels (e.g. rear wheels). The active sensing heads combine image sensors for capturing images of the targets with at least one spatial relationship sensor for sensing a relationship between the active sensing heads. One or both of the active sensing heads may include inclinometers or the like, for sensing one or more tilt angles of the respective sensing head. Data from the active sensing heads may be sent to a host computer for processing to derive one or more vehicle measurements, for example, for measurement of parameters useful in wheel alignment applications.
Claims21
A wheel alignment system, comprising:
- a pair of passive heads, each comprising a target, for mounting in association with a first pair of wheels of a vehicle that is to be measured by operation of the wheel alignment system;
- a pair of active sensing heads for mounting in association with a second pair of wheels of the vehicle, each respective one of the active sensing heads comprising an image sensor for producing image data including a representation of an image of one of the targets during operation of the wheel alignment system;
- at least one sensor module associated with one of the active sensing heads for determining a spatial relationship between the active sensing heads, when the active sensing heads are mounted on wheels of the vehicle;
- and
- a processor, for processing image data relating to observation of the targets and relationship data from the at least one sensor module, to compute at least one measurement of the vehicle by operation of the wheel alignment system.
A sensing head for use in a wheel alignment system, comprising:
- a housing for mounting on a first wheel of a vehicle to be measured by operation of the wheel alignment system;
- an image sensor mounted to the housing for producing image data including a representation of a two-dimensional image of a target associated with a second wheel of the vehicle adjacent the first wheel;
- a tilt sensor mounted to the housing for sensing a tilt angle of the sensing head, when the sensing head is mounted on the first wheel of the vehicle;
- a processor responsive to the image data and the sensed tilt angle and responsive to a relationship of the sensing head to another head mounted on another wheel of the vehicle;
- and
- a communication interface coupled to the processor for transmitting data for a wheel alignment measurement, from the sensing head to a user device of the wheel alignment system.
A method of taking at least one measurement of a vehicle, comprising steps of:
- capturing an image of a target associated with a first wheel of the vehicle, with an image sensor of a first head mounted in association with a second wheel of the vehicle to produce first image data;
- capturing an image of a target associated with a third wheel of the vehicle, with an image sensor of a second head mounted in association with a fourth wheel of the vehicle to produce second image data;
- measuring relationships of the first and second heads relative to at least one reference;
- and
- processing the first and second image data and the reference relationship measurements, to compute at least one measurement parameter related to one or more of the wheels of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.