초록 ▼

An improved method and apparatus for aligning the front wheels of a motor vehicle utilizing a beam projector and detector assembly on each wheel and an electronic computing means for determining the toe angles of the wheels in response to measured toe signals generated by the detectors. The computin

An improved method and apparatus for aligning the front wheels of a motor vehicle utilizing a beam projector and detector assembly on each wheel and an electronic computing means for determining the toe angles of the wheels in response to measured toe signals generated by the detectors. The computing means first subtracts one of the toe signals from the other, multiplies the difference by a selected correction factor to produce a correction signal, and then adds the correction signal to the larger of the measured toe signals and subtracts the correction signal from the smaller one to provide the true individual toe angles of the wheels. The signals derived by the computing means are applied to display devices which read out the correct values of the right and left toe angles. Although the correction factor is dependent on the dimensions of the frame of the vehicle, the steering suspension, and the mounting of the projector and detector assembly, it has been found that a correction factor of approximately 0.28 is indicated for a great portion of the United States automobile and small truck population, whereby a single alignment system incorporating the improvement herein disclosed may be used to provide accurate front-end alignment with only one adjustment of each wheel. The improved system is particularly useful when aligning vehicles having gross malalignment. Also, since the system utilizes no reference to the rear wheels of the vehicle, it provides expeditious alignment of vehicles having rear wheels which are not aligned with the front wheels, e.g., as in the case of a truck tractor or motor home with dual wheels on the rear axle.

대표청구항 ▼

An improved wheel alignment system including means removably mounted to each of the front wheels of a motor vehicle for projecting a beam of light from said wheel, each of said beams being projected generally toward the opposing wheel along a path which is geNerally normal to the plane of the wheel

An improved wheel alignment system including means removably mounted to each of the front wheels of a motor vehicle for projecting a beam of light from said wheel, each of said beams being projected generally toward the opposing wheel along a path which is geNerally normal to the plane of the wheel from which said beam is projected, means mounted to each of said wheels for detecting the position of the beam projected from the opposing wheel, computing means operatively associated with said beam projecting and detecting means for providing individual wheel toe angle signals, and display means responsive to the signals from said computing means for indicating the toe angles of said front wheels, wherein the improvement comprises: further computing means responsive to said toe angle signals for generating a correction signal representative of a preselected percentage of the difference in magnitudes of said toe angle signals; and means responsive to said correction signal for modifying said toe angle signals to compensate for any errors in said toe angle signals resulting from the longitudinal displacement of the base reference plane of one of said detecting means from the base reference plane of the other of said detecting means due to rotation of the wheels about their steering axes.