초록 ▼

A sensor and method of determining the orientation of an object, such as the alignment characteristics of a tire and wheel assembly mounted on a vehicle, includes projecting a plurality of light planes from a first light projector onto a tire and wheel assembly to form a plurality of generally paral

A sensor and method of determining the orientation of an object, such as the alignment characteristics of a tire and wheel assembly mounted on a vehicle, includes projecting a plurality of light planes from a first light projector onto a tire and wheel assembly to form a plurality of generally parallel illumination lines on a tire of the tire and wheel assembly, receiving a reflected image of at least some of the illumination lines with a photo electric device reflected from the tire at an angle relative to a projecting angle of the first light projector, and determining a plane defined by spatial coordinates from a selected point located on each illumination line imaged by the photo electric device, with the plane representing the orientation of the tire and wheel assembly.

대표청구항 ▼

The embodiments in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are as follows: 1. A method of determining alignment characteristics of a tire and wheel assembly mounted on a vehicle, said method comprising:projecting a plurality of light planes from a first light projector onto a tire and wh

The embodiments in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are as follows: 1. A method of determining alignment characteristics of a tire and wheel assembly mounted on a vehicle, said method comprising:projecting a plurality of light planes from a first light projector onto a tire and wheel assembly to form a plurality of generally parallel illumination lines on a tire of the tire and wheel assembly;receiving a reflected image of at least some of said illumination lines with a photo electric device, said photo electric device receiving images of said illumination lines reflected from the tire at an angle relative to a projecting angle of said first light projector; anddetermining a plane defined by spatial coordinates from a selected point located on each said illumination line imaged by said photo electric device, said plane representing the orientation of the tire and wheel assembly and wherein said determining step further comprises:resolving three dimensional spatial coordinates for multiple points located on each said illumination line imaged by said photo electric device;deriving a best fit curve equation for each said illumination line using the three dimensional spatial coordinates from said resolving step; anddetermining said plane as a best fit tangential plane to the curve equations for each said illumination line from said deriving step, wherein the intersection of said plane with the curve equations defines said selected point located on each said illumination line.