JPH02201213A - Wheel alignment measuring apparatus for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable accurate measurement of a wheel alignment under a running condition by a method wherein a planar receiving surface for a wheel provided at a wheel receiving means is advanced by a driving means to rotate the wheel on the receiving surface. CONSTITUTION:An endless belt 16 is looped across a drive roller 12 and a driven roller 14 of a wheel receiving means 10 and the drive roller 12 is connected to a drive motor 20 through a belt 18. The endless belt 16 also forms a planar receiving surface 24 for a wheel 22. Then, the belt 16 is moved in a direction of the arrow F with the motor 20 to advance the planar receiving surface 24 in a direction of the arrow, which allows the measurement of an alignment of a toe angle and a camber angle and the like of the wheel 22 by wheel alignment measuring means 60 and 160 rotating the wheel 22 in a direction of the arrow G. Thus, an actual running condition can be reproduced faithfully thereby enabling accurate measurement of a wheel alignment under a running condition.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a vehicle wheel alignment measuring device that measures the alignment of wheels while rotating them.

(Prior art) As a device for measuring alignment such as wheel toe angle,
Conventionally, as described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-175807, a device has been proposed that determines the alignment of a wheel while rotating the wheel.

When a wheel rotates on a road surface, the wheel receives, at its grounding point, a force LF (lateral force) in the direction of the wheel's rotation axis, which is caused by wheel manufacturing errors (variations in tire belt width, tread gauge, etc.). Therefore, according to the device that measures the alignment of the wheel while rotating the wheel, the L
It is possible to obtain more practical wheel alignment data that takes into account changes in wheel posture due to F, etc.

Such a device is configured to receive a wheel on a wheel receiver and measure the alignment of the wheel while rotating the wheel on the wheel receiver, and conventionally, it has generally been configured using a roller type wheel receiver, e.g. As shown in FIG. 14 (side view) and FIG. 15 (plan view), two rollers 2 support the wheel 4, and at least one of the rollers 2 is rotationally driven to support the wheel 4.
A configuration that rotates the is adopted.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when the wheel receiving means is composed of the two rollers 2 described above, when the wheel 4 rotates, the roller 2 causes the wheel 4 to
A force acts to make the (center line 4a of the wheel) perpendicular to the axis 2a of the roller, and since the steering wheel is fixed at all times, the wheel cannot tilt by itself (the width of the change in inclination The above LF where is small
Therefore, the vehicle tilts due to the force acting on each of the wheels to make the wheels perpendicular to the roller axis 2a, and as a result, the wheel alignment measurement data includes this vehicle tilt. However, there is a problem in that it is difficult to perform highly accurate wheel alignment measurements under conditions that faithfully reproduce actual driving conditions. Note that this problem also exists when a relatively large roller receives a wheel and rotates the wheel by rotationally driving the roller.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to prevent the vehicle from tilting due to the force that attempts to make the wheels perpendicular to the rollers,
Highly accurate n that faithfully reproduces actual driving conditions]
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle wheel alignment measurement device that can perform wheel alignment measurement.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A vehicle wheel alignment measuring device according to the present invention includes:
In order to achieve the above object, there is provided a wheel alignment measuring device for a vehicle, which includes a wheel receiving means for receiving a wheel, and determines the alignment of the wheel while rotating the wheel on the wheel receiving means, The device is characterized in that the means includes a planar bearing surface for receiving the wheel, and the bearing surface is configured to be advanced by the drive means to rotate the wheel on the bearing surface.

The planar receiving surface may be formed by, for example, an endless belt passed between two rollers.

(Function) In the wheel alignment measurement device for a vehicle having the above configuration, the wheels are received by the planar receiving surface and rotated on the planar receiving surface, so that when rotating, in the case of the above-mentioned roller type, the wheels are rotated on the planar receiving surface. There is no risk of unnecessary external force acting on the wheel from the wheel support means, such as the force that tries to make the wheel perpendicular to the roller, and therefore, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the actual driving condition and to check the wheel alignment under the driving condition. Can be measured accurately.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a wheel receiving means IO in an embodiment of the vehicle wheel alignment measuring device according to the present invention. The wheel receiving means IO includes a driving roller 12 and a driven roller 1.
4. Both rollers 12 and 14 are covered with an endless belt 1B, and the drive roller 12 is connected to a motor 20 as a drive means via a belt 1g. The endless belt 1B forms a planar receiving surface 24 for receiving the wheels 22, and a backup plate 2B for making the belt 1B into a planar receiving surface 24 is provided on the lower surface of the belt 1B.

This wheel receiving means 10 includes the two rollers 12 and 14.
by rotatably supporting the turntable 53.1 on the turntable 53.153 described below.
The motor 20 is also disposed on the turntable 53.153, and the motor 20 moves the endless belt 1B in the direction of arrow F, thereby moving the endless belt 1B to a planar receiving surface made of the belt. 24 in the direction of arrow F, thereby rotating the wheel 22 supported by the receiving surface 24 in the direction of arrow G. The toe angle, camber angle, etc. of the wheel 22 are measured by wheel alignment measurement means ao and tea described below. Alignment is measured.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, each wheel 22 is positioned on the four wheel receiving means 10 disposed at a position corresponding to each wheel 22 of the vehicle 30, and the steering wheel is set to zero steering angle (straight ahead). n1 constant plate 61.161 of the wheel alignment measuring means 60.160 described below, which is provided next to each wheel receiving means 10, is brought into contact with the outer surface of each wheel 22 with an appropriate biasing force. Then the measuring plate 81.1 (
It follows the attitude change of the wheel 22, and then the endless belt 1B is advanced to rotate the wheel 22 while measuring the inclination of the measurement plate 81.181, thereby measuring the wheel alignment. Changes in the inclination of the measurement plate 61.181 during rotation are detected, and the average value thereof is measured as the toe angle and camber angle of the wheel.

Hereinafter, wheel alignment all equipped with the above-mentioned wheel receiving means IO and wheel alignment measuring means 60.100
An embodiment of the fixed device will be described in more detail.

FIG. 3 is a detailed plan view showing one embodiment of the wheel alignment measuring device 40. This device 40 includes a front wheel tester 41 that measures the alignment of the front wheels, and a front wheel guide that guides the left and right front wheels to the front wheel tester 41. 43, a rear wheel tester 45 for measuring rear wheel alignment, and a rear wheel guide 47 that guides the left and right rear wheels to the rear wheel tester 45 are arranged in a line as shown in the figure. , the vehicle is transported in the direction of arrow A, and the front and rear wheels are guided by front and rear wheel guides 43.47, respectively, and positioned above the front and rear wheel testers 41.45.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the front wheel tester 41 in detail along arrow IV-IV, and FIG. 5 is a detailed plan view of this tester 41. As can be seen from the figure, this tester 41 consists of a right tester section and a left tester section that are arranged symmetrically in the left and right directions (vehicle width direction) and have similar configurations, so the same functional parts are given the same numbers. , only one tester section will be explained.

The front wheel tester 41 includes a full-float turntable assembly 50 that is mounted on a support stand 41a and supports the front wheels so that they can be steered and moved left and right and back and forth, and a turntable assembly 50 that is placed on the turntable assembly 50. a front wheel alignment measuring means 60 that measures the toe angle, camber angle, etc. of the front wheel by coming into contact with the outer surface of the front wheel; It is composed of a moving means 70. The front wheel alignment measuring means BO has a measuring plate 61 that comes into contact with the outer surface of the front wheel, and is moved by the moving means 70 to bring the measuring plate 61 into contact with the outer surface of the front wheel placed on the turntable assembly 50. At the same time, the inclination of this measuring plate 81 is 6
-1 constant to measure toe angle, camber angle, etc.

Here, the turntable assembly 50 is moved to Vl- in FIG.
The structure of the turntable assembly 50 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6, which is a sectional view taken along line Vl, and FIG. 7, which is a side view. This turntable assembly 50 has a support base 41a.
It has a frame 51 made up of a plurality of members fixed to the
A plurality of bearings 52 are fixedly installed on the upper surface of this frame 51 in line on the same circumference. The bearing 52 has a rotatable ball 52a, and the turntable 53 is supported by the ball 52a so as to be rotatable and movable back and forth and left and right. On this turntable 53, the above-mentioned wheel receiving means IO is arranged. That is, the drive roller 12 and the driven roller 14 are each rotatably supported by a support bracket 28 fixed to the turntable 53, and the motor 20 for rotationally driving the drive roller 12 is also mounted on the turntable 53. It is arranged. Note that this wheel receiving means [0 has already been explained, so a detailed explanation thereof will be omitted here. The turntable 53 is provided with left and right guide plates 53b that come into contact with the inner surface of the front wheel 22 to position the front wheel in the width (left and right) direction. Of course, turntable 5
3 may also be appropriately provided with a front and rear guide (not shown) for positioning the front wheel 22 in the front and rear direction. Furthermore, a rotary shaft 54 extending downward from the center is attached to the turntable 53, and an encoder 5 at the lower end of the rotary shaft 54 detects the rotation angle of the turntable 53.
5 is installed. Conveyance plates 51a and 51b are attached to the frame 51, sandwiching the turntable 53 from the front and back, for smoothly conveying the front wheels to the turntable 53. Furthermore, a shaft holding plate 58.58 is disposed on the frame 51 so as to face the rotating shaft 54 in the front and rear directions and to be movable back and forth. The upper ends of arms 58 are respectively connected to the upper ends of arms 58 rotatably attached to the upper ends of the arms 58. The lower end 58c of the arm 58 is connected to both ends of the cylinder 59, and as the cylinder 59 expands and contracts, the arm 5B is rotated and the shaft holding plate 5B is moved back and forth. The two shaft holding plates 58, 56 move toward each other when they are retracted, and move away from each other when they are retracted. The sixth figure shows the cross-section of these two shaft holding plates 58, 58 and the rotating shaft 54 along arrows Vl a - Vl g.
In figure A, as you can see from this figure, the shaft holding plate 58.58
Right triangular notches 56a are provided at opposite ends of the
A portion 54a of the rotating shaft 54 facing the notch 56a has a square cross section matching the notch. Therefore, when the cylinder 59 is extended and the two wheel holding plates 5[1, 5B approach each other, the notch 56a
, 58a sandwich the square portion 54a, and the rotating shaft 54
Hold it fixed. Therefore, in the above state, the turntable 53 is also fixedly held with the wheel receiving means 10 facing forward and backward.

Next, the structure of the front wheel alignment 1113 determining means 60 and the moving means 70 will be explained using FIGS. 8 to 10. The front wheel alignment measuring means 60 has a support shaft 62 attached to the frame B5 extending in the vehicle width direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 8.9), and a ball joint 82a at the center end of the support shaft 62 in the vehicle width direction.
A measurement plate 81 is rotatably attached via the . The measurement plate 61 is a substrate etb rotatably attached to the support shaft 62 via the ball joint 82a.
It consists of three rotatable rollers 81c provided on the outer edge of the substrate Blb, and the roller ale is brought into contact with the side surface of the wheel 22 as shown in FIG. The above measurement plate 6
1 is rotatable around a ball joint 82a, but is held vertically upright relative to the frame 65 by a compression spring 63a, a tension spring 83b, and a link 63c as shown in the figure. Note that the measuring plate 61 is held in an upright state when no external force acts on the measuring plate 61, and when the measuring plate 61 receives an external force, the springs 83a and 63b are bent and the link 63 is
Due to the deformation of c, the measuring plate 61 is rotated around the ball joint 62a in response to an external force. For this reason, the measuring plate 6
When the measuring plate 61 is brought into contact with the outer surface of the front wheel, this measuring plate 61 is tilted according to the inclination of the front wheel, so by measuring the inclination of this measuring plate, the toe angle, camber angle, etc. of the front wheel can be measured. Can be done. In order to measure the inclination angle of the measuring plate 61, three displacement measuring devices B4 are attached to the frame 65. This displacement measuring device 64 has a probe 84a that protrudes toward the center side in the vehicle width direction and is movable in the vehicle width direction, and as shown in FIG. installed on.

This probe 64a comes into contact with a contact pressure ata fixed to the measuring plate 61 when the measuring plate 61 comes into contact with the outer surface of the front wheel, and when the measuring plate 81 is inclined, Since there is a difference in the amount of movement of each probe 84a in the vehicle width direction (the amount of movement in the vehicle width direction within the displacement measuring device B4), the toe angle, camber angle, etc. can be detected from this difference. Specifically, the toe angle can be measured from the difference in the amount of movement in the vehicle width direction of the probe 64a of the displacement measuring device B4 placed before and after the ball joint 62a, and the average value of the above re-movement amount and the ball The camber angle can be measured from the amount of movement of the displacement n1 constant device 64 arranged above the joint 62a. If only the toe angle is to be measured, only two displacement measuring devices 64 placed before and after the ball joint 82a may be used. Note that these displacement measuring devices 04 and the like are covered with a cover 60a as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.

The front wheel alignment measuring means 60 configured as described above is a frame 6.
5, the front wheel alignment measuring means 60 is supported movably in the vehicle width direction by a moving means 70.The structure of this moving means 70 and how it supports the front wheel alignment measuring means 60 will be explained. The moving means 70 has a frame 71 fixed on the support base 41a, and a pair of front and rear guide rods 72.72 extending in the vehicle width direction by the frame 71 and a guide rod 72.72 extending in the vehicle width direction between the guide rods 72.72. A transport rod 74 is supported. Two guide legs 67 and 67 fixed to the lower surface of the frame 65 of the front wheel alignment measuring means 60 are slidably fitted onto each guide rod 72, so that the front wheel alignment measuring means 60 It is supported movably in the vehicle width direction by a moving means 70. Further, the conveyor rod 74 has a thread formed on its outer periphery, and a threaded bush 66a of the conveyor force 66 fixed to the lower surface of the frame 65 of the front wheel alignment 11-1 fixing means 60 is threadedly engaged with the conveyor rod 74. are doing. The transport rod 74 is rotatably supported by the frame 71, and a first sprocket 75a attached to the end thereof is connected to the servo motor 7G via a chain 75b.
It meshes with the second sprocket 75e mounted on the shaft of
By rotating 4, the entire front wheel alignment measuring means BO can be moved in the vehicle width direction via the conveying force 66. In order to set the movement position in the vehicle width direction at this time, two limit switches 73 and 73 are installed on the frame 71 of the moving means 70 and are spaced apart in the vehicle width direction, and on the frame 65 of the front wheel alignment measuring means 60. A pair of switch plates 68 and 68 facing the limit switch 73 are attached, and the limit switch 73 is activated by the contact between the switch plate 68 and the limit switch 73.
The drive of the motor 76 is controlled by the operation of the front wheel alignment measuring means 60 to determine the position of the front wheel alignment measuring means 60 in the vehicle width direction.

Although the front wheel tester 41 has been described above, the rear wheel tester 45 will now be described. Similar to the front wheel tester 41, the rear wheel tester 45 also consists of a pair of left and right tester sections, and each tester section is connected to a full-float type turntable assembly 1.
50, rear wheel alignment measuring means 160, and moving means 170.

As shown in FIG. 11, the turntable assembly 150 includes a frame 151, a plurality of bearings (not shown) attached to the frame 151, and a turntable supported by the bearings so as to be rotatable and movable back and forth and left and right. A wheel receiving means 10 having a table 153, a planar receiving surface 24 disposed on the turntable 153, and the receiving surface 2
4, and although these have a slightly different shape from the turntable assembly 50 for the front wheels, their functions and essential structures are the same, so a description thereof will be omitted. do. In addition, the above turntable 1
The rotating shaft 154 extending downward from the front wheel table 53 has a smaller amount of downward extension than the rotating shaft 54 of the front wheel table 53, and has only a square cross section 154a at its lower end, which serves as an encoder for detecting the rotation of this shaft. is not installed.

A square cross section 154 at the lower end of the rotating shaft 154
A pair of shaft holding plates 158, 15 sandwiching a in the front and back
Normally, the two wheel holding plates 156.156 are pushed apart by springs 157, but they are pushed by the front and rear cylinders 158°158, and the two shaft holding plates 156.150 expand. Square cross section 15
By holding 4a, the rotating shaft 154 is fixedly held. The rear wheel alignment measuring means 180 for measuring the toe angle, camber angle, etc. of the rear wheels and the moving means 170 for moving the rear wheel alignment measuring means 160 in the vehicle width direction (left and right direction) are the front wheel tester 41, its functions and Since the essential structure is the same, the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Next, a description will be given of the front wheel guide 43 and rear wheel guide 47 that guide the front wheels and rear wheels to the front wheel tester 41 and the rear wheel tester 45, respectively. Since both guides 43 and 47 have the same shape, the front wheel guide 43 is shown in FIG. 12 and will be described based on this. This front wheel guide 43 has guide grooves 90a for guiding the left and right front wheels toward the front wheel tester 41, respectively.
A pair of guide bodies 90.90 are provided, and these guide bodies 90.90 are movable in the vehicle width direction (horizontal direction). In addition, a guide plate 91 is opened rearward in an "H" shape in order to correctly guide the front wheel to the guide groove 90a.
91 is installed. A first arm 92a and a second arm 92b that extend to the right in the figure and are rotatable are attached to a frame 98.97 facing the outer side of both guide bodies 90.90.
is attached, and both arms 92a and 92b are attached to the first
They are connected by a connecting rod 93. Further, as shown in the figure, the first arm 92a is connected to a guide body 90 that supports the right front wheel by a second connecting rod 95, and a second arm 92a is connected to a frame 97 that faces the outer surface of the guide body 90 that supports the left front wheel.
The arm 92b is attached by a third arm 92c extending forward (to the left in the figure) from the section and rotatably attached to the second arm 92b. It is connected by a connecting rod 94 to a guide body 90 that supports the left front wheel. Therefore, by moving the first connecting rod 93 in the vehicle width direction using a cylinder (not shown) or the like, both guide bodies 90 and 90 can be moved in opposite directions in the vehicle width direction, thereby allowing the front wheel Even if the treads of the two guide bodies 90 and 90 are different, the distance between the guide bodies 90 and 90 can be adjusted according to the treads.

Further, lids 48 and 49 for lifting and supporting the vehicle body are provided before and after the front wheel guide 43 (see FIG. 3). This lifter is located at the first
As shown in Figure 3, the frame 106 and this frame 1
The rod 101 of this cylinder 102 can freely protrude upward, and the head 10 has a groove 101b at its upper end.
1a is attached. Therefore, when the rod lot of the cylinder 102 is extended upward, the groove 101b of the head 101a receives the side sill of the vehicle body and lifts the vehicle body.

When the front and rear wheels are placed on full-float turntable assemblies, if an external force is applied to the car body in the horizontal direction, the turntables will move and the car body will move, causing inaccurate measurements by the front and rear wheel testers. However, by lifting and supporting the vehicle body with the top cover, it is possible to prevent the vehicle body from being moved even if a horizontal external force is applied to the vehicle body. moreover,
By lifting the vehicle body with the upper fat lid, the weight of the vehicle that is applied to the tire placed on the wheel support means IO can be reduced, thereby making it possible to reduce the deformation of the tire, and at the same time, the turntable 53.153 By reducing the load on the turntable 53.153, the turntable 53.153 can be rotated smoothly.

A method of measuring vehicle wheel alignment using the measuring device 40 as described above will be described. First, after extending each cylinder 59.158.158 of the front wheel turntable assembly 50 and the rear wheel turntable assembly 150 and fixing the rotating shaft 54.154 by the shaft holding plates 58, 56 and 156.156. The vehicle is transferred onto this device 40 in the direction of arrow A from the right side in FIG. The steering wheel is placed on the means IO, and the steering wheel is fixed at zero steering angle (straight ahead direction). Next, lifter 4
8. Move the head 101a of 49 upward and move this head 101
a lifts the side sill portion of the vehicle body to reduce the load from the front and rear wheels to the turntable assembly 50°150, and also holds the vehicle body to prevent horizontal movement of the vehicle body due to external force. The lifting force of the vehicle body by the lifters 4g and 49 is set so that a load sufficient to properly rotate the wheels as the endless belt 16 advances remains on the endless belt 18. Next, the servo motor 76 is rotated to adjust the wheel alignment nj determining means 80.
, 180 in the vehicle width direction toward each wheel 22, and the wheel alignment measuring means 80° 160 is stopped at a predetermined position by the limit switch 73 provided at a predetermined position, thereby applying a predetermined pressing force. Measuring plate 6
1,181 is brought into contact with the outer surface of each wheel 22. Under this condition, the endless belt 16 of each wheel receiving means is advanced by the driving means 20 to rotate the wheel 22, and the alignment of the wheel under the wheel rotating condition is determined by the aP1 fixed plates 01, 161. It is measured by setting the angle of inclination at four angles.

In addition, after completing the above wheel alignment measurement,
For example, by comparing the measured value with a pre-prepared reference value,
If they are different, each cylinder 59, 158° 158 of both turntable assemblies 50, 150 is contracted to maintain the fixed holding state of the rotating shaft 54, 154 by the shaft holding plates 58, 56 and 156, 158. After the turntable 53.153 is released and the turntable 53.153 is brought into a full float state, alignment adjustment of the wheels 22 is performed.

In the above embodiment, the n1 constant plate 61.18 is provided on the outer surface of the wheel 22.
Contact type wheel alignment measurement is used in which the toe angle, camber angle, etc. are determined from the inclination angle of the measurement plates et and tet by touching the wheels L, but by directly detecting the inclination of the wheel using light, etc. It is also possible to employ non-contact wheel alignment measurement to determine toe angle, camber angle, etc.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the wheel alignment was measured with the turntable 53.153 fixed.
The wheel alignment measurement may be performed with the turntable 53.153 in a full float state. In addition, the above turntable 53.153 is attached to the frame 51.151.
Appropriate clamping means (not shown) is provided for fixing and releasing the fixation to the turntable 53. while the wheel alignment 71P1 is being determined by the clamping means.
153 may be fixed.

Of course, the planar receiving surface 24 for receiving the wheel 22 may be made of something other than the endless belt 1B.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, in the wheel alignment measuring device according to the present invention, since the wheel is received by the planar receiving surface and rotated on the planar receiving surface, the above-mentioned There is no risk of unnecessary external force acting on the wheel from the wheel receiving means, such as the force that tries to make the wheel perpendicular to the roller in the case of the roller type, so the actual running condition can be faithfully reproduced, and the running condition You can accurately measure wheel alignment below.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing the wheel receiving means of the embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a detailed plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. , FIGS. 4 and 5 are a front view and a plan view of the front wheel tester, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are front sectional views showing the turntable assembly for the front wheels (sectional view taken along the line Vl-Vl in FIG. 5). and a side view; FIG. 6A is a sectional view taken along the line Vla-Vla in FIG. 6; FIGS. 12 is a plan view showing the front wheel guide, FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing the beam cover, and FIGS. 14 and 15 show conventional wheel receiving means. They are a side view and a top view. lO...Wheel receiving means 20...Driving means 22.
...Wheel -24...Planar bearing surface Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. Fig. 12 Fig. 2C zD

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A wheel alignment measuring device for a vehicle, comprising a wheel receiving means for receiving a wheel, and measuring the alignment of the wheel while rotating the wheel on the wheel receiving means, wherein the wheel receiving means is attached to the wheel. 1. A wheel alignment measurement device for a vehicle, comprising a planar receiving surface that receives a receiving surface, and the receiving surface is configured to be advanced by a driving means to rotate a wheel on the receiving surface.