JPH06278641A - Wheel alignment measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To downsize a device, reduce the production cost, and measure wheel alignment easily and accurately. CONSTITUTION:A distance sensor 36 transmittable of a signal wave is arranged to a side part of a wheel 21 of a maintenance vehicle 6 and a reference plate 20 transmittable of a signal wave is arranged to a side of the sensor 36. Toe and camber values are calculated based on the distance between the distance sensor 36 and the reference plate 20. In the case of alignment measuring, the wheel 21 of the maintenance vehicle 6 is rotatably provided and the single distance sensor 36 is detachably attached to a hub bolt 32 of the wheel 21. On the opposite side of the reference plate 20 opposed to the wheel 21, a pair of markers 29, 30 are oppositely arranged in the vertical direction facing to movement locus R of the signal wave. The positions of the markers 29, 30 on the movement locus R and two points on the movement locus R having phase difference of 90 deg. from the markers 29, 30 are read and then toe and camber values are calculated based on respective distance signals between these respective positions and the sensor 36.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wheel alignment measuring device capable of making the device compact and reducing the manufacturing cost, and measuring the alignment easily and accurately.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, this type of measuring device is divided into a so-called static method and a dynamic method. Of these, the static method is cheaper than the dynamic method and is suitable for an automobile garage, but the wheels are rotated during alignment measurement. Therefore, there is a problem that an accurate measurement value cannot be obtained because an accurate measurement cannot be obtained by being directly affected by the unevenness of the tire side surface.

For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-23213 discloses a tire measuring head holder having wheels of a maintenance vehicle mounted on a pair of rotatable rollers, and three sound wave transmitters provided on the side surfaces of the wheels. Pressing, standing up the holding plate with the same number of receivers on the side of the head holder, rotating the tire at a certain angle, and transmitting sound waves from the sound wave transmitter,
The distance between the sound wave transmitter and the receiver is measured, and the change in the toe or camber is calculated.

However, in this device, the position of the tire measuring head holder changes due to the unevenness of the side surface of the wheel, an accurate measured value cannot be obtained, and three sound wave transmitters are provided for one wheel. This requires a receiver and is expensive.

On the other hand, the dynamic method is generally introduced into the production line of a car maker, and by rotating the tire at the time of measurement, it is possible to obtain a measured value close to the actual running, but there is a problem that the device is large and expensive. It was

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves such a problem and provides a wheel alignment measuring device which can make the device compact and reduce the manufacturing cost, and can perform a simple and accurate measurement. With the goal.

[0007]

Therefore, the wheel alignment measuring device of the present invention has a distance sensor capable of emitting a signal wave on the side of a wheel of a maintenance vehicle, and the signal wave is placed on the side of the sensor. In a wheel alignment measuring device in which a reflective reference plate is arranged and the toe and camber values are calculated based on the distance between the sensor and the reference plate, a wheel of a maintenance vehicle is rotatably provided during measurement. A single distance sensor is detachably attached to the hub bolt of, and a pair of markers are vertically arranged to face the movement trajectory of the signal wave on the facing surface of the reference plate facing the wheel, and the movement is performed. The marker position on the locus and two positions on the moving locus having a phase difference of 90 ° from the marker position are read out, and the toe and key are read based on the respective distances between these positions and the sensor. So as to calculate the Nba value, achieving a compact device of this type, to reduce the manufacturing cost,
Moreover, it is characterized in that it enables simple and accurate measurement.

[0008]

[Operation] The wheel of the maintenance vehicle is rotatably installed at the time of measurement, and a distance sensor capable of emitting a signal wave is attached to the side of the wheel to eliminate the effects of wheel distortion and unevenness on the side of the tire. And it can measure accurately. It enables alignment measurement of one wheel with one distance sensor, reducing the manufacturing cost of this type of device,
By mounting the above sensor integrally with the hub bolt, alignment measurement can be performed easily, and after the measurement, the above sensor can be removed and stored, so a large-scale sensor mounting device is not required, and a device of this type can be made compact accordingly. And the manufacturing cost can be reduced. A pair of markers are arranged vertically in opposition to the moving area of the signal wave on the facing surface of the reference plate facing the wheel, and a marker position on the moving track and a phase difference of 90 ° from the marker position are provided. Since the two positions on the moving locus that it has are read out and the toe and camber values are calculated based on the respective distances between these positions and the sensor,
There is no trouble of accurately aligning the reference plate with the wheels for each maintenance vehicle, and by setting the required size of the marker relatively large, it is possible to perform alignment measurement of wheels of various sizes.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 to 10, reference numeral 1 is a work floor surface of an automobile maintenance factory, and a pair of front and rear wheel driving rollers 2 are provided on the floor surface 1.
3 are installed. These rollers 2, 3 have a driving motor and a speed reducer (both not shown) built therein, and are rotatably supported by the roller mounts 4, 5, and the motor and the like are linked to appropriate braking means. Therefore, the maintenance vehicle 6 can be put in and out.

A pair of rails 7 are laid on the work floor 1 along the approaching direction of the maintenance vehicle 6, and these rails 7,
A pair of front and rear roller mounts 4 and 5 are independently movable on a drive unit 7 by means of an appropriate driving means, and their intervals can be adjusted to the wheel base of the maintenance vehicle 6.

A pair of guide rails 8 are laid parallel to the rails 7 on the work floor surface 1 outside the roller mounts 4 and 5, and a slide guide 9 is slidably fitted to the rails 8. . The slide guide 9 is made movable with a pair of slide guides 9 located laterally through an appropriate driving means, and a supporting frame 10 is vertically fixed to the upper part of the slide guide 9, and
The substrate 11 is horizontally fixed to the upper end of 0.

A bolt 1 which is a pivot is provided at the substantially center of the substrate 11.
2 is provided so as to project, and the adjustment plate 13 is supported by the bolt 12 so as to be rotatable and swingable, and the adjustment state of the adjustment plate 13 can be held via a nut 14 attached to its screw shaft.

The adjusting plate 13 has three horizontal adjusting bolts 15
Are screwed in, and they are arranged at respective apexes of a triangle in plan view, and the ends of the screw shafts thereof are brought into contact with the substrate 11 so that the horizontal state of the adjusting plate 13 can be adjusted. Also, the substrate 1
Support pieces 16 and 16 are fixed to both sides of one end of the device 1, and fine adjustment bolts 17 are screwed into the pieces 16 so that the screw shaft ends thereof can be brought into contact with the end surface of the adjustment plate 13. In the figure,
Reference numerals 18 and 19 denote spirit levels installed on the adjusting plate 13, which are arranged orthogonal to each other.

A reference plate 20 is erected on the adjusting plate 13,
The left and right pairs corresponding to the front and rear wheels 21, 22 are installed so as to face each other. That is, an angle gauge 23 is supported on the pivot 12 so as to be movable together with the adjusting plate 13,
A pointer 24 is integrally attached to these gauges 23,
A scale (not shown) with an angle scale is fixedly attached to the tip end side of the pointer 24. Further, a pair of adjusting plates 13 corresponding to either one of the wheels, in the embodiment, the front wheel 21.
A similar angle gauge 25 is rotatably pivotally supported in the shaft, and a pointer 26 thereof is arranged to face the pointer 24 with the scale interposed therebetween.

The pair of front and rear angle gauges 2
Flexible elastic members 27 and 28 such as rubber cords are stretched between the distances 3 and 23 and the angle gauges 25 and 25. The elastic members 28 and the pointer 26 are positioned at right angles, and The pointers 24 are matched, and the pointers 24, 24 and the elastic member 27
By positioning and on the same axis, it is possible to directly adjust the reference plate 20.

A reference plate 20 facing the front and rear wheels 21, 22.
Markers 2 of different widths (T1 <T2) on the opposite surface of
9 and 30 are arranged to face each other in the vertical direction, and are arranged on the coaxial line so as to face a sensor locus circle R which is a movement locus of a signal wave emitted from a distance sensor described later. The markers 29 and 30 are formed to be long in the vertical direction, and enable alignment measurement for wheels of various sizes.
Further, in this embodiment, as the markers 29 and 30, sheet-like ones are attached to the reference plate 20, but the markers may be formed by directly forming a concave groove in the reference plate 20, for example.

On the other hand, any one of the wheel nuts 31 for fixing the wheel discs 41 of the front and rear wheels 21, 22 is removed, and a hexagonal pipe-shaped mounting nut 33 is screwed into the hub bolt 32. The end portion of the nut 33 is formed into a smooth cylindrical surface, and the collar portion 33a is formed on this end portion.
The sensor mounting bracket 34 is rotatably hooked on the collar portion 33a, and a retaining ring 35 for retaining is attached to the upper surface of the sensor mounting bracket 34.

A laser sensor 36, which is a distance sensor, is mounted on the sensor mounting bracket 34, and the sensor 3
6 rotates together with the bracket 34 by its own weight to maintain the posture of FIG. 2, and from its end toward the reference plate 20,
A laser beam that is a signal wave can be emitted. One end of a spring 37 is hooked on the bracket 34, and the other end of the spring 37 is attached to a stationary portion of a maintenance vehicle 6 such as a fender via a magnet (not shown).
It regulates the orbiting posture of 6.

In the figure, 38 is a controller for controlling the operation of the laser sensor 36, 39 is a controller for calculating the toe value and the camber value of each wheel 21, 22 based on the input signal from each sensor 36, and these. An arithmetic unit that compares the measured value with a pass / fail determination reference value to determine pass / fail, and 40 is a display that displays the measured value and the pass / fail thereof.

In the wheel alignment measuring apparatus thus constructed, one distance sensor 36 is sufficient for measuring the alignment of one wheel, and a plurality of sensors are not required as in the conventional case. Cost can be reduced. Further, since the distance sensor 36 can be detached from the wheel and stored after the measurement as described later, it does not require a sensor holding device or a sensor assembling device as in the conventional case, and can be manufactured at a low cost accordingly. The device can be made compact.

Moreover, since the rollers 2 and 3 each have a small motor built therein, the apparatus can be made compact as compared with the conventional one in which the roller driving motor is separately provided from the rollers 2 and 3.

Next, when the wheel alignment is measured using this device, the maintenance vehicle 6 to be measured.
The roller bases 4 and 5 are moved by a predetermined distance based on the wheel base of (1), and their intervals are set so as to match the wheel base.

After the movement of the roller mounts 4 and 5 is adjusted, the pair of left and right support frames 10 are moved to the side of the corresponding rollers 2 so that their reference plates 20 face each other. In this case, after moving the roller mounts 4 and 5, the angle gauges 25, 25 and 23,
The elastic members 28 and 27 are stretched between the
The hands 26, 26 arranged at a right angle to 8 are aligned with the zero angle position of the scale (not shown).

Further, the nut 14 and the fine adjustment bolt 17
Is adjusted, and each adjustment plate 13 is appropriately rotated about the vol 12 and a pointer 24 that moves together with the adjustment plate 13 is scaled (not shown).
Set to the zero angle position of. Therefore, in the adjustment plate 13 on the front wheel side, the hands 26 and 24 are coaxially positioned with the scale in between.

Further, by rotating the three adjusting bolts 15,
The screw shaft end is brought into contact with the substrate 11, the horizontal adjustment of the adjustment plate 13 and the verticality of the reference plate 20 are adjusted, and the adjustment state is confirmed by the levelers 18 and 19.

Thus, the hands 26, 24, 2 between the front and rear wheels
When 4 is aligned at a zero angle and the adjusting plate 13 is horizontally adjusted, the closed shape connecting the full-angle gauges 23 and 25 and the elastic members 27 and 28 becomes a planar rectangular shape, and the pair of left and right reference plates 20 are mutually connected. The posture is corrected in parallel and faces. When this series of adjustments is completed, the nut 14 is screwed in to maintain the current adjustment state, and the elastic members 27, 28 are removed from the angle gauges 23, 25.

Under such a condition, the maintenance vehicle 6 enters, rides on the rollers 2 and 3 under brake operation, and stops when the front and rear wheels 21 and 22 are accommodated on the rollers 2 and 3. After that, any one wheel nut 31 of each wheel 21, 22 is removed, a mounting nut 33 is screwed into the hub bolt 32 thereof, and a sensor mounting bracket 34 is mounted on the end portion of the nut 33, which is then attached to the retaining ring 3
Stop through 5

The laser sensor 36 is attached to the sensor mounting bracket 34, one end of the spring 37 is hooked on one end of the bracket 34, and the other end is attached to the maintenance vehicle 6 such as a fender through an appropriate means such as a magnet. Install on the immovable part. Therefore, the laser sensor 36
Rotates around the mounting nut 33 together with the sensor mounting bracket 34 by its own weight and maintains the posture of FIG.

The alignment measurement is performed separately for the front wheels 21 or the rear wheels 22. For example, when the measurement of the front wheels 21 is preceded, the brake of the roller 2 on the front wheels 21 side is released, the test switch is turned on, and the measurement is carried out. The motor is driven to rotate the roller 2 in the same direction, and each sensor 36 is operated to emit a laser beam from its end face toward the reference plate 20.

In this way, the front wheel 21 on the roller 2
Rotate and through the mounting nuts 33 attached to them,
The sensor mounting bracket 34 attached to the tip of the front wheel 2
Orbiting together with 1.

In this case, the sensor mounting bracket 34 is rotatably mounted on the tip of the mounting nut 33, and one end of the sensor mounting bracket 34 is pulled toward the wheel side by the spring 37. (Not shown) is prevented from twisting and entangled with surrounding members, and the play between the retaining ring 35 and the sensor mounting bracket 34 is absorbed, so that the distance between the sensor 36 and the reference plate 20 is kept constant.

The laser sensor 36 orbits integrally with the wheel 21, changes its moving position every moment, and continuously emits a laser beam from the moving position, which is the reference plate 2.
It collides with 0 and is reflected. The laser beam moves on the reference plate 20 every moment, and its movement locus forms a sensor locus circle R having the same diameter as the pitch circle of the wheel nut 31, and the circle R
And crosses over the markers 29 and 30 arranged facing each other.

The reflected light reaches the sensor 36, is received, is converted into a voltage proportional to the round-trip distance, and is input to the calculator 39 via the controller 38 as a distance signal. Based on sensor 3
The distance between 6 and the reference plate 20 is calculated.

In this case, the front wheel 21 rotates on the roller 2 with its own toe value and camber value, and the optical path length of the laser beam, that is, the reciprocating distance changes along with the rotation, and the marker 29 is used. When traversing over 30 on the other hand, the round trip distance is shortened by the thickness.

Therefore, the distance between the sensor 36 and the reference plate 20 changes in a substantially sine wave shape during one rotation of the sensor 36 as shown in FIG. 9, and the sine wave curve is 180 ° (π radian).
A reduced distance area corresponding to the widths of T1 and T2 appears at two positions corresponding to the phase difference of 1. The marker 2 is generated by the intersection points B and D of the axis center lines of T1 / 2 and T2 / 2 and the sensor locus circle R.
The distances between the positions 9 and 30 and the reference plate 20 are specified.

The calculator 39 reads out two positions B and D based on the positions of the markers 29 and 30 among a large number of calculated values of the above distances, and from one of these positions according to the rotation direction of the wheel 21. The time required to detect the other position is measured, and the positions corresponding to ½ of the time required are defined as points A and C. In other words, the required time from D to B is 1
The position of / 2 corresponds to the point A, and 1/2 of the time required for B → D
The position A corresponds to the point C, and these positions A, B, C and D have a phase difference of 90 ° with each other as shown in FIG.

In this way, the computing unit 39 reads out the distances between the respective positions A, B, C, D and the sensor 36, calculates the average value of the respective distances, and based on this average value, based on the previously stored arithmetic expression. Then, the toe value and the camber value are calculated.

That is, points A and C are sensor locus circles R
And the horizontal diameter, and they and the sensor 3
As shown in FIG. 9, the distance from the sensor 6 is indicated by a and c, and the points B and D are the intersections of the sensor locus circle R and its perpendicular diameter, and the distance between them and the sensor 36 is b. And d.

Then, the toe and camber values are calculated by substituting the numerical values corresponding to these a to d into the following arithmetic expressions. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG.
And the central axes BD of the markers 29 and 30 match, the following calculation formula is used. Toe = tan-1 (ca / L), camber = tan-1
(Db / L)

On the other hand, when the center O of the front wheels 21 and the BD line do not coincide with each other as shown in FIG. 10, the inter-BD distance La is different from the above-mentioned L, and therefore the above-mentioned camber arithmetic expression can be adopted. Instead, the following formula is used. Camber = tan-1 (db / La) where La = L / 2.sin (L2 / L), L2 is arc BD, L1 is arc DB (L1> L2), and L1 and L2
Is calculated by multiplying the ratio of those moving times by the circumference of the reference circle R. Even in this case,
Since the distance L between ACs does not change, the above-described Toe arithmetic expression can be adopted.

In this way, after calculating the toe value and the camber value of the left and right front wheels 21, the result is compared with the pass / fail judgment value stored in advance to judge the pass / fail, and the judgment result is combined with the toe and camber values. To the display 40 and display them on the display 40.

According to the present invention, since the distance sensor 36 is attached to the wheel 21 side and the alignment is measured while rotating the wheel as described above, the distortion of the wheel and the uneven portion on the side surface of the tire as in the so-called static method are measured. The influence can be eliminated, and this can be measured accurately and accurately, and a measurement result close to actual traveling can be obtained. Also, the sensor locus circle R
The points A and C above are processed by the calculator 39 at positions on the locus circle R having a phase difference of 90 ° (π / 2 radian) from the positions of the markers 29 and 30, and the wheel center O The position of can also be moved and set with a margin between the markers 29 and 30, so that the maintenance vehicle 6 can be prepared for alignment measurement.
It is not necessary to accurately face the reference plate 20 to the wheels each time, and the work is eliminated from the complexity.

On the other hand, the operator confirms the toe value and the camber value of the left and right front wheels 21 of the maintenance vehicle 6 and their pass / fail by the display of the display device 40, and if they fail, the maintenance / checking work of the relevant portion is started. If it passes, the rear wheels 22, 2
Move to 2 alignment measurement. And the rear wheels 22,
The toe and camber of 22 are measured in the same manner as described above, and after confirming the measured values and pass / fail, if the result is unsuccessful, the maintenance and inspection work of the relevant part is started, and if it is acceptable, a series of alignment measurement is ended.

After the alignment measurement is completed, the springs 37 and the mounting nuts 33 of the wheels 21, 22 are removed, the wheel nuts 31 are screwed into the hub bolts 32, and the hub nuts 32 are tightened to attach a wheel cap (not shown). After this, the maintenance vehicle 6 is allowed to escape from the rollers 2 and 3. In addition,
The removed sensor mounting bracket 34 and the sensor 36 are
For example, if these are assembled and stored together, the assembly work for the next use can be saved.

[0045]

As described above, since the wheel alignment measuring device of the present invention rotatably installs the wheels of the maintenance vehicle at the time of measurement, it eliminates the influence of the so-called static type distortion of the wheel and the uneven portion of the tire side surface. ,
It is possible to measure accurately and accurately. Further, according to the present invention, since the distance sensor capable of emitting the signal wave is detachably attached to the outer end portion of one hub bolt of the wheel, it is possible to perform the alignment measurement of one wheel with one distance sensor, and it is possible to use a plurality of distance sensors as in the conventional technique. Compared to the one that requires individual distance sensors,
The manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the alignment measurement can be easily performed by attaching the sensor to the hub bolt. Moreover, since the sensor can be removed and stored after the measurement, a large-scale sensor mounting device is not required, and the device can be downsized and the manufacturing cost can be reduced accordingly. Further, the present invention, on the facing surface of the reference plate facing the wheel, facing the moving range of the signal wave emitted from the distance sensor, a pair of markers are arranged vertically facing each other, and the marker position on the moving track, Two positions on the movement locus having a phase difference of 90 ° from the marker position are specified, and the toe and camber values are calculated based on each distance between each position and the sensor. There is no hassle of correctly facing the plate to the wheels, and therefore the measurement preparation work can be performed easily and quickly, and for example, by setting the required size of the marker relatively large, it is possible to perform alignment measurement of wheels of various sizes, etc. Has the effect of.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an alignment measurement situation according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an alignment measurement situation according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a facing adjustment state of a reference plate used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an example of a reference plate used in the present invention, a part of which is a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing an example of a reference plate used in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a distance sensor used in the present invention and a mounting state thereof.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the markers used in the present invention, showing the case where the central axis of the marker coincides with the center of the wheel.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing changes in the distance between the distance sensor and the reference plate over one rotation of the wheel based on the measurement results according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the markers used in the present invention, showing a case where the central axis of the marker does not coincide with the center of the wheel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Maintenance Vehicle 20 Reference Plate 21 Front Wheel 22 Rear Wheel 29, 30 Marker 32 Hub Bolt 36 Distance Sensor R Trajectory

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Junko Makino 3-5-28 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo Nissan Altia Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A distance sensor capable of emitting a signal wave is arranged on a side portion of a wheel of a maintenance vehicle, and a reference plate capable of reflecting the signal wave is arranged beside the sensor. In a wheel alignment measuring device that calculates toe and camber values based on a distance, a wheel of a maintenance vehicle is rotatably provided at the time of measurement, and a single distance sensor is detachably attached to a hub bolt of the wheel. A pair of markers are vertically opposed to each other so as to face the movement locus of the signal wave on the facing surface of the reference plate facing the wheel, and the marker position on the movement locus and 9 from the marker position.
Read out two positions on the movement trajectory having a phase difference of 0 °,
A wheel alignment measuring device characterized in that the toe and camber values are calculated on the basis of the distance between each of these positions and the sensor.