Claims
- 1. A wheel alignment sensor system comprising:
a first sensor assembly for mounting to a first wheel of a vehicle whose alignment is to be measured; a second sensor assembly for mounting in a known geometrical relationship to a wheel of a vehicle whose alignment is to be measured, said second sensor assembly having at least a pair of emitters in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to each other; and said first sensor assembly having at least one detector, said detector being capable of observing an apparent geometrical relationship of said pair of emitters indicative of an alignment angle of said second wheel.
- 2. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 1 wherein:
said first sensor assembly is configured to measure at least a first angle with respect to a fixed reference; and whereby a true alignment angle of said second wheel is determinable from said first angle and said alignment angle of said second wheel indicated by said observed apparent geometrical relationship.
- 3. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pair of emitters is disposed in an orientation such that a variation in said apparent geometrical relationship from said known geometric relationship of said pair of emitters is mathematically related to a toe angle of said second wheel.
- 4. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 3 wherein in said variation in said apparent geometrical relationship is a horizontal variation.
- 5. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 2 wherein said first angle measured by the first sensor assembly is a camber angle, said alignment angle of said second wheel is a camber angle, and wherein said true alignment angle of said second wheel is a camber angle.
- 6. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said detector is configured to detect horizontal positions of said emitters.
- 7. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 6 wherein said detector is a linear sensor.
- 8. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pair of emitters have a common axis substantially perpendicular to an outer face of said wheel, and wherein said second sensor assembly includes at least a third emitter displaced from said common axis of said pair of emitters.
- 9. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said third emitter is displaced horizontally from a midpoint between said pair of emitters.
- 10. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said third emitter is displaced vertically from a midpoint between said pair of emitters.
- 11. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said pair of emitters and said third emitter are disposed in an orientation such that variations in said apparent geometrical re1ationships, from said known geometric re1ationships of said pair of emitters and said third emitter, are mathematically related to a camber angle of said second wheel.
- 12. The vehicle alignment sensor system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said pair of emitters and said third emitter are disposed in an orientation such that variations in said apparent geometrical re1ationships, from said known geometric re1ationships of said pair of emitters and said third emitter, are mathematically related to a toe angle of said second wheel.
- 13. A method of determining vehicle alignment angle for a wheel of a vehicle comprising:
mounting, at a first wheel of a vehicle, a detector; mounting at least a pair of emitters in known geometrical relationship with respect to each other on an adjacent wheel of said vehicle; and observing with said detector on said first wheel, the apparent geometrical relationship of said pair of emitters to determine an alignment angle for said adjacent wheel of said vehicle.
- 14. The method of determining a vehicle alignment angle as set forth in claim 13 wherein said alignment angle is a toe angle and said pair of emitters are disposed in an orientation such that a variation in said apparent geometrical relationship from said known geometric relationship of said pair of emitters is mathematically related to a toe angle of said adjacent wheel.
- 15. The method of determining vehicle alignment angles as set forth in claim 14 wherein said variation in said apparent geometrical relationship is a horizontal variation.
- 16. The method of determining vehicle alignment angles as set forth in claim 13 further including disposing a third emitter in a known orientation with respect to said pair of emitters such that a variation in said apparent geometrical re1ationships from said known geometric relationship of said pair of emitters and said third emitter is mathematically related to a camber angle of said second wheel.
- 17. The method of determining vehicle alignment angles as set forth in claim 16 wherein said variation in said apparent geometrical relationship is a horizontal variation.
- 18. A method of determining at least one relative vehicle alignment angle for a vehicle wheel, comprising:
mounting at least a pair of emitters in known geometrical relationship with respect to each other on a wheel of said vehicle; observing an apparent horizontal variation in said known geometrical relationship of said pair of emitters to determine a relative alignment angle for said wheel of said vehicle.
- 19. The method of claim 18 for determining at least one relative vehicle alignment angle for a vehicle wheel wherein said observing step includes utilizing a single axis detector to observe said apparent horizontal variation.
- 20. A method of determining vehicle alignment angles comprising:
mounting at least a pair of emitters in a fixed geometrical relationship with respect to the each other on a wheel of a vehicle whose alignment is to be measured, wherein said emitters are in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to said wheel; measuring with a detector which is not mounted in fixed geometrical relationship with said wheel the apparent geometrical relationship of said pair of emitters to determine an alignment angle of said wheel.
- 21. The method of determining vehicle alignment angles as set forth in claim 20 wherein said alignment angle is a camber angle and said pair of emitters is disposed in an orientation such that a variation of a single-axis image of said pair of emitters is an indication of camber of said wheel.
- 22. The method of determining vehicle alignment angles as set forth in claim 20 wherein said alignment angle is a toe angle and said pair of emitters is disposed in an orientation such that a variation of a single-axis image of said pair of emitters is an indication of toe of said wheel.
- 23. A method of determining vehicle alignment angles comprising:
measuring at a first wheel a first camber alignment angle of a vehicle whose alignment is to be measured; mounting at least a pair of emitters in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to each other on a second wheel of said vehicle, wherein said pair of emitters are in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to said second wheel and said second wheel is longitudinally displaced from said first wheel on the same side of said vehicle; measuring with a detector mounted on said first wheel the apparent geometrical relationship of said pair of emitters to determine a relative camber angle of said second wheel, and determining a true camber angle of said second wheel from said first camber angle and from said relative camber angle.
- 24. The method of determining vehicle alignment angles as set forth in claim 23 wherein said pair of emitters are disposed in an orientation such that a detected horizontal separation of said pair of emitters provides an apparent geometrical re1ationships which is an indication of said true camber angle of said second wheel relative to said first camber angle.
- 25. A method of determining an alignment angle of a vehicle wheel comprising:
mounting at least a pair of emitters in a known fixed geometrical relationship with respect to each other on a wheel of a vehicle whose alignment is to be measured, wherein said emitters are in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to said wheel; measuring with a detector which is not mounted in fixed geometrical relationship with said wheel, a single-axis apparent geometrical relationship of said emitters, wherein said detector is at a known orientation; and utilizing at least said known detector orientation and said measured single-axis apparent geometric relationship of said emitters to determine an alignment angle of said wheel.
- 26. A method of determining a toe alignment angle of a vehicle wheel comprising:
mounting at least a pair of emitters in a fixed geometrical relationship with respect to each other on said vehicle wheel, wherein said emitters are in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to said vehicle wheel and said emitters are at different horizontal positions relative to the face of said vehicle wheel, whereby at least one emitter is a front emitter and at least one emitter is a rear emitter and the geometrical re1ationships of said emitters to each other, including their horizontal displacements, are known; measuring with a detector which is not mounted in fixed geometrical relationship with said vehicle wheels the apparent horizontal displacement of said front emitter and said rear emitter relative to a line of sight of said detector; and determining a toe angle of said vehicle wheel from said known horizontal displacements of said pair of emitters, from said detector line of sight, and from the measured apparent horizontal displacement of said front emitter and said rear emitter.
- 27. In a vehicle wheel alignment system, a vehicle wheel alignment indicator comprising:
a housing configured for attachment to a vehicle wheel clamp, said housing having an axis of rotation; a pair of radiation emitters mounted in a known, fixed relationship to said housing, said pair of radiation emitters disposed along an axis parallel to said axis of rotation of said housing; a third radiation emitter mounted in a known, fixed relationship to said housing, said third radiation emitter perpendicularly disposed perpendicular to said axis of rotation of said housing, opposite said axis of said pair of radiation emitters, said third radiation emitter and said pair of radiation emitters defining a substantially horizontal plane; a fourth radiation emitter mounted in a known, fixed relationship to said housing, said fourth radiation emitter perpendicularly disposed from said substantially horizontal plane defined by said pair of radiation emitters and said third radiation emitter, said fourth radiation emitter and said pair of radiation emitters defining a substantially vertical plane.
- 28. In a vehicle wheel alignment system, a cooperative pair of vehicle wheel alignment sensors comprising:
a first sensor for attachment to a first vehicle wheel, said first sensor including a radiation detector configured to observe incident radiation; a second sensor for attachment to a second vehicle wheel adjacent said first vehicle wheel, said second sensor including at least two radiation emitters in a known geometric configuration; wherein said radiation detector is configured to measure an alignment angle for said first vehicle wheel by observing incident radiation from at least one said at least two radiation emitters on said second vehicle wheel, and an alignment angle for said second vehicle wheel by observing incident radiation from at least two of said at least two radiation emitters.
- 29. A method of checking calibration of an apparatus for determining camber of a vehicle wheel comprising:
employing a conventional device to measure the camber of said vehicle wheel; mounting at least a pair of emitters in a fixed geometrical relationship with respect to each other on said vehicle wheel, wherein said pair of emitters are in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to said vehicle wheel and said pair of emitters are at different vertical positions whereby at least one emitter is a lower emitter and at least one emitter is an upper emitter and the geometrical re1ationships of said emitters to each other, including their relative horizontal and vertical displacements, are known; observing with a detector, which is not mounted in fixed geometrical relationship with said vehicle wheel, the apparent horizontal displacement of said upper emitter and said lower emitter, wherein said detector is at a known vertical inclination; determining the camber of said vehicle wheel from said known horizontal displacements of said emitters, from said known detector vertical inclination and from said observed apparent horizontal displacements of said upper emitter and said lower emitter; and comparing said conventionally measured camber of said vehicle wheel to said detector determined camber of said vehicle wheel to ascertain the calibration accuracy of said conventional camber measuring device.
- 30. The method of checking calibration of claim 29 wherein said conventional camber measuring device includes a gravity-referenced inclinometer.
- 31. The method of checking calibration of claim 29 wherein said conventional camber measuring device includes an optical target and an optical imaging system.
- 32. A method of checking calibration of an apparatus for determining alignment of vehicle wheels comprising:
employing a conventional device to measure the toe angle of a vehicle wheel; mounting at least a pair of emitters in a fixed geometrical relationship with respect to each other on said vehicle wheel, wherein said pair of emitters are in fixed geometrical relationship with respect to said vehicle wheel and said pair of emitters are at different horizontal positions relative to a plane parallel to the face of said vehicle wheel, whereby at least one emitter is a front emitter and at least one emitter is a rear emitter and the geometrical re1ationships of said emitters to each other, including their relative horizontal and vertical displacements, are known; measuring with a detector which is not mounted in fixed geometrical relationship with said vehicle wheel the apparent horizontal displacement of said front emitter and said rear emitter along a line of sight to said detector, and determining the toe angle of said vehicle wheel from said known horizontal and vertical displacements of said emitters, and from said detector measured apparent horizontal displacement of said front emitter and rear emitter; and comparing said conventionally measured toe angle of said vehicle wheel to said detector determined toe angle of said vehicle wheel to ascertain the calibration accuracy of said conventional toe angle measuring device.
- 33. A method for use with a vehicle wheel alignment system for providing a redundant angle measurement capacity between a pair of adjacent wheel alignment sensors mounted on vehicle wheels, comprising:
obtaining a first measurement of a vehicle wheel alignment angle at a first of said pair of adjacent wheel alignment sensors; providing at least a pair of radiation emitters in a known geometrical configuration at said first of said pair of adjacent wheel alignment sensors; observing an apparent geometrical configuration of said radiation emitters at a second of said pair of adjacent wheel alignment sensors; and determining a second measurement of said vehicle wheel alignment angle from said apparent geometrical configuration of said radiation emitters.
- 34. The method of claim 33 for providing a redundant angle measurement capacity further comprising:
obtaining a first measurement of a second vehicle wheel alignment angle at said second of said pair of adjacent wheel alignment sensors; and wherein the step of determining said second measurement of said vehicle wheel alignment angle includes utilizing said first measurement of said second vehicle wheel alignment angle, together with said apparent geometrical configuration of said radiation emitters.
- 35. The method of claim 33 wherein said vehicle wheel alignment angle is a camber angle.
- 36. The method of claim 33 wherein said vehicle wheel alignment angle is a toe angle.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/184,423, filed on Nov. 2, 1998, and claims priority therefrom.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09184423 |
Nov 1998 |
US |
Child |
09810357 |
Mar 2001 |
US |