APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AN ELECTRONIC WHEEL BALANCER WITH MULTIPLE BALANCING PLANE CONTROL AND IMPROVED OPERATOR INTERFACE
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for balancing a wheel with a weight correction by an operator, comprising:
- visually presenting to said operator a spatial relationship between a correction plane selection and a weight placement location on said wheel.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic wheel balancer performs imbalance measurements at variable speeds for different size wheels. The inertia of a wheel mounted on the balancer is determined by measuring the acceleration time of the wheel from a first speed to a second higher speed and the operating speed is adjusted accordingly. An improved operator interface pod incorporates correction plane indicators/selection buttons adjacent the weight display. Auxiliary weight storage is also provided.
-
Citations
51 Claims
-
1. A method for balancing a wheel with a weight correction by an operator, comprising:
visually presenting to said operator a spatial relationship between a correction plane selection and a weight placement location on said wheel.
-
2. A method for balancing a wheel with a weight correction by an operator, comprising:
-
selecting a measurement mode;
selecting a first correction plane;
selecting a balancing mode; and
calculating said weight correction. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. An apparatus for selection of a correction plane for balancing a wheel, comprising:
-
an operator interface pod including a front panel, wherein said front panel includes a mode button, a keypad, a plane selection button, a plane location indicator, and a display screen;
connected toa main processor board including processor memory.
-
-
25. An operator interface pod for an apparatus for selection of a correction plane for placement of weight to balance a wheel, comprising:
-
a means for selecting a correction plane for placement of said weight;
a display for indicating said correction plane, a magnitude of said weight, and an angular position of said wheel for attachment of said weight. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. An operator interface panel for a wheel balancing apparatus for selection of a correction plane for placement of weight to balance a wheel by an operator, comprising:
-
a means for selecting a correction plane for placement of said weight on said wheel including a graphic representation of correction planes corresponding to a wheel rim; and
an interactive display screen for information exchange between said operator and said apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
-
-
45. A wheel balancing apparatus interface system for selection of a correction plane for placement of weight to balance a wheel, comprising:
-
touch-control correction-plane selection switches for selecting said correction plane for placement of said weight;
illuminated graphic plane position indicators associated with said selection switches, wherein the location of said plane position indicators represent a spatial relationship between said correction plane and the location of said correction plane on said wheel;
an interactive display screen with a visual information display area constructed from a graphic liquid crystal display, wherein said interactive display screen provides visual prompts to an operator and displays a magnitude of said weight and an angular position of said wheel for attachment of said weight;
functionally programmable control buttons located in proximity to said interactive display screen allowing interactive use of said control buttons with associated prompts displayed on said interactive display screen;
a mode display for selecting a mode from a mode group including a dynamic mode, a static mode, a measured mode, and a preset mode;
a numeric keypad for entering information constructed from soft keys;
an operator selection button; and
a manual start switch.
-
-
46. A machine for balancing of motor vehicle wheels by positioning weight on a wheel in an angular position within a correction plane, comprising:
-
a shaft for mounting said wheel;
a drive motor operatively connected to said shaft;
a processing control system operatively connected to said drive motor; and
an operator interface operative connected to said processing control system, wherein said interface includes a correction-plane selection switch for selecting said correction plane for placement of said weight; and
a graphic plane position indicator associated with said selection switch, wherein the location of said plane position indicator represents a spatial relationship of a location of said correction plane and said wheel. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49)
-
-
50. A machine for balancing of motor vehicle wheels by positioning weight on a wheel in an angular position within a correction plane, comprising:
-
a shaft for mounting said wheel;
a drive motor operatively connected to said shaft;
a processing control system operatively connected to said drive motor;
an interactive display screen operative connected to said processing control system, wherein said interactive display screen includes a visual information display area constructed from a graphic liquid crystal display, and said interactive display screen provides visual prompts to an operator including a displays of a magnitude of said weight and an angular position of said wheel for attachment of said weight. - View Dependent Claims (51)
-
Specification