Method and Apparatus For Selecting Wheel Rim Imbalance Correction Weight
First Claim
1. A method for identifying a style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to a vehicle wheel rim edge, comprising the steps of:
- scanning the vehicle wheel rim edge;
determining a profile of the scanned wheel rim edge;
comparing said profile with a plurality of stored clip-on imbalance correction weight profiles; and
responsive to said comparison, identifying at least one style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to the vehicle wheel rim edge.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for selecting a style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to a vehicle wheel rim edge during a vehicle wheel imbalance correction procedure. A wheel rim edge or lip is scanned to establish a representation of the wheel rim edge profile or lip configuration. The established representation of the wheel rim edge profile or lip configuration is compared with a plurality of clip-on imbalance correction weight profiles and clip shapes to identify at least the best-fit match between the wheel rim edge profile or lip configuration and a clip-on imbalance correction weight in the set of available weight profiles.
25 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for identifying a style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to a vehicle wheel rim edge, comprising the steps of:
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scanning the vehicle wheel rim edge;
determining a profile of the scanned wheel rim edge;
comparing said profile with a plurality of stored clip-on imbalance correction weight profiles; and
responsive to said comparison, identifying at least one style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to the vehicle wheel rim edge. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An improved wheel balancer having a balancer processing system, spindle shaft for mounting a vehicle wheel assembly consisting of at least a vehicle wheel rim for rotation thereon, and a wheel rim measurement system for acquiring data representative of a profile of the wheel rim edge, the improvement comprising:
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wherein the balancer processing system is configured with program instructions to compare data from the wheel rim measurement system which is representative of a wheel rim edge profile with a plurality of stored clip-on imbalance correction weight profiles; and
wherein the balancer processing system is further configured with program instructions responsive to said comparison to identify a style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to the vehicle wheel rim. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for selecting a type of clip-on imbalance correction weight in a vehicle wheel balancing system including an imaging sensor assembly configured to provide dimensional data associated with a wheel rim edge in a field of view encompassing at least a portion of a vehicle wheel assembly undergoing a vehicle wheel balancing procedure, comprising:
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observing the vehicle wheel rim edge with the imaging sensor assembly to generate an image of the vehicle wheel rim edge;
generating a representation of the profile of the scanned wheel rim edge from said generated image;
comparing said profile representation with a plurality of stored clip-on imbalance correction weight profiles; and
responsive to said comparison, identifying at least one style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to the vehicle wheel rim edge. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for identifying a type of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to a vehicle wheel rim lip, comprising the steps of:
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determining profiles of inside and outside surfaces of a lip of the vehicle wheel rim;
comparing said identified profiles with a plurality of stored clip-on imbalance correction weight clip profiles; and
responsive to said comparison, identifying at least one style of clip-on imbalance correction weight for application to the vehicle wheel rim lip. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. An improved wheel balancer having a balancer processing system, spindle shaft for mounting a vehicle wheel assembly consisting of at least a vehicle wheel rim for rotation thereon, and a wheel rim measurement system for acquiring data representative of the characteristics of the wheel rim lip, the improvement comprising:
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wherein the balancer processing system is configured with program instructions to compare data from the wheel rim measurement system which is representative of a wheel rim lip characteristics with a plurality of stored imbalance correction weight profiles; and
wherein the balancer processing system is further configured with program instructions responsive to said comparison to identify a style of imbalance correction weight for application to the vehicle wheel rim lip. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A method for correcting an imbalance in a vehicle wheel assembly, comprising the steps of:
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measuring an imbalance associated with the vehicle wheel assembly;
identifying a type of imbalance correction weight for application to the vehicle wheel assembly;
identifying at least one characteristic of said identified type of imbalance correction weight;
utilizing at least said identified characteristic and said measured imbalance to determine at least one placement location and imbalance correction weight amount for placement of an imbalance correction weight of the identified type on the vehicle wheel assembly. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
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32. An improved wheel balancer having a balancer processing system, spindle shaft for mounting a vehicle wheel assembly consisting of at least a vehicle wheel rim for rotation thereon, the improvement comprising:
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wherein the balancer processing system is configured with a database of imbalance correction weight characteristics, said imbalance correction weight characteristics including parameters from which a center of gravity can be determined for at least one style of imbalance correction weight; and
wherein the balancer processing system is configured to utilize data stored in said database to determine an imbalance correction weight placement location on a vehicle wheel assembly.
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Specification