METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING GEOMETRICAL DIMENSIONS OF A VEHICLE WHEEL
First Claim
1. A method of determining geometrical dimensions of a motor vehicle wheel (rim/tyre assembly) by contact-less sensing, whereinthe wheel is fixed on wheel receiving device;
- at least one planar light beam is emitted on to the wheel or at least a part of the wheel;
the light beam is reflected at a stripe-shaped impingement area; and
the reflected beam is focused and projected on to a two-dimensional light sensitive image sensor surface at a stripe-shaped projected image area, wherein the image sensor surface is suitable to generate image signals which are proportional to the positions of a plurality of points of the projected image area; and
the direction of the emitted light beam and the sensor signals are evaluated for determining the shape and/or position of the stripe-shape impingement area on the wheel.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and an apparatus of determining geometrical dimensions of a motor vehicle wheel (rim/tyre assembly) 1 by contact-less sensing, wherein the wheel is fixed on wheel receiving means 8 of a tyre changer, that at least one planar light beam 3 is emitted on to the wheel or at least a part of the wheel, wherein the light beam reflected at the impingement area is detected, and wherein the directions of the emitted and reflected light beams are evaluated for determining the shape and/or position of the respective impingement area 4 on the wheel 1.
24 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of determining geometrical dimensions of a motor vehicle wheel (rim/tyre assembly) by contact-less sensing, wherein
the wheel is fixed on wheel receiving device; -
at least one planar light beam is emitted on to the wheel or at least a part of the wheel; the light beam is reflected at a stripe-shaped impingement area; and the reflected beam is focused and projected on to a two-dimensional light sensitive image sensor surface at a stripe-shaped projected image area, wherein the image sensor surface is suitable to generate image signals which are proportional to the positions of a plurality of points of the projected image area; and the direction of the emitted light beam and the sensor signals are evaluated for determining the shape and/or position of the stripe-shape impingement area on the wheel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 32)
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16. An apparatus for determining geometrical dimensions of a vehicle wheel (1) comprising:
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at least one light source (2) suitable for emitting a planar light beam (3) from a given position in at least one given direction on to a stripe-shape impingement area (4) of the wheel surface or a part of the wheel surface; at least one detector (5) which is placed at a given position and suitable for detecting the light beam reflected from the stripe-shaped impingement area (4) on the wheel surface, wherein the detector (5) includes a focusing input pupil (6) through which the reflected beam is projected to a two-dimensional light sensitive sensor surface (12) arranged in the focal plane of the input pupil (6) and producing ing image signals which are proportional to the location of a stripe-shaped projected image area of the reflected beam on the sensor surface (12); and an evaluation arrangement (7) which is connected to the detector (5) and suitable for determining from the sensor signals the position and geometrical shape of the stripe-shape impingement area (4) on the wheel surface. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification