ALIGNMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VEHICLE-MOUNTED DEVICES
First Claim
1. A system for aligning a device on a body of a vehicle relative to a drive axis of the vehicle defined by a pair of rear wheels, the system comprising:
- a bar configured to be wedged against the pair of rear wheels to assume an orientation perpendicular to the vehicle drive axis;
a target configured to be positioned in the line of sight of the device to be oriented; and
two substantially equal length elongated members coupled between the bar and the target such that a parallelogram is created by the bar, the target, and the two elongated members, regardless of the position of the target relative to the vehicle and the bar.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for aligning a device on a body of a vehicle relative to a drive axis of the vehicle defined by a pair of rear wheels. A bar is configured to be wedged against the pair of rear wheels to assume an orientation perpendicular to the vehicle drive axis. A target is configured to be positioned in the line of sight of the device to be oriented. Two substantially equal length elongated members are coupled between the bar and the target such that a parallelogram is created by the bar, the target, and the two elongated members, regardless of the position of the target relative to the vehicle and the bar. Multiple alignment methods are capable of being carried out with the alignment system.
44 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for aligning a device on a body of a vehicle relative to a drive axis of the vehicle defined by a pair of rear wheels, the system comprising:
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a bar configured to be wedged against the pair of rear wheels to assume an orientation perpendicular to the vehicle drive axis; a target configured to be positioned in the line of sight of the device to be oriented; and two substantially equal length elongated members coupled between the bar and the target such that a parallelogram is created by the bar, the target, and the two elongated members, regardless of the position of the target relative to the vehicle and the bar. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of orienting an alignment target relative to a vehicle for orienting a device on a body of a vehicle relative to a drive axis of the vehicle, the method comprising:
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coupling a first end of a first elongated member of a predetermined length to a left side of the alignment target; coupling a first end of a second elongated member of the predetermined length to a right side of the alignment target; fixing the position of a second end of the first elongated member at a fixed distance from the axis of a rear axle of the vehicle; and fixing the position of a second end of the second elongated member at the fixed distance from the axis of the rear axle so that the second ends of the first and second elongated members are spaced apart a spacing distance that is measured parallel to the axis of the rear axle, the spacing distance being substantially equal to a distance between the first ends of the first and second elongated members, such that the alignment target is automatically oriented to be parallel to the axis of the rear axle and perpendicular to the vehicle drive axis. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of orienting a sensor on a body of a vehicle relative to a vehicle drive axis with a reflective alignment target, the method comprising:
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coupling respective first ends of two substantially equal length elongated members to the alignment target such that the first ends of the elongated members are spaced apart a spacing distance; fixing respective second ends of the elongated members at a fixed distance from the axis of a rear axle of the vehicle, the second ends of the elongated members being spaced apart a spacing distance substantially equal to the spacing distance between the first ends of the elongated members, such that the alignment target is automatically oriented to be parallel to the axis of the rear axle and perpendicular to the vehicle drive axis; positioning a mirror of the alignment target in a vertical orientation; and determining an amount of angular misalignment of the sensor relative to the drive axis by operating the sensor to emit multiple signals and then measuring signals reflected off of the mirror with multiple antennas of the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification