System and Method For Wheel Assembly Acoustical Evaluation

• US 20140025251A1
• Filed: 07/19/2013
• Published: 01/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hunter Engineering Company
• Original Assignee: Hunter Engineering Company
• Inventors: Clasquin, Joel, Meyer, Gregory F., Strege, Timothy A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,026,305 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/31.4
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/062 Frequency spectrum analysis of wheel speed signals, e.g. using Fourier transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/013 Wheels
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/025 using infrasonic, sonic or ultrasonic vibrations

Abstract

A vehicle service or inspection system including a load roller for applying a radial load to a vehicle wheel assembly consisting of a tire mounted to a rim, with at least one sensor for acquiring measurements of acoustical energy generated by the wheel assembly during loaded rotational movement. The vehicle service or inspection system is configured with a programmed processor to evaluate the acquired measurements to provide a measure of tire road noise, identification of tire defects, and/or identification of sources of noise, vibrations, or acoustical energy on the tire surface such as tire flat spots, cupping, bubbles, embedded foreign objects, or other defects. The processor is further configured with software instructions to utilize the acquired measurements to provide a consumer with a figure of merit associated with the acoustics of the tire undergoing testing

Claims

1. A vehicle wheel service system having a rotating spindle shaft for receiving a vehicle wheel assembly, a drive motor for rotationally driving the rotating spindle shaft under control of a processing system and a controlled load roller for applying a generally radial load to an outer circumferential surface of the vehicle wheel assembly during rotation, comprising:

wherein the processing system is further configured with a set of software instructions to obtain a measure of acoustical energy generated by the wheel assembly during rotational movement while under an applied load from the controlled load roller; and

wherein the processing system is further configured with a set of software instructions to process said obtained measure of acoustical energy to identify one or more tire characteristics.

2. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said measure of acoustical energy is retrieved from an accessible data storage.

3. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said tire characteristics include, but are not limited to, a relative tire loudness level, road noise, tire tread wear, and the presence of one or more tire defects or damaged regions.

4. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said processing system is configured with a set of software instructions to provide a visual display of said measure of acoustical energy to an operator.

5. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 3 wherein said visual display is a numerical value.

6. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 3 wherein said visual display is a graphical representation.

7. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said processing system is configured with a set of software instructions to store said measure of acoustical energy in an accessible data storage, together with at least one associated tire parameter selected from a set of tire parameters including, but not limited to, tire brand, tire model, tire dimensions, tire inflation pressure, tire wear, tire service age, and tire placement location on a vehicle.

8. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said processing system is configured with a set of software instructions to compare said measure of acoustical energy with one or more measurements of acoustical energy stored in an accessible data storage, and to provide an operator with a visual display associated with said comparison.

9. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 8 wherein said one or more stored measurements of acoustical energy are each associated with a different vehicle wheel assembly or tire.

10. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 8 wherein said one or more stored measurements of acoustical energy are each associated with said vehicle wheel assembly at different points in time, and wherein said visual display associated with said comparison represents a of change in tread wear for said vehicle wheel assembly tire.

11. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said processing system is further configured to obtain samples of said measure of acoustical energy over a period of at least one full revolution of said vehicle wheel assembly, and wherein each of said samples is associated with a location about the circumference of the wheel assembly by synchronization of said sampling with said wheel assembly rotational movement.

12. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 11 wherein said processing system is configured to identify once-per-revolution variances in said samples of said measure of acoustical energy, and to provide an operator with an identification of a corresponding location about said wheel assembly circumference for inspection.

13. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said acoustical energy generated by the tire during rotational movement is within a range of human hearing.

14. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein a portion of said acoustical energy generated by the tire during rotational movement is outside a range of human hearing.

15. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said sensor is a microphone.

16. The vehicle wheel service system of claim 1 wherein said sensor is a transducer responsive to mechanical vibrations.

17. A method for providing a representation of the acoustical energy generated by a vehicle wheel assembly consisting of a tire mounted to a wheel rim during loaded rotational movement, comprising:

mounting the vehicle wheel assembly to a driven spindle shaft of a vehicle wheel service system;

applying a generally radial load to an outer circumference of the vehicle wheel assembly during driven rotation of the spindle shaft and vehicle wheel assembly;

acquiring data representative of acoustical energy generated during the driven rotation of the vehicle wheel assembly under the applied load; and

processing said obtained data to produce a representation of the acoustical energy generated by the vehicle wheel assembly.

18. The method of claim 17 further including the step of providing a visual display of said representation of acoustical energy to an operator.

19. The method of claim 17 further including the step of storing said representation of acoustical energy in an accessible data storage, together with at least one associated tire parameter.

20. The method of claim 17 where the data is acquired over at least one complete revolution of said vehicle wheel assembly;

and

wherein processing said obtained data identifies at least one characteristic or defect present within the vehicle wheel assembly, said characteristic or defect including, but not limited to, a measure of road noise, an identified surface non-uniformity, a measure of surface wear, the presence of an embedded foreign object, the presence of tire structure damage, or an identification of a tire inflation condition.