Motorized inbound laser orientation and wheel recognition station
First Claim
1. A wheel style recognition system for identifying styles of wheel workpieces and orienting the wheel workpieces, the wheel workpieces having a central hub for mounting to an axle of a motor vehicle, a rim portion, and a spoke section connecting the rim portion to the hub, the wheel style recognition system comprising:
- a wheel style recognition station;
a conveyor for delivering a wheel workpiece to said wheel style recognition station;
a servomotor for rotating the wheel workpiece in a scanning position at said wheel style recognition station at a steady rate of rotation;
a wheel orientation sensor for sensing the radial orientation of the wheel workpiece on said wheel style recognition station, and for generating a radial orientation signal;
a wheel mapping sensor unit for scanning the wheel workpiece when said servomotor rotates the wheel workpiece and for generating a wheel style mapping signal pattern; and
a control unit for comparing said wheel style mapping signal pattern with at least one reference wheel style mapping signal pattern.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The wheel style recognition system for identifying and orienting wheel workpieces includes a wheel style recognition station, a conveyor for delivering a wheel workpiece to the wheel style recognition station, and a wheel orientation sensor that senses the radial orientation of the wheel workpiece on the wheel style recognition station, and generates a radial orientation signal. A wheel mapping sensor scans the wheel workpiece and generates a wheel style mapping signal pattern, while the wheel workpiece is rotated at a steady rate of rotation. A control unit compares the wheel style mapping signal pattern with at least one reference wheel style mapping signal pattern.
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Citations
70 Claims
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1. A wheel style recognition system for identifying styles of wheel workpieces and orienting the wheel workpieces, the wheel workpieces having a central hub for mounting to an axle of a motor vehicle, a rim portion, and a spoke section connecting the rim portion to the hub, the wheel style recognition system comprising:
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a wheel style recognition station;
a conveyor for delivering a wheel workpiece to said wheel style recognition station;
a servomotor for rotating the wheel workpiece in a scanning position at said wheel style recognition station at a steady rate of rotation;
a wheel orientation sensor for sensing the radial orientation of the wheel workpiece on said wheel style recognition station, and for generating a radial orientation signal;
a wheel mapping sensor unit for scanning the wheel workpiece when said servomotor rotates the wheel workpiece and for generating a wheel style mapping signal pattern; and
a control unit for comparing said wheel style mapping signal pattern with at least one reference wheel style mapping signal pattern. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A wheel style recognition system for identifying styles of wheel workpieces and orienting the wheel workpieces, the wheel workpieces having a central hub for mounting to an axle of a motor vehicle, a rim portion, and a spoke section connecting the rim portion to the hub, the wheel style recognition system comprising:
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a wheel style recognition station;
means for delivering a wheel workpiece to a scanning position at said wheel style recognition station;
means for sensing the radial orientation of the wheel workpiece on said wheel style recognition station, and for generating a wheel orientation signal;
means for scanning the wheel workpiece and for generating a wheel style mapping signal pattern; and
means for comparing said wheel style mapping signal pattern with at least one reference wheel style mapping signal pattern. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method for identifying styles of wheels and orienting the wheels for processing in a motor vehicle wheel processing system, the wheels having a central hub for mounting to an axle of a motor vehicle, a rim portion, and a spoke section connecting the rim portion to the hub;
- the motor vehicle wheel processing system including a wheel style recognition station having a wheel recognition platform, a conveyor for delivering a series of wheels to the wheel style recognition station to the wheel recognition platform, a gate movable between a first position blocking movement of wheels onto the wheel recognition platform and a second position removed from the path of the wheels, the method comprising the steps of;
positioning a wheel over said wheel recognition platform;
radially orienting the wheel on said wheel recognition platform and generating a wheel orientation signal indicating the wheel has reached the starting position for scanning of the wheel;
scanning the wheel responsive to said wheel orientation signal and generating a wheel style mapping signal pattern; and
comparing the test wheel style mapping signal pattern with at least one reference wheel style mapping signal pattern. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
- the motor vehicle wheel processing system including a wheel style recognition station having a wheel recognition platform, a conveyor for delivering a series of wheels to the wheel style recognition station to the wheel recognition platform, a gate movable between a first position blocking movement of wheels onto the wheel recognition platform and a second position removed from the path of the wheels, the method comprising the steps of;
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62. A wheel recognition system for identifying a production wheel having a hub at a central position on the wheel and having at least one spoke which is displaced radially outwardly from the hub and which is provided with a particular configuration, including
means for providing a rotation of the wheel at a substantially constant speed, a sensor disposed at a particular radial position relative to the wheel to direct energy to the wheel and to receive energy reflected from the wheel in accordance with the configuration of the spoke in the wheel at the radial position of the sensor and to produce a signal in accordance with the characteristics of the energy reflected to the sensor, means for initiating the production of the signal at a particular rotary position of the production wheel during the rotation of the wheel, means for providing a pattern of signals indicating the characteristics of energy reflected from a spoke configuration on a reference wheel at progressive rotary positions on the wheel at substantially the same radial position as the sensor, and means for comparing the pattern of the signals produced at the progressive rotary positions of the production wheel and the reference wheel to identify whether the particular configuration of the spoke on the production wheel corresponds to the spoke configuration on the reference wheel.
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68. A method of identifying the spoke configuration of a production wheel, including the steps of:
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rotating the production wheel at a substantially constant speed, providing an indication at a start position of the production wheel, generating, at progressive rotary positions from the start position, an energy pattern indicative of the spoke configuration of the production wheel at a particular radial distance from the center of the production wheel, generating at the substantially constant speed an energy pattern at progressive rotary positions of a spoke configuration of a reference wheel at the particular radial distance from the center of the reference wheel, and comparing the energy patterns of the progressive rotary positions of the production and reference wheels at the particular radial distances from the centers of the wheels to determine if the spoke configuration of the production wheel corresponds to the spoke configuration of the reference wheel. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70)
providing for a particular processing of the production wheel when the production wheel is identified as corresponding to the reference wheel.
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70. A method as set forth in claim 68, including the steps of:
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generating, at progressive rotary positions from the start position, an energy pattern indicative of the spoke configuration of the production wheel at a second radial distance from the center of the production wheel, and comparing the energy patterns at the progressive rotary positions of the production and reference wheels at the second radial distances from the centers of the wheels to determine if the spoke configuration of the production wheel corresponds to the spoke configuration of the reference wheel.
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Specification