Tire changer with actuated load roller

• US 8,250,915 B1
• Filed: 07/01/2009
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hunter Engineering Company
• Original Assignee: Hunter Engineering Company
• Inventors: Voeller, David A., Hanneken, Douglas S., Molbach, Steve, Clasquin, Joel, Gerdes, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kwok, Helen C.
• Application Number:
  US12/495,847
• Time in Patent Office: 1,154 Days
• Field of Search: 73/66, 734/60, 734/62, 734/68, 731/46, 702/33, 702/34, 702/41, 332/031.3
• US Class Current: 73/460
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 25/056 measuring speed, acceleration or forces
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 25/138 with rotary motion of tool or tyre support
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/021 Tyre supporting devices, e.g. chucks for balancing G01M1/04

Abstract

A tire changer with a controller includes a with a mount assembly adapted for contacting a wheel assembly to mount the wheel to a rotating spindle. The tire changer controller is configured to regulated the operation of a motor, which may be hydraulically driven, and which is operatively connected to the rotating spindle to rotate the wheel assembly. A sensor coupled to the controller provides a data representative of the rotational position of the wheel assembly about a rotational axis. The controller is further configured to regulate the operation of a hydraulic actuating means for engaging a load roller with the wheel assembly to apply a radial force to a tire mounted on a rim of the wheel assembly during rotation of the wheel, and to regulate the operation of a tire handling means adapted to hold the tire during rotation of the wheel rim enabling automated adjustment of the tire angular mounting position relative to the wheel rim.

Claims

1. A tire changing system comprising:

a mount assembly secured to a framework of the tire changing system, said mount assembly adapted for securing a wheel rim to mount the wheel rim to the tire changing system, said wheel rim including at least one bead seat for contacting a tire;

a motor operatively connected to the mount assembly for rotating said mount assembly about a rotational axis of the tire changing system, thereby to rotate the secured wheel rim;

a controlled component secured to said framework and configured to selectively hold the tire mounted on the wheel rim in a stationary position, during rotation of the wheel rim by the mount assembly;

a sensor for measuring a rotational position of the wheel rim about said rotational axis;

a load roller configured to apply, to the tire mounted on the wheel rim, a generally radial force during rotation of the wheel rim about said rotational axis; and

at least one sensor for acquiring a loaded wheel/tire assembly measurement associated with the radial force on the tire applied by the load roller.

2. The tire changing system of claim 1 further including an actuation mechanism, which may be either hydraulic or pneumatic, for engaging said load roller to apply said generally radial force to said tire.

3. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 2 wherein said actuation mechanism is configured to displace said load roller in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis to engage the tire.

4. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 2 wherein said actuation mechanism is configured to displace said mount assembly in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis to engage the tire with the load roller.

5. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the loaded wheel/tire assembly measurement is a measurement of loaded radial runout.

6. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the loaded wheel/tire assembly measurement is a measurement of variation in radial force.

7. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the load roller is configured to apply a force greater than 150 pounds in a generally radial direction to the tire during rotation of the tire mounted on the wheel rim.

8. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 1 further including:

a sensor for measuring runout of the wheel rim at the bead seat with respect to the rotational axis; and

a control system which is configured to utilize the measurement of wheel rim runout and the loaded wheel/tire assembly measurement to determine an angular remount position of the tire on the wheel rim to minimize a predetermined uniformity parameter of the tire or the tire mounted on the wheel rim as a wheel/tire assembly.

9. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the control system is configured to control said actuation mechanism to vary the force applied by the load roller from one wheel to another, as a function of at least a tire width, a tire diameter, or a rim diameter.

10. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the control system is further configured to automatically remount the tire on the wheel rim by controlling said controlled component to maintain the tire in a fixed rotational position and concurrently control the motor and the mount assembly to rotate the wheel rim to align said tire and said wheel rim to said determined angular remount position.

11. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the control system is configured to determine and display the angular remount position of the tire with respect to the wheel rim that would minimize the predetermined uniformity parameter for the assembly of the tire mounted on a wheel.

12. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the control system is configured to control rotation of the mount assembly and the secured wheel rim about said rotational axis to a predetermined rotational position to facilitate identification of the angular remount position.

13. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the control system is configured to control rotation of the mount assembly and the secured wheel rim such that a circumferential location on the tire mounted on the wheel rim, having the largest R1H out-of-round condition is rotated to a predetermined position to facilitate identification of said location.

14. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 13 wherein said control system is configured to control the actuation mechanism to alter the force applied by the load roller to the tire in response to signals from a manually operated input device.

52. The tire changing system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said controlled component is either a tire clamp tool or a set of pinch roller assemblies.

15. A method for altering a mounting of a tire on a wheel rim using a tire changing system having a load roller assembly configured to apply a generally radial load to a wheel assembly consisting of the tire mounted to the wheel rim, disposed on the tire changing system, comprising:

actuating the load roller assembly to engage the wheel assembly and apply a generally radial load to said wheel assembly during a driven rotation of said wheel assembly about an axis of rotation;

acquiring measurements associated with said applied load on said wheel assembly during rotation of said wheel assembly;

utilizing said acquired measurements to identify a rotational mounting orientation for said tire on said wheel rim; and

altering said rotational mounting orientation of said tire on said wheel rim to said identified rotational mounting orientation by engaging and holding said tire stationary relative to said wheel rim with a controlled component while said wheel rim is rotated concentrically within said tire to the identified rotational mounting orientation.

16. The method of claim 15 further including the step of measuring wheel rim runout at a bead seat of the wheel rim with respect to said axis of rotation;

and

wherein said step of utilizing said acquired measurements further includes utilizing said wheel rim runout together with said acquired measurements associated said applied load to determine an angular remount position of the tire on the wheel rim to minimize at least one predetermined uniformity parameter of the wheel assembly.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of actuating the load roller assembly includes monitoring a force applied to said wheel assembly by said load roller.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of acquiring measurements associated with said applied load on said wheel assembly during rotation of said wheel assembly includes monitoring a radial runout of the wheel assembly.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of acquiring measurements associated with said applied load on said wheel assembly during rotation of said wheel assembly includes monitoring a lateral runout of the wheel assembly.

53. The method of claim 15 wherein said controlled component is either a tire clamp tool or a set of pinch roller assemblies.

20. A tire changer, comprising:

a mount assembly secured to a framework for receiving at least a wheel rim of a wheel/tire assembly, the mount assembly having a rotational axis;

a controlled component secured to said framework to selectively engage the tire mounted on the wheel rim and hold the tire in a stationary position, during rotation of the wheel rim by the mount assembly;

a load roller being able to contact a peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly and to apply a predetermined force to the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly;

a control system for controlling the predetermined force applied by the load roller during a rotation of the wheel/tire assembly about the rotational axis of the mount assembly;

a sensor for measuring force variations acting between the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly and the load roller; and

wherein an actuation mechanism of the load roller and of the mount assembly is designed for a relative movement of the load roller and of the mount assembly towards each other along a straight line to apply the predetermined force to the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly.

21. The tire changer according to claim 20, wherein the actuation mechanism of the load roller is mounted to a framework of the tire changer.

22. The tire changer according to claim 20, wherein the mount assembly is movable towards the load roller to achieve an engagement between the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly and the load roller.

23. The tire changer according to claim 22, wherein the load roller is fixed on a framework.

24. The tire changer according to claim 20, wherein the load roller is movable towards the mount assembly to achieve an engagement of the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly and of the load roller.

25. The tire changer according to claim 20, wherein a motor is provided on the mount assembly for driving the wheel/tire assembly about the rotational axis of the mount assembly.

26. The tire changer according to claim 20, wherein the sensor which measures the force variations acting between the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly and the load roller includes a force sensor which is linked by force locking to the load roller or the mount assembly, wherein a physical effect created at the force sensor is transformed into an electric signal.

27. The tire changer according to claim 26 wherein the force sensor comprises a strain gauge, a piezoelectric sensor and/or a Hall sensor.

28. The tire changer according to claim 20, wherein the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly is a tread surface of a tire.

29. The tire changer according to claim 20 wherein the load roller is supported in a fixed radial position with respect to the wheel/tire assembly at least during the rotation of the wheel/tire assembly.

30. The tire changer according to claim 20, wherein the actuation mechanism of the load roller and of the mount assembly are configured to move the load roller and the mount assembly along the straight line extending between the rotational axis of the mount assembly and a roller axis about which the load roller is rotatable.

31. The tire changer according to claim 20 wherein the mount assembly and/or the load roller are driven by a linear drive to apply the predetermined force onto the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly.

32. The tire changer according to claim 20 wherein the sensor includes a load cell providing an electric signal which is proportional to the force acting between the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly and the load roller.

33. The tire changer according to claim 20 wherein a bead seat runout sensor is provided to determine a radial rim runout, especially the runout of a bead seat surface of the wheel rim.

34. The tire changer according to one of claim 20 wherein an angular position sensor is provided to determine an angular position of the wheel/tire assembly during rotation, especially during the measurement of the force variations.

35. The tire changer according to one of claim 20 wherein a clamp tool is provided to remount a tire on the wheel rim into an angular position in which a high spot of a force variation and a low spot of a radial rim runout match.

54. The tire changer as set forth in claim 20 wherein said controlled component is either a tire clamp tool or a set of pinch roller assemblies.

36. A method for measuring force variations acting between a peripheral surface of a wheel/tire assembly and a load roller of a tire changing system having a mount assembly for positioning and rotating the wheel/tire assembly about a rotational axis, and a controlled component for selectively engaging and holding the tire of said wheel/tire assembly, comprising:

mounting the wheel/tire assembly on said mount assembly;

moving the load roller and the wheel/tire assembly into contact to engage the load roller and the wheel/tire assembly and to apply a controlled predetermined force to a peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly; and

measuring force variations acting between the peripheral surface and the load roller while the wheel/tire assembly is rotated about the rotational axis by the mount assembly.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the load roller and the wheel/tire assembly are moved into contact by moving relatively towards each other along a line extending between the rotational axis of the mount assembly and an axis about which the load roller is rotatable.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the mount assembly is moved to engage the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly with the load roller.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein the load roller is moved to a position to engage the peripheral surface of the wheel/tire assembly.

40. The method of claim 36 wherein the step of measuring force variations includes measuring radial forces acting along the straight line extended between a rotational axis of the mount assembly and the load roller and/or lateral forces acting perpendicular to the straight line.

41. The method of claim 36 wherein the mount assembly and the load roller are held stationary during the measurement of the force variations.

42. The method of claim 36 wherein a rim runout of a bead seat surface of the wheel rim is measured.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein a runout measurement and/or a force measurement are carried out in relation to the respective angular position at a wheel rim and/or at a tire.

44. The method of claim 36 further including the step of remounting a tire with respect to a wheel rim of the wheel/tire assembly to minimize vibration or force variation of the rotating wheel/tire assembly by holding the tire stationary with said controlled component while the wheel rim is rotated by said mount assembly concentrically within the tire to an identified rotational position.

55. The method of claim 36 wherein said controlled component is either a tire clamp tool or a set of pinch roller assemblies.

45. A wheel assembly service method for mounting a tire to a wheel rim on a tire changing system, comprising:

measuring runout about a circumference of the wheel rim;

mounting the tire to said wheel rim;

measuring wheel assembly loaded force variations about the circumference of the tire mounted to said wheel rim;

selectively altering an angular mounting position of the tire with respect to said wheel rim in response to said measured runout and said measured wheel assembly loaded force variations by holding the tire stationary while the wheel rim is rotated concentrically within the tire to a selected angular mounting position.

46. The wheel assembly service method of claim 45 further including the step of dismounting the tire from said wheel rim prior to said step of measuring said runout.

47. The wheel assembly service method of claim 45 wherein said step of measuring runout measures runout about the circumference of at least one bead seat of the wheel rim.

48. The wheel assembly service method of claim 47 wherein said at least one bead seat of the wheel rim is an exterior bead seat.

49. The wheel assembly service method of claim 47 wherein said at least one bead seat of the wheel rim is an interior bead seat.

50. The wheel assembly service method of claim 45 wherein said step of measuring runout includes acquiring optical measurements of radial and/or lateral runout of the wheel rim.

51. The wheel assembly service method of claim 45 wherein said step of measuring runout includes acquiring mechanical measurements of radial and/or lateral runout of the wheel rim.