Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G01M1/00—Testing static or dynamic balance of machines or structures
  • G01M1/12—Static balancing; Determining position of centre of gravity

Definitions

• This invention concerns an apparatus for the static balancing of road vehicle wheels, and specifically, wheels of two-wheelers, scooters or similar vehicles.
• the invention refers also to a method for balancing wheels of vehicles.
• the balancing machines allow an extremely quick and effective dynamic balancing, supplying the operator with exact data and instructions about position and size of specific weights to install on the wheel rim in order to counterbalance any detected unbalance.
• the above machines are, for instance, widely used at the shops of substitution and repair of car tyres, as it is necessary to make the balancing of a wheel every time that its tyre is substituted or repaired.
• This invention aims to provide an apparatus and a method for balancing the wheels of road vehicles, and, particularly, of motorcycles or similar, in such a way to achieve the above objects.
• a further ai of the invention is to provide a wheel balancing apparatus having low dimensions and weight, so to be advantageously used in restrained working spaces and to be easily moved.
• an apparatus for balancing the wheels of road vehicles, and particularly of motorcycles or similar comprising:
• - angular reference means of the unbalance zone of the wheel said means preferably consisting of a bar rotatably joined to said axle;
• the fixing means dedicated to connect, each other, the wheel and the angular reference bar are formed, preferably, by L shaped arms, hinged at the ends of said bar and elastically pulled toward the centre of the wheel, in such a way to be firmly associated to the wheel by pressing on the external circumference of said wheel.
• the fixing means may also be formed by threaded ring nuts placed on the rotation axle in a position useful to tighten the bar against a lateral surface of the wheel.
• the measuring means of the weight force proportional to the unbalance amount of the wheel consist of load-cells and related electronics or of automatic mechanic or electric weighing machines.
• a method for balancing vehicle wheels provides the step of:
• the apparatus of the present invention is provided with specific devices and technical features in order to assure high reliability and functional capacity.
• FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an apparatus according to the invention, in a particular using arrangement
• FIG. 2 shows a side view of the apparatus of fig.l, in a different using arrangement
• FIG. 3 shows a front view of the apparatus of fig.l, in another different using arrangement
• FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a different embodiment of the invention apparatus
• FIG. 5 shows a view, in longitudinal section, of the apparatus of
• FIG. 6 shows a detailed view in section, obtained through the section line VI-VI of f ⁇ g.5;
• FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the apparatus of f ⁇ g.4, in an using arrangement corresponding to that one of fig.3;
• FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a particular component of the apparatus of fig.4.
• fig-l it is indicated with 10 an apparatus for the static balancing of wheels, 11, for motorcycles, scooters or similar.
• the apparatus, 10 comprises an horizontal axle, 12, cantilever supported by a column 13, of a fixed structure, 14, said axle being free rotating in respect of said structure thanks to journal bearings placed between the axle itself and tubular supporting means, 15, positioned at the top of the column 13.
• Spacers, 16, and conical bushes, 17, are placed on said axle, 12, for positioning the wheel on the axle.
• a bar, 18, having rectangular section, is joined to the axle, 12, in such a way to free rotate in a vertical plane perpendicular to said axle.
• Two L shaped arms, 19, 20, are hinged at the ends of the above bar 18, said arms protruding towards the portion of the axle 12 on which the wheel is positioned.
• the L shaped arms, 19, 20, are exactly hinged to the bar, 18, in two points, 21, 22, placed on the median longitudinal line of said bar.
• the arms 19, 20, are pulled, by elastic means 23, 24, toward the centre of the wheel, 11, and are usually kept in the open position of fig.2 by means of two rest pins, 25, 26, shown in the same figure.
• Said pins are passing through the bar 18; they are positioned in such a way to interfere with the movements of the arms 19, 20, around the respective hinge points 21, 22.
• a further horizontal pin, 29, is connected to the bar 18; said pin 29 is placed in such a position that, upon a clockwise rotation of said bar to the position of fig.3, the pin gets in contact with a load-cell, 30, that, in this embodiment of the invention, is used to determine the size of the wheel unbalancing.
• said horizontal pin, 29, is used to assure the placing of the bar, 18, in vertical position; in fact, said pin can be fitted in a suitable seat, 40, of a rest bracket fixed to the structure of the machine 10, shown in fig.3.
• the output signal of the load-cell, 30, is processed by an electronic unit,
• Said unit dedicated to display the wheel unbalancing size. Said unit provides, further to the digital display 32, some buttons, 33, useful to select the diameter of the wheel to be balanced, and LEDs, 34, useful to indicate the selection we made.
• an automatic weighing machine, 35 is used instead of the load-cell, 30, and corresponding electronic unit, 31, an automatic weighing machine, 35.
• a suitable rod, 37 can lean on the plate, 36, of said automatic balance, 35, said rod 37 being supported by a U-shaped element, 38, connected to the angular reference bar, 18', through screw means 39, as shown in fig.8.
• this bar, 18' can be placed exactly in vertical position by using, in this case, a rest bracket, 41', fixed to a column, 43, of the structure 14'.
• axle 12' 14' of the machine 10'. Also in this case, however, said axle is free rotating in respect of the supporting structure; in fact, the ends of the axle 12' are simply sustained by two pairs of adjacent gears, 44, 45, 44',
• said gears are free to rotate in both directions, each of them being fitted on a respective bearing 46,
• the angular reference bar, 18' may be fastened to axle, 12', by tightening a threaded bush, 50, placed on a side of the bar 18', to a hub, 51, placed on the other side of the bar, said hub being joined to die axle, 12', through screw means, 52.
• the wheel, 11', fitted to the bush, 56, is free to rotate integral to the axle,
• said spring pins are able to fasten the bush 58 in three different positions corresponding to the points of fastening shown with 60, 61, 62, and relating to the kind of wheel rim to be fitted on the axle 12'.
• the wheel free to rotate, if unbalanced swings, thanks to the gravity, around the axle, coming to a stop when its stable equilibrium point is vertically positioned with respect to the axle, underneath the axle itself.
• the angular reference bar, 18, is made integral to the wheel, just clearing away, through the handling knobs, 27, 28, the rest pins 25, 26, from the interference positions with the arms 19, 20, so allowing them to close on the wheel 11.
• the positioning of the wheel 11' in the axle 12' takes place while this one is deprived of the hub 57 and of the threaded bush 58; then said elements are inserted on said axle by fastening the bush 58 in correspondence to one of the fastening points 60, 61, 62 and by rotating the hub 57 since it gets in contact with the wheel, 11 * , and force it to press the spacer, 54, so that the wheel becomes integral to the axle 12', while the bar 18' is free to rotate.
• the assembly so created is then fitted upon the columns 42, 43, of the fixed structure 14', in the configuration shown in fig.4.
• the wheel stop swinging around the axle in the position in which its stable equilibrium point is vertically positioned with respect to the axle, underneath the axle itself.
• the axle 12' is clockwise rotated, in this embodiment of an angle of 90°, until the bar 18', integral to said axle 12', gets a horizontal position; in such configuration, the suitable rod, 37, transversally joined to one end of the bar, can lean on the plate, 36, of the device measuring weights, 35, which, in this case, is an automatic balance. Then, said device, previously set up to ignore the weight of the suitable rod and of the supporting U-shaped element, 38, exactly indicates the size of the balancing weight to apply on the wheel rim.
• the apparatus of the invention is very cheap with respect to the balancing machines normally employed in the four wheels sector, so involving a clear and main advantage in the specific field where it has to be applied.
• the apparatus has very little global dimensions, both in length, in height and in width, so that it can be used even upon workshop tables.
• the apparatus results also very light weighted, so that it can be easily moved, just using suitable boxes, to be used in different places.
• the angular reference means indicating the unbalancing zone which in the described embodiments is the free rotating bar, can change; for example, pliers or clamps can be used, which could be applied directly on the wheel near the unbalancing zone and, obviously, in this case, the previous set up of the measuring means is made also considering the weight of the said pliers or clamps.
• the measuring means too may be different with respect to the above described; in fact, dynamometers or other kinds of balances could be used; they may also be placed in a different position on the fixed structure of the apparatus.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Testing Of Balance (AREA)

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Citations (7)

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• 2003
  • 2003-02-28 WO PCT/EP2003/002109 patent/WO2004077004A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-02-28 EP EP03709734A patent/EP1639336A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-02-28 AU AU2003214084A patent/AU2003214084A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (7)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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