Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
  • B62D—MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
  • B62D15/00—Steering not otherwise provided for
  • B62D15/02—Steering position indicators ; Steering position determination; Steering aids
  • B62D15/021—Determination of steering angle
  • B62D15/0245—Means or methods for determination of the central position of the steering system, e.g. straight ahead position
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01B—MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
  • G01B11/00—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques
  • G01B11/26—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01B—MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
  • G01B21/00—Measuring arrangements or details thereof, where the measuring technique is not covered by the other groups of this subclass, unspecified or not relevant
  • G01B21/22—Measuring arrangements or details thereof, where the measuring technique is not covered by the other groups of this subclass, unspecified or not relevant for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes
  • G01B21/26—Measuring arrangements or details thereof, where the measuring technique is not covered by the other groups of this subclass, unspecified or not relevant for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes for testing wheel alignment
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G01M17/00—Testing of vehicles
  • G01M17/007—Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles
  • G01M17/06—Steering behaviour; Rolling behaviour
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01B—MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
  • G01B2210/00—Aspects not specifically covered by any group under G01B, e.g. of wheel alignment, caliper-like sensors
  • G01B2210/10—Wheel alignment
  • G01B2210/28—Beam projector and related sensors, camera, inclinometer or other active sensing or projecting device

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the technical field of devices used in the workshop to ensure, among other things, the adjustment of the parallelism of the steered wheels of a vehicle or, more generally, the adjustment of the vehicle running gear or its trajectory.
• the adjustment of the wheels is generally done by placing the vehicle on a lift so as to be able to easily access the adjustment members of the running gear, namely the systems for connecting the wheels of the vehicle to the chassis.
• the operator may without this intentionally modify the orientation of the steered wheels slightly, which may induce an adjustment bias and in particular a slight offset between the theoretical position of the steering wheel normally corresponding to a trajectory rectilinear and the real position of the steering wheel actually corresponding to a rectilinear trajectory.
• this bias can be annoying when the vehicle includes sensor systems which analyze the trajectory of the vehicle as a function of the position or the degree of rotation of the steering wheel.
• a device for assisting the positioning of the steering wheel comprising a plate intended to be fixed to the steering wheel and equipped with a spirit level giving a horizontal reference.
• the operator sits in the driving position and turns the steering wheel so that the bubble is in a position corresponding to the horizontal.
• This device has two drawbacks. First of all, it imposes as a prerequisite that the horizontality corresponds to the neutral position of the steering wheel. Then, it requires the operator to be perfectly in front of the level in order to avoid reading errors induced by parallax faults so that the operator can only carry out the check while in the driving position.
• a patent application DE102008008858 has also proposed a system comprising a graduated disc intended to be fixed on the steering wheel and associated with a lamp fixed or placed on the dashboard projecting a luminous index on the graduated disc.
• a graduated disc intended to be fixed on the steering wheel and associated with a lamp fixed or placed on the dashboard projecting a luminous index on the graduated disc.
• An application DE102013021475 has proposed an automated system for adjusting the chassis and the steering system of a vehicle at the end of the production line.
• This system designed to operate without human intervention is aimed at the calibration of the steering angle sensors.
• the system comprises a device for projecting on a surface of the steering wheel a pattern coded temporally and / or spatially adapted to be analyzed by an electronic image recognition system which, depending on the variations in shape of the pattern, calculates the angle of rotation of the steering wheel and transmits it to a vehicle sensor calibration system.
• Such an automated system is particularly expensive so that it is not suitable for use in the workshop and cannot be implemented without a complex and sophisticated optical and computer system for recognizing shape, not to mention the fact that it makes it inaccessible. 'workspace to place a steering wheel lock or a brake pedal lock, and that it is incompatible with any vehicle lifting process where the chassis adjustment intervention cannot be carried out from below the vehicle.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, easy to operate, and reliable system for controlling the placement of the steering wheel of a vehicle in the neutral position.
• the invention relates to a device for assisting the positioning in a neutral position of a rectilinear trajectory of the steering wheel of a vehicle, this device comprising a light source configured to project at least one light pattern defining at least one alignment direction and fixing means adapted to allow temporary fixing of the device on the vehicle so that the light source is facing or located in a plane facing the steering wheel so that the light pattern is projected at least to the inside the circle delimited by the steering wheel.
• the projection of the alignment light pattern inside the circle delimited by the steering wheel allows the operator to check the neutral position of the steering wheel without being seated in the driver's seat.
• the operator can verify from outside the vehicle that the steering wheel is properly aligned with the projected luminous alignment pattern, without parallax error.
• the operator can further maneuver the steering wheel from outside the vehicle to align the steering wheel with the reference pattern.
• the fixing means comprise an elongated cross member to which the light source is fixed and which comprises at each of its two ends at least one finger forming an acute angle with the longitudinal direction of the cross member, the 'at least one of the two fingers being movable in longitudinal translation relative to the cross member and associated with clamping means configured to enable part of the vehicle to be gripped with the two fingers so as to fix the device on the latter.
• Such fixing means make it possible to easily fix the device on an element of the vehicle other than the steering wheel and fixed with respect to the latter.
• the distance between the two opposite fingers is greater than or equal to 0.9 m.
• the cross member has a length greater than or equal to 0.6 m.
• the two fingers are movable in longitudinal translation relative to the cross member and each associated with clamping means ensuring an elastic return of the corresponding finger towards the cross member or the center of the cross member.
• the light source is movable along the cross member so as to adjust the longitudinal position of the light source relative to the cross member.
• this variant makes it possible to place the light source substantially opposite the steering wheel.
• the light pattern comprises at least one straight segment.
• the light source comprises at least one laser light source suitable for projecting at least a substantially horizontal rectilinear light line.
• the light source is a laser diode suitable for projecting a cross formed by two orthogonal straight lines.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the neutral position of a vehicle steering wheel as observed in the driving position
• FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a device according to the invention.
• the geometry or pre-geometry adjustment operation consists in adjusting / checking the components of the running gear of a vehicle following a defect in trajectory and / or dynamic behavior observed.
• This operation is either mandated by expertise, in the context of a damaged and repaired vehicle, or by customer complaint, or by simple mechanical "logic" during the repair of a vehicle (for example following a mechanical operation. which requires the removal / refitting / replacement of the engine subframe or the removal / refitting / replacement of an axle) or even linked to the replacement of certain worn components such as the steering ball joints, axial ball joints, silent support blocks (faults noted by an inspection technique typically).
• a badly adjusted or out of adjustment running gear means random vehicle trajectory, degraded road holding, deviating braking, premature wear of the vehicle's rubber or tires, excessive shifting sometimes leading to a counter visit to the technical control.
• a few isolated cases have also shown that the deactivation of the ESP system may be due to a drift of heading. Disruption of the running gear or its incorrect adjustment can also lead to a fault in other safety systems (active or passive) fitted to the vehicle (adaptive cruise control, white line crossing warning / lane-keeping assistance, braking automatic emergency ).
• This running gear adjustment is performed in the workshop and requires specific equipment with a human operator trained in the operation but also in the equipment used.
• the vehicle is placed on a lift, typically a scissor lift where the vehicle rests on its wheels.
• This bridge is fitted out with free plates for the support points of the wheels so as not to apply any stress on the running gear, neither axial nor lateral.
• the vehicle can also be placed on a hand lift
• the operator must pay particular attention to a crucial point which determines all the rest of the operations, all the “good” sequence of operations because at the end of the work, during the dynamic test of the vehicle, if an anomaly is noticed (and this is not so rare), he could always ask the question: was the steering wheel really straight or in neutral position, as illustrated at the start or during the adjustment.
• the device according to the invention aims to definitively remove the risk of incorrect positioning of the steering wheel, especially since before removing the steering wheel lock, at the end of the operations , the device according to the invention makes it possible to verify the accuracy of the position given initially and to ensure that the steering wheel has not turned during the adjustment.
• the invention therefore aims to avoid this error by means of the device, according to the invention, for assisting the positioning in the neutral position of a rectilinear trajectory of the steering wheel of a vehicle as illustrated in FIG. 3 and designated as a whole by the reference 1.
• the device 1 comprises, on the one hand, a light source 2 configured to project at least one light pattern defining at least one direction of alignment and, on the other hand , fixing means 3 adapted to allow temporary fixing of the device 1 on the vehicle so that the light pattern M is projected inside the circle delimited by the steering wheel V as shown in figure .
• the fixing means 3 of the device are formed by a self-tightening telescopic bar adapted to cling to the structure of the vehicle and more particularly illustrated in detail at .
• a self-tightening bar comprises an elongated cross member 4 on which is fixed the light source 2.
• the cross member 4 then comprises at each of its two ends at least one finger 5 generally forming an acute angle with the longitudinal direction of the cross member 4.
• At least one of the two fingers 5 and preferably the two fingers 5 are each movable in longitudinal translation relative to the cross member and associated with clamping means configured to enable a part to be gripped with the two fingers. of the vehicle so as to fix the device on it.
• clamping means can, for example, be formed by a knurled screw making it possible to block the translation of the corresponding finger 5 with respect to the cross member 4.
• the two fingers 5 are movable in longitudinal translation with respect to the cross 4.
• each finger 5 is associated with clamping means, such as a spring 7 located inside the hollow cross member 4, ensuring an elastic return of the corresponding finger, in the direction of arrow F1, towards the cross member or the center of the crosspiece.
• the light source 2 is fitted to the cross member by means of a cradle 10 which is itself fixed to the cross member 4 via a slide 11 which is movable in translation along the cross member. 4.
• the cradle 10 is linked to the slide by a pivot link of axis A 1 substantially perpendicular to the direction of extension of the cross member 4.
• the light source 2 is linked to the cradle 10 by a pivot link of axis A 2 perpendicular to the axis A 1 .
• the crossmember can include several segments sliding one inside the other while being associated with means for locking their relative translation.
• This embodiment makes it possible to adjust the length of the cross member 4 independently of the position of the clamping fingers with respect to said cross member. And, therefore, to adapt the length of the cross member to the dimensions of the bodywork element (s) to which the device according to the invention is attached or fixed.
• the light pattern is a luminous cross projected onto the target surface to first visualize a virtual horizontal line in the passenger compartment
• this cross is produced by a laser which points at the target whatever its material or color (including black) and whatever its shape, flat or complex. It constitutes a real level of light from the passenger compartment and crosses it right through and through the steering wheel, the desired level for it. Due to the projection made on the surfaces of the steering wheel, even when viewed from the outside, there can no longer be any problem of visual interpretation and there is no longer any parallax error.
• the light source is fixed or linked to the cross member so as to be movable in translation relative to the cross member while being able to be immobilized thereon.
• This embodiment then makes it possible to adjust the longitudinal position of the light source and for example makes it possible to place it exactly in front of the steering wheel.
• the device further comprises an auxiliary light source capable of illuminating the area around the target in order to allow the user to effectively visualize the near environment. in which it must operate.
• the device according to the invention is suitable for: - maintain the light source producing the alignment pattern in the vehicle with optimal placement - generate a luminous flux of passenger compartment lighting in addition to the alignment pattern, - ensure the possibility of horizontality adjustment of the alignment pattern (rotational orientation) - allow height adjustment of the alignment pattern in the passenger compartment (inclination of the light source producing the alignment pattern - allow movement in the passenger compartment towards the steering wheel (translational movement) of the source of the alignment pattern
• the best possible placement is that of the support from the roof of the car through the vehicle openings because they are perfectly symmetrical and guarantee a positioning base perfectly parallel to the dashboard.
• the rearward position of the system makes it possible, thanks to the opening angle of the laser lens, to project a light trace, the width of which then becomes maximum and covers the entire width of the dashboard.
• the cross member of the device which can then be called a “rule or roof bar” formed by the self-tightening telescopic bar described above, clings to or hooks onto the structure of the vehicle as shown in the figure. .

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Lighting Device Outwards From Vehicle And Optical Signal (AREA)
• Tires In General (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=71094515

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 2020
  • 2020-03-27 FR FR2003030A patent/FR3108715B1/fr active Active
• 2021
  • 2021-03-28 WO PCT/IB2021/052559 patent/WO2021191878A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2021-03-28 EP EP21720834.7A patent/EP4127601A1/de active Pending
  • 2021-03-28 US US17/914,935 patent/US20230331300A1/en active Pending

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