GB448670A - Improvements in devices for gauging alignment of the wheels of vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

448,670. Gauging alignment of vehicle wheels. HAUCKE, O., 1234, East 35 Street, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Dec. 4, 1935, No. 33548. [Class 106 (ii)] A device whereby all the usual alignment tests for vehicle wheels may be carried out comprises a pair of wheel-centring cradles each rotatably mounted on a carriage on a beam which is itself rotatably mounted on a base to which the vehicle may be clamped, the carriage being so mounted upon the beam that the turning of the vehicle wheels causes it to slide endwise. The beam 11 is made in two parts each independently pivoted about a stud 12 on a base 10 and the parts may be locked together to pivot as one piece. Scales 14, 15 on the base co-operate with pointers 16, 17 on the beam to give the degree of turning. Two carriages 23 are mounted on antifriction bearings to slide on the beam 11. Upon each carriage 23 is mounted a wheel cradle 26 the base 27 of which is rotatable on ball bearings 29 about a stud 28, The cradle is V-shaped and the side members may be hinged together. Concave rollers 31, 32 are mounted cross-wise in the cradles to centre the wheels lengthwise. A scale 37 is provided on each carriage over which moves a pointer 38 on each base 27. Flared spring hinged leaves 39 assist in centring the wheels. Runways 43 are provided and platforms 48 for the rear wheels, the platforms 48 being adapted to slide transversely on rollers 50 and provided with a scale 51 reading against a fixed scale 52. A jack 57 with a V-shaped head 56 is adjustably mounted in a channel beam 54 on a base which straddles the beam 11. In use, the car to be tested is driven over the runways until the front wheels are in the cradles, the carriages sliding on the beam to adjust themselves to the distance between the wheels, and the front wheels disengaging locking means for the bases 27. With the front wheels centred in the cradles, the carriages 23 may not be at the same distance from the centre of the beam. This may be found from scales 78 and if necessary corrected. The rear wheels may be centred by using scales 51, 52 When the wheels have been aligned, " toe-in " may be checked by pointers 38 and scales 37. When steering is to be checked, the front axle is clamped to the jack 35, or a clamp may be fixed to the running board. The locking pins for the parts 11A, 11B are now withdrawn and the wheels turned by the steering wheel. As these are turned-in either direction-not only do the bases 27 turn, but the carriages 23 slide on the beam 11 and the latter rotates on the base 10 and the various scales read. For checking "camber" the gauge shown in Fig. 3 is employed. A pedestal 89 slidable on the beam 11 has jointed to it a lever 90 with contact surfaces 91, 92, which are pressed against the side of the wheel and the angle read on scale 94 by pointer 95. To check parallelism of front and back axles, the rods 97, 98 connected by pivoted links 101, 102 are placed across the runways and the shoes 100 moved to engage the wheel when the pointer 103 indicates on a scale 104, the distance of the centre of the back wheel from the centre of the front wheel.