JPH0786404B2 - Angular displacement detector - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a wheel inspection device for inspecting the inclination and the like of wheels mounted on a vehicle and various devices suitable for use in the wheel inspection device, and further More specifically, the present invention relates to a roller clamp type wheel inspection device for inspecting the inclination of a wheel by clamping both sides of the wheel with rollers, and various devices suitable for application thereto.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inspection device for inspecting a mounting state of wheels mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile has been used. Various conditions are set for wheels mounted on vehicles such as automobiles, and so-called inclination degrees such as toe angle, camber angle, casters, etc. are set in relation to the running characteristics thereof.
These grades may be inspected as part of the vehicle inspection after the vehicle is manufactured and before it is shipped to the market, or it may be inspected when the vehicle is repaired, such as wheel replacement. In order for the vehicle to have good running performance, it is important that the inclination of the wheels be set accurately.

By the way, as a prior art, JP-A-51-83301 and JP-A-54-49701 have been proposed to measure the toe angle and / or the camber angle of a wheel while keeping the wheel in a rotating state.
There is a technology disclosed in the issue. However, in these prior arts, the wheel is supported and rotated on a pair of rollers, but the side surface of the wheel is not supported or the contact roller is brought into rolling contact with only one outer surface. It is difficult to perform accurate measurement because it is a measurement, not a method of clamping by clamping the left and right sides of the wheel. Furthermore, as a technique for supporting the wheels on a floating table and clamping the wheels by clamping them from the left and right, Japanese Patent Application No. 58-1092235 filed before the same applicant as the applicant of the present application.
There are Japanese Patent Application No. 59-9502 and Japanese Patent Application No. 61-41913.
The techniques proposed in these applications use sliders to clamp both sides of the wheel, not rollers to clamp the wheels from both sides.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art as described above, and enables to measure and inspect the wheel characteristics with high accuracy, and particularly An object of the present invention is to provide a wheel inspection device which is not affected by the state and has a relatively simple structure, and various devices suitable for application to the wheel inspection device.

Configuration The wheel inspection device of the present invention has various features or configurations, and each feature or configuration can form another invention, or some of them are combined. Thus, it is possible to configure another invention. According to the first feature of the present invention, the floating table having the flat mounting surface is provided, and the wheel to be inspected can be mounted on the floating table. Both sides of the wheel placed on the floating table are clamped by an appropriate number of rollers, and the relative angle of inclination of the wheel with respect to a predetermined reference line is detected while the wheel is clamped at that time. To do. In the preferred embodiment, each side of the wheel is in rolling contact with at least two rollers to clamp the wheel. In this case,
The floating table is preferably freely movable in a substantially horizontal direction and freely rotatable in a horizontal plane.

According to the second feature of the present invention, there is provided a clamp device for clamping a wheel from both sides with contacts, in which case the contacts arranged on both sides of the wheel are asymmetrically arranged. Preferably, a pair of contacts is provided on each side of the wheel,
When they are pressed against both sides of the wheel from the left and right to be clamped, the left and right contacts are arranged so as to contact the wheel asymmetrically. As an example, the left and right contacts are arranged at different angular positions in the rotation direction of the wheel. In the preferred embodiment, a pair of contacts that are in contact with one side surface of the wheel are brought into contact with a pair of contacts that are in contact with the other side surface of the wheel at a position offset from the rotation direction of the wheel. And By doing so, it becomes possible to more stably clamp the wheel. In particular, the contact is preferably brought into contact with the tire portion rather than the rim portion of the wheel. Therefore, by shifting the left and right contact elements to the left and right side surfaces of the wheel in such a manner as to shift with respect to the rotation direction of the wheel, the wheel can be extremely It is possible to clamp stably.

When the left and right side surfaces of the wheel are asymmetrically clamped by a plurality of contacts, the contacts preferably use rollers.
In this case, the roller is arranged so as to be in rolling contact with the side surface of the wheel so as to rotate along the rotation direction of the wheel. As the contactor, a slider or the like that can slide along a predetermined axial direction can be used instead of the roller. Further, in this case, it is also possible to place the wheels on a floating table having a flat mounting surface, while a plurality of wheels,
It can also be mounted, typically on a pair of rotatable horizontal support rollers. In the latter case, the wheels are mounted on the support rollers, so that the wheels can be clamped in a rotatable state. However, in this case, it is still necessary to use a roller as the contactor. In addition, since the wheels can be rotated while the both sides of the wheels are clamped by the rollers, it is possible to inspect not only the inclination of the wheels but also the dynamic characteristics of the wheels such as the amount of shake to the left and right. Become. In this case, a motor is built in the support roller to drive and rotate the support roller,
It is also possible to rotate the wheels supported on it,
On the other hand, it is also possible to detachably connect an externally provided motor or the like to the support roller via a coupling and drive the support roller to rotate the wheels supported thereon. It is also possible to rotate the wheels so that the wheels supported by the support rollers can be rotated by causing the wheels of the vehicle to run on their own.

According to yet another feature of the present invention, a camber angle detection device is provided. That is, at least one upper contactor capable of contacting an upper portion of one side surface of the wheel, at least one lower contactor capable of contacting a lower portion of the side surface, and the upper contactor and the lower contactor are mounted. An arm, a support means for rotatably supporting the arm and capable of moving the upper contact and the lower contact toward and away from the side surface, and an angle from a predetermined reference line of the arm An angle detecting device having an angle detecting means for detecting a displacement is provided. In this case, in the preferred embodiment, the angle to be detected is the camber angle. Therefore, the arm extends in a substantially vertical direction, that is, parallel to the side surface of the wheel and in a direction substantially perpendicular to the horizontal plane. Thus, the camber angle of the wheel is the angle that the arm makes with the vertical axis when the upper and lower contacts are pressed into contact with the side surface of the wheel, preferably the outer side surface.

In the camber angle detection device having such a configuration, the contactor contacting the side surface of the wheel preferably uses a roller. In this case, each roller is arranged so as to rotate in rolling contact with the side surface of the wheel. Further, it is preferable that the upper contact is composed of one roller, and the upper roller is rotatably attached to the tip of the arm so as to be in rolling contact with the side surface of the wheel. Further, it is preferable that the lower contact is composed of two rollers, and these two lower rollers are arranged at a predetermined angle apart from each other along the rotation direction of the side surface of the wheel. In such a configuration, one upper roller and two lower rollers make contact with the side surface of the wheel at three points. Further, the rotating shaft of the supporting means for rotatably supporting the arm is positioned between the upper roller and the lower roller in a predetermined positional relationship. Preferably, the vertical distance between the contact point between the upper roller and the wheel side surface and the rotating shaft is about three times the vertical distance between the contact point between the lower roller and the wheel side surface and the rotating shaft. It is desirable to place in. With such a configuration, the three rollers, that is, the upper roller and the lower roller, can be brought into contact with the wheel side surface automatically only by moving these rollers closer to the wheel side surface. It Further, the lower roller can also be used as a toe detecting roller for clamping the wheel from both sides and detecting the toe angle of the wheel. Furthermore,
When using rollers as contacts, it is possible to measure the camber angle while the wheels are in rotation, so instead of supporting the wheels on a floating table with a flat mounting surface, a plurality of wheels can be used. It is also possible to support it on a support roller.

According to still another feature of the present invention, there is provided an angular displacement detection device that has a high degree of freedom in configuration and arrangement, facilitates design, and can accurately detect angular displacement of a rotary shaft. That is, the angular displacement detection device according to the present invention detects the angular displacement of the rotary shaft rotatably supported by the frame, and the first gear is fixed to the rotary shaft. A bracket is rotatably mounted on the frame, and an angle detector such as a rotary encoder is fixed on the bracket. A second gear is fixed to the rotation shaft of the angle detector. Further, the bracket is provided with an elastic turning habit by the elastic member so as to rotate in a predetermined direction, and therefore the first gear and the second gear are always elastically maintained in the meshed state. . In the preferred embodiment, a spring is tensioned between the bracket and the frame to provide the bracket with the desired rotational behavior. With such a configuration, the degree of freedom in designing the angular displacement detection device is dramatically improved, and since it is not affected by backlash due to the use of gears, accurate angular displacement detection is always performed. It is possible to do. Preferably, the angular displacement detection device measures the inclination of the toe angle, the camber angle, etc. of the wheel.

Of course, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that this angular displacement detection device is not only the roller clamp type wheel inspection device shown as the embodiment of the present invention, but also the type of wheel that is abutted only on one side of the wheel. Of course, it can be applied to the inspection device.

Examples Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3 show the overall construction of a wheel inspection system 1 for a four-wheeled vehicle constructed according to one embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated wheel inspection system 1 has a frame or frame 2 having a substantially rectangular shape, and a wheel inspection device 10 (10fr, 10fr, constructed on the basis of one embodiment of the present invention is provided on the frame 2. 10fl, 10br, 10bl) are placed in four places on the left, right, front and back. Therefore, 4 such as automobiles to be inspected
When the wheeled vehicle is ridden in the inspection system 1 by the pair of tilting stands 3 and positioned at a predetermined position, each wheel W is positioned in the corresponding wheel inspection device 10. For convenience of explanation, in FIG. 1, the left end of the frame 2 is called the front end, and the right end is called the rear end.

A pair of guide rails 2a are provided on the left and right of the front end portion on the left side of the frame 2, respectively. A base 4 is provided so as to be movable on these guide rails 2a. Therefore, the base 4 is movable along the guide rails 2a in the longitudinal direction of the frame 2, that is, in the longitudinal direction within a predetermined distance range. . The base 4 is operatively connected to a handle 4a attached to the front end of the frame 2, and the base 4 is rotated by rotating the handle 4a clockwise or counterclockwise.
Moves toward the front end or the rear end relative to the frame 2. The base 4 is provided with a pair of wheel inspection devices 10fr and 10fl, and these wheel inspection devices 10fr and 10fl are further provided.
A front equalizer 5 is provided which operatively connects and with respect to lateral positioning. Therefore, by moving the base 4 relative to the frame 2 in the front-rear direction, the pair of front wheel inspection devices 10fr and 10fl are mounted on the frame 2 and the rear pair of wheel inspection devices 10br.
It is possible to adjust the relative positional relationship with 10bl. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the distance L between the front and rear wheel inspection devices to a desired value to match the distance between the wheel bases of the vehicle to be inspected. The base 4 can be locked to the claim 2 by a locking means (not shown).

The equalizer 5 includes a front center rotation shaft 5a that determines the left and right center positions in the front portion, a rotation arm 5b rotatably provided around the center rotation shaft 5a, and the rotation arm.
Connecting lever 5cr rotatably connected to each end of 5b
And 5cl. Each connecting lever 5cr and 5cl
Is rotatably connected to an L-shaped arm 11a fixed to a base plate, which will be described later, provided in the corresponding left and right wheel inspection devices 10fr and 10fl. Similarly, a pair of rear wheel inspection devices 10br and 10bl mounted on the frame 2 are operatively connected by a rear equalizer 6 also mounted on the frame 2 in position control in the left-right direction. The rear equalizer 6 also has a rear center rotation shaft 6a that determines the left and right center positions at the rear.
And a rotating arm 6b rotatably provided around the central rotation shaft 6a, and connecting levers 6cr and 6cl rotatably connected to respective ends of the rotating arm 6b. . Each of the connecting levers 6cr and 6cl is rotatably connected to an L-shaped arm 11a fixed to a base plate (to be described later) provided in the corresponding left and right wheel inspection devices 10br and 10bl. Therefore, the central axis 5a of the front equalizer 5 and the central axis 6a of the rear equalizer 60 are
A straight line connecting the and is a center line in the front-rear direction or the longitudinal direction of the inspection system 1 and defines a reference line G of the system 1. Since the base 4 is moved in the front-rear direction along the reference line G, even if the base 4 is moved along the guide rail 2a, the reference line G remains unchanged.

As shown in FIG. 1, each wheel inspection device 10 has an inner roller assembly 16 and an outer roller assembly 17, which are close to each other along a predetermined linear path. It is detachable and rotatably provided around a predetermined central axis. In the illustrated example, the inner roller assembly 16 is provided with a pair of toe angle detection rollers 20ti, 20ti, while the outer roller assembly 17 is provided with a pair of toe angle detection rollers 20t.
o, 20to and a camber angle detection roller 20c are provided. Since the assemblies 16 and 17 are provided close to each other, the inner toe angle detection roller 20ti and the outer toe angle detection roller 20to can be close to each other, and therefore, by bringing the roller assemblies 16 and 17 close to each other. The inner roller 20ti and the outer roller to contact both sides of the wheel W to clamp the wheel W. Therefore, it is possible to detect the toe angle of the wheel W by detecting the angle with the reference line G while the wheel W is clamped from both sides. Further, the outer roller assembly 17 is provided with a camber angle detecting roller 20c, and when the outer toe angle detecting roller 20to contacts the outer side surface of the wheel W, the camber angle detecting roller 20c is also outside the wheel W. It is possible to detect the camber angle of the wheel W by being brought into contact with the side surface.

When the left and right inner and outer toe detection rollers 20ti and 20to are pressed against the side surfaces on both sides of the wheel W, the center of the wheel W is aligned with the geometric center position which is the central axis of the wheel inspection device 10. Furthermore, the left and right wheel inspection devices 10fr and 10fl or 10br
And 10bl are equalizer 5 or 6 with their respective geometric centers.
The left and right wheels W aligned with the respective center positions of the left and right wheel inspection devices 10 with respect to the reference line G of the system 1 are secured so as to be symmetrical with respect to the center points 5a and 6a. It is located symmetrically.

Further, in the system 1 shown in FIG. 1, each wheel inspection device 10 is provided with a floating table 32, and a flat mounting surface is formed on the floating table 32, and the corresponding wheel is provided. W is mounted on the mounting surface of the floating table 32. As will be described later in detail, the floating table 32 is held so as to be freely movable in a substantially horizontal direction within a predetermined range and freely rotatable in a horizontal plane. Therefore, the inner and outer rollers 20ti are applied from both sides to the wheel W placed on the floating table 32.
When clamped at 20 and 20 tons, the wheel W can freely move in the front-rear, left-right and horizontal rotation directions together with the floating table 32 to position the wheel W.

Detailed configurations of the wheel inspection device 10 used in the wheel inspection system 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.
It is shown in the figure. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the wheel inspection device 10 generally includes an inner roller assembly 16, an outer roller assembly 17, a coupling mechanism for operatively coupling these assemblies 16 and 17, and a floating mechanism. And a table 32. In the wheel inspection device 10 of the illustrated example, the inner roller assembly 16 includes an inner slide body 16a slidably provided in the longitudinal axis direction of the balance plate 14 and the inner slide body 16a.
Inner column 16b that is erected at the end of the
It has an inner roller holder 16c fixed to the top of 6b.

The inner roller holder 16c rotatably holds a pair of inner rollers 20ti, 20ti for detecting the toe angle.
As is apparent from FIG. 4, the pair of inner rollers 20ti, 20ti are arranged so as to make rolling contact with the lower part of the inner side surface of the wheel W, preferably the lower part of the tire inner side surface.
These rollers 20Ti, the axis of rotation of 20Ti are defining a predetermined angle theta _1, also, in the preferred embodiment, the intersection is set so as to match the center of rotation of approximately wheels W. As shown in FIG. 4, the roller 20ti is freely rotatably held by a rotary shaft 22 fixed to the roller holder 16c via a pair of bearings 22,22. On the other hand, the outer roller assembly 17 includes an outer sliding body 17a which is also slidably held in the longitudinal axis direction of the balance plate 14 and an outer standing body which is erected at the outer end of the outer sliding body 17a. The pillar 17b,
A horizontal bracket 17c fixed to the top of the outer column 17b
And a pair of inclined brackets 37, 37 fixed to the horizontal bracket 17c, and a pair of outer rollers 20to, 20to for detecting the toe angle are provided on the inclined brackets 37 via the roller holders 37a. Is attached to. The construction of the outer roller assembly 17 above the horizontal bracket 17c is shown in FIGS.

The outer rollers 20to, 20to are arranged apart from the inner rollers 20ti, 20ti in the left-right direction, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the reference line G of the system 1, and the outer rollers 20to, 20t are separated from each other.
The o is arranged for rolling contact with the lower portion of the outer side surface of the wheel W, preferably the lower portion of the outer side surface of the tire. Further, these outer rollers 20to, 20to are also arranged so as to be inclined so that their respective rotation axes intersect at a predetermined angle θ ₂ , and in the preferred embodiment, the intersection of the rotation axes is approximately the wheel W. Of the inner rollers 20ti, 20ti. It should be noted that, in the illustrated example, the intersection angle θ ₁ of the rotation axes of the inner rollers 20ti, 20ti and the intersection angle θ ₂ of the rotation axes of the outer rollers 20to, 20to are different. In the illustrated example, in particular, θ ₁ <θ ₂ is set. It has been found that the wheel W can be stably clamped by arranging the inner roller 20ti and the outer roller 20to asymmetrically with respect to the wheel W as described above. Particularly, since the rollers 20ti and 20to are arranged to clamp the tire of the wheel W from both sides, the rollers 20ti and 20to for clamping both sides of the tire are arranged so as to be offset from each other and pressed against the tire. By doing so, it becomes possible to stabilize the clamped state of the wheel W. In the case of the illustrated example, the intersection angle θ ₁ of the rotation axes of the inner roller 20ti
Is set to be smaller than the intersection angle θ ₂ of the rotation axis of the outer roller 20to, on the contrary, θ may be set to be larger than θ ₂ . Further, in the illustrated example, a pair of rollers is provided both inside and outside, but the number of rollers can be set to any number inside and outside.
However, in any case, it is desirable to dispose the rollers at positions displaced from each other inside and outside the wheel W. However, when a plurality of inner rollers 20ti and a plurality of outer rollers 20to are provided as in the illustrated example, it is desirable that the corresponding rollers be disposed substantially symmetrically in the front-rear direction of the rotation axis of the wheel W. .

As is clear from FIGS. 5 and 6, a pair of guide rails 2b, 2b is provided fixed to the frame 2. These guide rails 2b, 2b extend perpendicularly to the central reference line G of the inspection system 1, that is, parallel to the left-right direction, and are separated from each other by a predetermined distance in the direction along the reference line G. A substantially rectangular base plate 11 is provided so as to be movable in the left-right direction along the pair of guide rails 2b, 2b. As is apparent from FIG. 6, an L-shaped arm 11a is fixed to the base plate 11, and the arm 11a is connected to the corresponding equalizer 5 or 6 of the inspection system as described above.

A central shaft 13 is rotatably provided in the central portion of the base plate 11 via a pair of bearings 12 and 12 with its axis of rotation being vertical. The rotation axis of the central shaft 13 defines a so-called geometric center of the wheel inspection device 10, and the rotation axes of the respective central shafts 13 of the left and right wheel inspection devices 10 correspond to the equalizers of the inspection system 1. Via 5 or 6, they are always located symmetrically with respect to the reference line G of the system 1. Further, as will be described later, the center of the wheel W when the wheel W is clamped by the roller 20 is aligned with the position of the rotation axis of the central shaft 13. An elongated balance plate 14 is arranged at a predetermined height from the base plate 11 and is rotatable around a central shaft 13 in a substantially horizontal plane. The center position of the balance plate 14 preferably corresponds to the rotation axis of the central shaft 13.
A pair of guide rails are provided on the upper surface of the balance plate 14.
14a, 14a are arranged in a straight line separated from each other on the left and right,
Corresponding inner and outer sliding bodies 16a and 17a are slidably mounted on the respective guide rails 14a and 14a. Therefore, the inner and outer roller assemblies 16 and 17 are mounted on the balance plate 14 with guide rails.
The balance plate 14 is movable along the longitudinal direction of the balance plate 14 along 14a. In this case, since the balance plate 14 is rotatable around the central shaft 13, the moving directions of the roller assemblies 16 and 17 are defined by the positional relationship of the balance plate 14 around the central shaft 13 and the The direction is not necessarily perpendicular to the reference line G.

Further, a link mechanism 15 that operatively connects the inner sliding body 16a and the outer sliding body 17a is provided. The link mechanism 15 includes a rotary lever 15a that is rotatably mounted around the central shaft 13 about the rotary shaft of the central shaft 13, and a pair of connecting levers 15 pivotally attached to both ends of the rotary lever 15a.
b, 15b and these connecting levers 15b, 1
5b is rotatably connected to the corresponding inner and outer sliding bodies 16a and 17a, respectively. Therefore, the positional relationship between the inner and outer sliding bodies 16a and 17a with respect to the rotation axis of the central shaft 13 is always maintained symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis of the central shaft 13 in the longitudinal axis direction of the balance plate 14.

The wheel inspection device 10 further includes a cylinder device 18, and the cylinder device 18 includes a cylinder portion 18b and the cylinder portion 18b.
It has a rod 18a that can move back and forth from the cylinder part 1
The base portion 18c of 8b is coupled to the outer sliding body 17a, and the tip portion 18d of the rod 18a is coupled to the inner sliding body 16a. Therefore, by operating the cylinder device 18, the rod 18a is advanced or retracted, whereby the inner sliding body 16a and the outer sliding body 17a are moved toward or away from each other along the longitudinal axis of the balance plate 14. Moving. In this case, as described above, since the inner sliding body 16a and the outer sliding body 17a are operatively connected by the link mechanism 15, the inner sliding body 16a and the outer sliding body 17a are connected to each other by the rotary shaft of the central shaft 13. , Ie the geometric center of the wheel inspection device 10,
With respect to, the balance plate 14 is always maintained in a symmetrical position in the longitudinal direction. In this way, by operating the cylinder device 18 and pulling the rod 18a into the cylinder portion 18b, the inner sliding body 16a and the outer sliding body 17a are brought close to each other, and therefore the inner roller 20ti and the outer side held by them The rollers 20to are in close proximity to each other and it is possible to clamp the wheels W located between them from both sides.

As described above, the central shaft 13 is the base plate 11
Is rotatably supported around a predetermined vertical axis,
A disc 23 having a sector gear 23a fixed thereto is fixed to the lower end of the central shaft 13. On the other hand, a shaft 11b is erected at a predetermined position of the base plate 11,
A bracket 25 is rotatably mounted around the shaft 11b via a pair of bearings 24,24. Therefore, the bracket 25 is rotatable around the shaft 11b at a position separated upward from the base plate 11. And
An angle detector (preferably a rotary encoder) 26 is fixedly attached to the bracket 25. Further, a gear 26a is fixed to the rotation shaft of the angle detector 26, and the gear 26a meshes with the sector gear 23a described above. Therefore, the angular displacement of the central shaft 13 on the base plate 11 can be detected by the angle detector 26 via the disk 23, the sector gear 23a, and the gear 26a. Further, a spring 27 is stretched between a predetermined portion of the bracket 25 and a predetermined portion of the base plate 11, so that the bracket 25 has a shaft 27 shown in FIG.
A clockwise turning habit is given around 11b. Therefore, the restoring force of this spring 27 causes the gear 26
The a is always elastically engaged with the sector gear 23a, so that it is possible to always maintain the meshed state in the same direction. Therefore, the central shaft 13 to be measured and the detector 26 are connected through the gear meshing,
It is possible to always accurately detect the angular displacement of the central shaft 13 without being affected by gear backlash. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to couple the detector 26 directly to the central shaft 13 to be measured in this way,
It is possible to limit the length in the vertical direction, and further it is possible to improve the degree of freedom in layout design such as the arrangement of each component. In the illustrated example, the detector 26 is arranged apart from the central shaft 13, but as another embodiment, the detector 26 may be directly attached to the central shaft 13. Is. This angle detector
Reference numeral 26 is for detecting the angular displacement of the central shaft 13, which means that when the cylinder device 18 is operated and the wheels W are clamped by the rollers 20 from both sides, the rollers are responsive to the direction or inclination of the wheels W. 20 is positioned so that the balance plate 14 is passed through the roller assemblies 16 and 17.
Is rotated, and accordingly, the central shaft 13 fixed to the balance plate 14 is rotated.
The angular displacement of is detected. Therefore, the angle detector 26 in the illustrated example is used to detect the toe angle of the wheel W.

Further, the present wheel inspection device 10 has a support plate 30 fixedly provided on the frame 2, and the support plate 30 is positioned above the central shaft 13 and various components around it. Has been done. A floating plate 32 is provided on the support plate 30 via a plurality of balls 31.
Is provided. The upper surface of the floating plate 32 defines a flat mounting surface on which the wheel W to be inspected can be mounted. The floating plate 31 is a support plate 30 that is integral with the frame 2.
With respect to it, it is freely movable in the horizontal direction and freely rotatable in a horizontal plane. A retainer may be provided to keep the ball 31 in a predetermined position.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, the present inspection system 1
The camber angle detection device used in the above will be described in detail. It should be noted that in the illustrated example, the camber angle detecting device is integrally formed with the outer roller assembly 17 described above, and is particularly mounted on the horizontal bracket 17c thereof. As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a pair of side walls 35, 35 are provided upright on the upper surface of the horizontal bracket 17c at a predetermined distance from each other. A sensor shaft 36 is provided so as to extend in the horizontal direction. The sensor shaft 36 is rotatably supported by the side walls 35, 35 via a pair of bearings 36a, 36a. Furthermore, a pair of tilt brackets are provided on both ends of the sensor shaft 36.
37, 37 are integrally fixed to each other, and the respective tilt brackets 37 hold the outer rollers 20to, 20to for detecting the respective toe angles via the respective roller holders 37a so as to be rotatable at a predetermined angle. There is. On the other hand, a sensor arm 38 is integrally fixed to the central portion of the sensor shaft 36 and extends substantially vertically upward. A roller 20c for detecting a camber angle is provided at the tip of the sensor arm 38 via a roller holder 38a. The roller 20c is rotatably held around the rotary shaft 21 that is positioned substantially vertically via the rotary shaft 21 fixed to the roller holder 38a and the pair of bearings 21, 21. That is, in the configuration of the illustrated example, a pair of outer rollers for detecting the toe angle that roll-contact the lower portion of the tire of the wheel W.
20to, 20to and the roller 20c for detecting the camber angle which makes rolling contact with the upper part of the tire of the wheel W are the sensor shaft 3
6, held by a roller assembly having an integral structure composed of the tilt bracket 37 and the sensor arm 38. In the case of the illustrated example, the vertical distance between the rotation axis of the sensor shaft 36 and the contact point where the camber angle detection roller 20c comes into contact with the tire of the wheel W is defined by the rotation axis of the sensor shaft 36 and the toe angle detection. It is desirable to set the vertical distance between the contact point where the roller 20to contacts the tire of the wheel W to about 3 times. With this arrangement, the balance of the rollers is good and the contact with the wheels W is stabilized.

Another shaft 40 extends horizontally between the pair of side walls 35, 35 and is rotatably provided via a pair of bearings 40a, 40a. A bracket is provided at the approximate center of this shaft 40.
An angle detector 42, which is preferably a rotary encoder, is fixed to the bracket 41. A gear 42a is fixedly provided on the rotation shaft of the angle detector 42. On the other hand, the sensor shaft 36 has a bracket 43.
Are fixedly provided, and a sector gear 43a is fixed to the tip end portion of the bracket 43. The sector gear 43a is maintained in mesh with the gear 42a of the angle detector 42 described above. Therefore, the rotational displacement of the sensor shaft 36 can be detected by the angle detector 42. Even in this case, the angle detector 42
Is not directly attached to the sensor shaft 36 to be detected, the layout design is remarkably reduced. Further, a spring 44 is stretched between the bracket 41 and the horizontal bracket 17c, so that the bracket 41 is given a turning tendency around the shaft 40 in a specific direction. That is, due to the restoring force of the spring 44, the meshing state of the sector gear 43a and the gear 42a is always maintained in a predetermined direction, and thus the influence of gear backlash can be eliminated.

On the other hand, a support 17d is erected on the base end of the horizontal bracket 17c, and the tip of this support and the sensor arm are installed.
A spring 39 is stretched between a predetermined position near the base end of the spring 38. The spring 39 is provided so that the tip end of the sensor arm 38 may be tilted to the outside slightly and stand still in a non-actuated state. This is to prevent the side portion of the vehicle body from interfering with the distal end portion of the sensor arm 38 or the detection roller 20c when getting inside. If the sensor arm 38 itself is balanced so that it can automatically take such a position in the inoperative state, the spring 39 can be removed if desired.

FIG. 10 shows an example in which the present wheel inspection system 1 is connected to a display device. The wheel inspection system 1 has a frame 2 installed on the ground surface or a floor of an inspection place, and a pair of lamps 3 and 3 are arranged in front of and behind the frame 2, so that the vehicle to be inspected is in the inspection system 1 from one direction. It is possible to get in from the other end after entering and inspecting. Wheel inspection devices 10 are arranged at four positions on the frame 2 in the front, rear, left and right, and the respective positions are representatively shown by a floating table 32. As described above, the pair of front floating tables 32 are arranged on the movable base 4.
Each wheel inspection device 10 is connected via a cable 45 to a processing device 46 having a CPU or the like, where the angle information and the like collected from each wheel inspection device 10 is appropriately processed, and the processing result is displayed. It is displayed on the screen of the CRT display device 47. If desired, a hard copy output can be obtained by connecting a printer or the like to this processing device. It is also possible to connect a keyboard or other input device to input the identification number of the vehicle to be inspected. As described above, in the wheel inspection device of the present invention, the wheels can be inspected quickly and accurately by almost completely automation.

11 to 13 are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation principle of the wheel inspection system 1 having the above-described structure. Next, referring to these drawings, the wheel inspection system 1 of the present invention will be described. The operation will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 11, the wheel inspection system 1 includes a front equalizer 5 and a rear equalizer 6, and the straight line connecting the respective central axes is the virtual center reference line G of the system 1. Demarcated. As described above, the pair of wheel inspection devices for the front wheels 10
fr and 10fr are the left and right directions by the front equalizer 5,
That is, the movement in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the reference line G is interlocked, so that the reference line G is always located in a symmetrical position. This means that a pair of wheel inspection devices 10br for the rear wheels are operatively connected by the rear equalizer 6.
The same can be said for 10 and 10bl. That is, the distance C between the center shaft 13 of the wheel inspection device 10fl for the left front wheel and the reference line G is always the same as the distance D between the center shaft 13 of the wheel inspection device 10fr for the right front wheel and the reference line. Maintained at. As will be described later, in the state where the wheels are clamped, the sum C + D of the distances C and D becomes equal to the tread Tf of the vehicle under inspection, that is, the distance between the centers of both wheels of the front wheels. The same applies to the rear wheels. The distances E and F from the central shafts 13, 13 of the left and right wheel inspection devices 10bl and 10br to the reference line G are equal, and the sum E + F is the rear wheel. It is equal to the rear wheel tread which is the wheel center distance Tr of.

On the other hand, in each wheel inspection device 10, the base plate 11
An inner roller 20ti and an outer roller 20to are provided so as to be symmetrically movable in a radial direction with respect to a central shaft 13 rotatably supported at the center of the. In addition, these rollers
It is also possible for 20ti and 20to to rotate with this central shaft 13 about its axis of rotation. Incidentally, FIG. 11 shows a state in which the central shaft 13 is not rotated. In this case, the inner roller 20ti and the outer roller 20to are shown.
Are arranged parallel to the reference line G. Therefore, in each wheel inspection device 10, the inner roller 20ti and the outer roller 20ti
to and are always symmetrically positioned in the radial direction with respect to the rotation axis of the central shaft 13, and the central shafts 13 and 13 of the pair of left and right wheel inspection devices 10 for the front wheels and the rear wheels, respectively.
Are always symmetrically positioned in the lateral direction with respect to the reference line G, that is, symmetrically positioned.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which the wheel inspection system 1 is in a standby state and immediately after the vehicle V to be inspected is put into the standby state. In this case, if the center line H of the boarded vehicle is defined as a straight line connecting the center of the front wheel tread and the center of the rear wheel tread, this vehicle center line H is not always the center line G of the inspection system 1 immediately after boarding. Does not match. In this case, in the state shown in FIG. 12, in each wheel inspection device 10, the inner roller 20ti and the outer roller 20to are located apart from each other, so that the vehicle V is easily installed in each wheel inspection device 10. It is possible to position the corresponding wheels W of. After the entry of the vehicle V is completed, the system 1 is operated and each wheel inspection device 10 is operated.
In, the inner and outer rollers 20ti, 20to are moved closer to each other to clamp the corresponding wheels W from both sides. Then, since each wheel W is placed on the floating table 32, when it is clamped by the roller 20, the center position of each wheel W corresponds to the central shaft of the wheel inspection device 10.
Since the wheels W have been moved to be aligned with the position of 13, and such lateral movements of the wheels W are interlocked by the equalizers 5 or 6, the pair of front wheels and the pair of rear wheels are respectively referred to as a reference. Positioned symmetrically with respect to the line G. In such a positioned state (ie G =
The state H) is shown in FIG. In FIG. 13, the wheels W are shown parallel to the reference line G. However, in the case of the front wheels, since the toe angle is normally set for each wheel, the wheels W are set to the reference line. A predetermined inclination angle is formed with respect to G. In such a state, it is possible to quickly perform extremely accurate detection by detecting various characteristics of the wheel, for example, the tilt angle such as the toe angle and the camber angle.

FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view showing a wheel inspection device 10 'constructed according to another embodiment of the present invention. The construction of the embodiment shown in FIG. 14 is similar in many respects to the embodiment of the wheel inspection device 10 described above, and thus like components are labeled with like reference numerals. The difference between the present embodiment is that the sensor arm 38 is attached to the sensor shaft 36.
The point is that a cylinder device 49 is provided so as to be rotatable around and is connected to the sensor arm 38. That is, in the embodiment described above, the pair of rollers 20to for detecting the toe angle
The roller 20 for detecting the camber angle and the roller 20 for detecting the camber angle are held in an integral roller assembly, and these three rollers 20to, 20c are automatically brought into contact with the side surface of the wheel W. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the operations of the roller 20c for detecting the camber angle and the roller 20to for detecting the toe angle are separated, and the position of the roller 20 for detecting the camber angle is independently controlled by the cylinder device 37. It is said that. In the case of the illustrated example, a sensor shaft 36 and a horizontal lever 48 which is rotatable and can be carried on a horizontal bracket 17c are provided, and a cylinder device 49 pivotally supports both ends between a tip end thereof and a sensor arm 38. Has been extended.

15 and 16 show an embodiment in which the wheel inspection device 10 described above is improved to a wheel rotation type. In the embodiment of the wheel inspection device 10 described above, the wheel W to be inspected is mounted on the floating table 32 having a flat mounting surface, and therefore the inspection of the wheel W is performed in the stationary state, that is, the wheel W. It is performed in a non-rotating state. On the other hand, in the wheel inspection device shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a pair of support rollers are used instead of the floating table 32, and the wheels W are supported on the pair of support rollers. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to inspect the wheel W while the wheel W is being rotated.

That is, the configuration of the wheel rotation type wheel inspection device of this embodiment shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 is basically the same as the configuration of the wheel stationary type wheel inspection device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Although similar, in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, instead of using the floating table 32 having a flat mounting surface, a support roller set including a pair of support rollers 52, 52 is used. The difference is that it uses a solid. Other configurations are exactly the same. In the configuration shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a pair of opposed projections 2c, 2c are formed from the frame 2, and the roller block 51 is provided on these projections 2c, 2c via the ball assembly 50. It is provided. Ball assembly 50
Is composed of a plurality of balls 50a and a retainer 50b that maintains the balls 50a in a predetermined arrangement relationship.
Therefore, the roller block 50 is carried by these balls 50a so as to be freely movable in the horizontal direction over a predetermined range and freely rotatable in a horizontal plane within the predetermined range.

The roller block 51 has a substantially rectangular shape, and a central portion thereof is engraved to form a recess or a through hole, and a pair of support rollers 52, 52 are arranged side by side with a predetermined distance therebetween. It is provided. For example, each support roller 52 has a bearing 51 at its end.
It is rotatably supported by a. In the illustrated example, the armature 52 is provided inside each support roller 52. Therefore, each support roller 52 uses the armature 52 as a rotor.
It has a motor structure with 52a as the stator. Therefore, by exciting this motor, the support roller 52
Is rotated in a predetermined direction, so that it is possible to rotate the wheels W supported thereon in a predetermined direction.
In this case, as described above, in order to detect the toe angle and the camber angle, the contactor to be brought into contact with the wheel W is set to the roller
With this configuration, no inconvenience will occur when the inspection in which the wheels W are rotated is performed. In this way, when the inspection is performed with the wheels W rotated,
It becomes possible to inspect the dynamic characteristics of the wheel W, and it is possible not only to inspect in a state similar to the running state of the wheel W, but also to inspect the deflection amount of the wheel W and the turning angle of the steering wheel. Becomes

In the embodiment of the wheel rotation type described above, the armature 52a is built in the support roller 52 to drive and rotate the support roller 52, but as a further modification, the armature 52a is provided in the support roller 52. It is also possible that the support roller 52 is supported in a freely rotatable state without being built-in, and the rotational drive force is transmitted from an external drive source, for example, a motor through a coupling. Further, it is possible to provide the support roller 52 in a freely rotatable state and to drive the wheels W by driving the engine of the vehicle to be inspected. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 can be realized by simply replacing the parts of the portion supporting the wheel W in the apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 9. It is possible to improve the function of the device extremely easily.

Effect As described above in detail, in the present invention, it is possible to extremely rapidly and accurately inspect the characteristics of the wheels of an automobile or the like, particularly the inclination angles such as the toe angle and the camber angle. Further, the wheel inspection device of the present invention has an extremely simple structure, is easy to manufacture, and is inexpensive. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a static inspection device for inspecting wheels in a non-rotating state or a dynamic inspection device for inspecting wheels in a rotating state by merely replacing a part of the device. In particular, in one example of the present apparatus, since the wheel is clamped from both sides by rollers to perform the inspection, it is possible to easily convert such a configuration. Furthermore, when both sides of the wheel are clamped and the characteristics of the wheel are inspected, the contacts that contact the left and right side surfaces of the wheel are configured to contact the side surfaces of the wheel at asymmetrical positions to further improve the wheel. It is possible to clamp in a stable state. Furthermore, by using a roller assembly in which three rollers are arranged in an appropriate arrangement, not only the toe angle but also the camber angle can be automatically and simultaneously detected. Further, when measuring the angular displacement of the rotary shaft, the angle detector such as a rotary encoder is not directly attached to the rotary shaft, but is indirectly detected through the meshing of the gears. It is possible to improve the degree of freedom of layout.

The specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail, but the present invention should not be limited to these specific examples, and various modifications can be made without departing from the technical scope of the present invention. Of course, it is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are schematic plan views, schematic side views, and schematic front views respectively showing a wheel inspection system 1 constructed according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are wheel inspections. A schematic cross-sectional front view, a schematic cross-sectional side view, and a schematic plan view showing the detailed configuration of a wheel inspection device 10 for inspecting individual wheels used in the system 1, respectively, FIGS. 7 to 9
The figures show a schematic side view, a schematic front view, and a schematic plan view, respectively, showing the detailed configuration of the camber angle inspection device provided in the wheel inspection device 10, and FIG. 10 shows a state in which the wheel inspection system 1 is connected to a display device. 11 to 13 are schematic diagrams useful for explaining the operation principle of the wheel inspection system 1, and FIG. 14 is a case where a cylinder device is used for movement control of the camber sensor arm. Fig. 15 and Fig. 16 are schematic perspective views showing the embodiment of Fig. 4 when the static inspection device of Figs. 4 to 6 is used as a dynamic inspection device capable of inspecting a wheel in a rotating state. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional front view and a schematic cross-sectional side view, respectively, showing the configuration of FIG. (Description of symbols) 1: Wheel inspection system 2: Frame 4: Base 5,6: Equalizer 10: Wheel inspection device 11: Base plate 13: Central shaft 15: Link mechanism (equalizer) 16: Inner roller assembly 17: Outer Roller assembly 20ti: Inner roller for toe detection 20to: Outer roller for toe detection 20c: Camber detection roller 26: Rotary encoder 32: Floating table 52: Support roller

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Hirokazu Nabeshima 2225-16 Takahagi, Hidaka-cho, Iruma-gun, Saitama Prefecture (72) Inventor Shinichi Watanabe 787-9, Kamiookutomi, Sayama-shi, Saitama (72) Inventor Nishizawa Gyomasa 3-4-30, Takakura, Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture (56) References Actual Development Sho 59-124306 (JP, U) Actual Public Sho 52-37921 (JP, Y2)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An angle detecting device for inspecting a wheel, wherein a rotating shaft is rotatably provided on an object and rotates in accordance with an angular displacement of a wheel, a first gear fixed to the rotating shaft, and movable to the object. A carrier mounted on the carrier, an angle detector fixed on the carrier, and a second shaft fixed on the rotation shaft of the angle detector.
An angle which has a gear, and which imparts a turning habit in a predetermined direction to the carrier so that the first gear and the second gear always maintain a meshing state in a predetermined direction. Displacement detection device. 2. The angular displacement detection device according to claim 1, wherein an elastic body is interposed between the carrier and the object to impart rotational habit to the carrier. 3. The angular displacement detection device according to claim 2, wherein the elastic body is a spring, and the spring is stretched between the object and the carrier. 4. An angular displacement detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the angular displacement detector is a rotary encoder. 5. An angular displacement detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the angular displacement to be detected is a toe angle of a wheel. 6. An angular displacement detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the angular displacement to be detected is a camber angle of a wheel. 7. The angular displacement detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier is pivotally supported by the object in a rotatable manner. 8. The first aspect according to claim 1
An angular displacement detection device, wherein the gear is a sector gear.