Bridgestone/firestone, Inc.

Donald E Andrews

James F Siegfried

William P Stanfield

Martin A Yurjevich

David A Johnson

Gregory D Chaplin

Gary C Noggle

A portable test apparatus (and associated method) for measuring nonuniformity of a tire/wheel assembly in situ on a wheel bearing hub of a vehicle are characterized by a lightweight assembly of components including, in particular, a probe for monitoring deflections of a surface of the tire/wheel assembly during rotation of the tire/wheel assembly and producing an electrical output indicative of the surface deflections, and an indexing device for producing an electrical output indicative of the rotational position of the tire/wheel assembly during rotation thereof, the indexing device having an attachment mechanism for removable coupling to the tire/wheel assembly. A holder is provided for holding the probe adjacent the surface of the tire/wheel assembly to be monitored for uniformity, and an electronic processor is provided for receiving and processing the electrical outputs from the probe and indexing device to provide an output indicative of at least one parameter representative of the nonuniformity of the tire/wheel assembly.

Portable tire uniformity measurement system and method

A noise-reduction system for a vehicle wheel assembly which is comprised of a usual rim and a tubeless pneumatic tire having a pair of sidewalls and bead areas mounted thereon. A plurality of flexible, non-self-supporting pieces of cloth or other sheet material are attached to the rim or are attached to the bead areas and extend therebetween, preferably at equally spaced intervals, and form baffles within the annular air chamber of the wheel assembly to reduce noise by changing the characteristics of the sound waves created within the wheel assembly. When the wheel assembly is stationary, the baffles collapse on the rim, and when the wheel assembly is rotating, the baffles move outwardly by centrifugal force and substantially conform to the transverse cross section of the air chamber to obstruct the movement of acoustic waves traveling with the chamber to reduce tire noise.

Noise-reduction system for vehicle tires

A portable machine for testing on site the uniformity of a tire or other components of a tire/wheel assembly. A compact rigid frame has a base formed by a plurality of longitudinal and transverse frame members for supporting the machine on a planar surface. A box-like subframe is mounted on the base and supports a mounting plate for the tire/wheel assembly. The mounting plate is slidably mounted on a pair of slide rods extending upwardly from the subframe. A road wheel and drive motor are mounted on the base, with the motor being mounted within the subframe and the load wheel being located beneath the tire/wheel assembly mounting plate. An air spring raises and lowers the mounting plate for placement and removal of a tire/wheel assembly thereon. A loading mechanism applies a force on the tire/wheel assembly mounting plate to forceably move a tire into contact with the road wheel, and is measurable by a first load cell. A second load cell is mounted on a spindle of the tire/wheel assembly mounting plate and measures forces exerted on the tire along five separate axes. A probe located adjacent a tire being tested transmits signals to an electronic processing unit which generates a graphic display of the tire's uniformity.

Growing community of inventors

Mogadore, OH, United States of America

Donald E Andrews