Hunter Engineering Company

Barry-wehmiller Company

James R Gender

Daniel B January

Nicholas J Colarelli, Iii

Momir Babunovic

Stephen F Brauer

Siamac Faani

Mihai A Bulboaca

Apparatus and method for calibrating vehicle wheel alignment instruments includes a pan constructed of stamped and formed sheet steel, into which has been welded two cylinders. Bearings are mounted into each end of the cylinders and rotatably carry shafts onto which wheel alignment sensors are mounted during the process of calibration. The pan rests on a pair of bases with stepped cams, such that the pan can be tilted to the left or right a known amount. The pan can be flipped left to right about its longitudinal axis or end to end about its narrow (transverse) axis. A long shaft is provided which can be set into notches in the ends of the pan. A calibration procedure is performed during which the wheel alignment sensors are mounted to the various shafts, the shafts are rotated to two positions 180 degrees apart, and the pan is flipped and tilted, such that the average position occupied by the transducers of the wheel alignment sensors is as if the sensors were perfectly mounted at the four corners of a perfect rectangle. Measurements stored during this procedure are averaged to produce high quality calibration data.

Apparatus and method for calibrating vehicle wheel alignment instruments

Apparatus adaptable for attaching to a plurality of lugs associated with a vehicular wheel assembly to enable mounting a wheel alignment instrument or other device adjacent to the vehicular wheel assembly, the apparatus including a plurality of lug engaging members or assemblies movable to angularly and radially spaced positions relative to the axis of rotation of a vehicular wheel assembly corresponding to the locations of selected lugs of different lug patterns for attachment thereto, the preferred construction being adaptable for attachment to at least lug patterns having four, five, six and eight lugs and to different size and shape lugs, and including structure enabling radially moving the lug engaging members simultaneously by rotation of a hand knob or other member and structure enabling positioning and maintaining the lug engaging members in a desired angular relationship during radial movement thereof and attachment to the wheel lugs.

Mounting apparatus

A wobble run-out compensation system includes a compensation plate mountable with respect to a vehicle wheel. First and second manually operable adjusting members allow for independently adjusting the orientation of the compensation plate in first and second orthogonal planes, an adjustment in one plane not affecting the orientation of the plate in the other plane. The orientation of the compensation plate in each of the first and second planes is electronically sensed and substantially continuously displayed on an electronic display as that orientation is being adjusted so that the user is able to observe changes on the electronic display in the orientation of the compensation plate as manual adjustments are made.

Electronically aided compensation apparatus and method

Vehicle wheel alignment apparatus having preferred constructions in which the angle measuring components are assembled at each wheel in a unique cooperative arrangement and in which certain of the components represent existing wheel positions and other components relate the wheels in pairs so important alignment characteristics may be investigated for all wheels as well as the steerable wheels in relation to the non-steerable wheels.

Vehicle wheel alignment apparatus

Apparatus for inspecting either empty or filled transparent containers for foreign matter in which the containers are moved through spaced apart inspection stations to present different sides thereof to high intensity pulsed light sources which casts the illuminated image beams along paths which intersect at a beam directing member operable to align and direct the respective beams into an electronic scanning device, and in which apparatus the containers at the respective inspection stations are not necessarily the same containers so that the inspection at the stations occurs in a predetermined sequence.

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Kirkwood, MO, United States of America

James R Gender