A&d Company, Limited

Subaru Corporation

Masaaki Banno

Masaru Kogure

Tatsuo Ichige

Kazuki Kido

Yukihisa Ito

Tomoyuki Ishimori

Provided is a tire testing apparatus capable of accurately and easily measuring a load which a tire receives from a road surface. The tire testing apparatus includes a plate buried in a road surface with which a tire is in contact, at least one ground-contact-force sensor measuring a ground-contact force during a contact of the tire, and at least one plate sensor measuring a load applied to the plate. According to the tire testing device, a ground-contact force of the tire can be measured by the ground-contact-force sensor and a load which the tire applies to the plate can be measured by the plate sensor.

Tire testing apparatus

A low-cost, compact, high-precision axial force sensor is provided. The axial force sensor includes a pair of parallel pressing plates and a strain gauge sandwiched therebetween. The strain gauge includes a plurality of strain-sensitive resistive elements around its periphery, and is provided with a spacer that transmits a pressing force from the pressing plates to some of the strain-sensitive elements but blocks the pressing force to the rest of the strain-sensitive elements. The output signal of the strain-sensitive elements blocked from the pressing force provide an accurate baseline to compare the output signal of the strain-elements subjected to the pressing force. The spacer has a uniform pattern of open and closed portions. On the strain gauge, the strain-sensitive elements are provided at both the open and closed portions of the spacer.

Axial force sensor

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Masaaki Banno