Mazda Motor Corporation

Iyasaka Seiki Co., Ltd.

Iyasaka Seiki Limited

Morihiro Shimada

Hiroshi Fujii

Tsunenori Kawashima

Shogo Masuko

A method of measuring and adjusting the wheel alignment of an automotive vehicle comprises bringing all of the four tires in condition for actual on-road running performance, restricting axial movement of both of the front tires alone, measuring the toe-in angles of the front and rear tires and adjusting the toe-in angle of each of the rear tires to the specification whereby the center line of an alignment adjusting apparatus is brought into alignment or parallel relation to the center line or axis of the vehicle. An apparatus is also disclosed for reducing this method to practice.

Method and apparatus for measuring and adjusting the wheel alignment of

An accurate and high-speed measurement of the vehicle wheel alignment is achieved by an optoelectronic, non-contact measurement system. This system includes photoelectric sensors for detecting the distance between a reference vertical plane and a tire side surface of each wheel, and a stepping motor for adjusting the position of the sensors to follow-up the displacement of the wheel in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Operation of the stepping motor is controlled by a microcomputer on the basis of the updated distance data delivered from the sensor inputs. The microcomputer processes the input data to compute a toe-in or a camber of the wheel for the analog or digital display.

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Tokyo, Japan

Morihiro Shimada