APPARATUS FOR MEASURING IMBALANCE FORCES OF A TIRE/HUB ASSEMBLY OF A VEHICLE DURING MOTION OF THE VEHICLE

• Main Authors: FANTI, Brandon T, ALSTON, Robert P, REILAND, Ethan, CANFIELD, Eric L, LARUE, Ryan M, SCRIBNER, David M, FOSTER, Rachel, COTTINGHAM, Joseph H, YECHURI, Saahas S, LIAO, William, SUN, Aron, FENIMORE, David, GUJRAL, Meer, EPUR, Rohan, SUDINI, Anish, KANE, Zoe, SOMA, Scott J, SAINI, Amish
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 04.03.2021
• Subjects: MEASURING; PHYSICS; TESTING; TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES ORSTRUCTURES; TESTING STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

An apparatus configured to be removably attached to a tire/hub assembly of a vehicle via lug nuts of the tire/hub assembly is used to determine imbalance forces of the tire/hub assembly during motion of the vehicle. The apparatus includes a disk and a plurality of cup-shaped objects fixed at one end to the disk and extending perpendicularly outward from the disk. The plurality of cup-shaped objects are arranged a fixed radial distance from a radial center of the disk in a pattern that matches the lug nuts of the tire/hub assembly. The apparatus is mounted to the vehicle's tire/hub assembly by fitting the plurality of cup-shaped objects over the lug nuts of the tire/hub assembly. The apparatus further includes one or more inertial measurement units (IMU's) mounted to the disk to measure parameters that are used for calculating the imbalance forces during motion of the vehicle.