Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080289202 | Method and apparatus for wheel alignment - A vehicle wheel alignment method and system is provided. A three-dimensional target is attached to a vehicle wheel known to be in alignment. The three-dimensional target has multiple target elements thereon, each of which has known geometric characteristics and 3D spatial relationship with one another. | 11-27-2008 |
20080296857 | Lightweight wheel clamp for vehicle wheel alignment system - A lightweight wheel clamp assembly is provided for attaching to a vehicle wheel for performing a wheel alignment on the vehicle. Examples include a wheel clamp having an upper sliding bracket for engaging the vehicle wheel, a lower sliding bracket for engaging the vehicle wheel, a guide bar simultaneously slidably engagable with the upper and lower brackets, and a lead screw threadingly engagable with the upper and lower brackets for adjusting a distance between the upper and lower brackets to rigidly attach the wheel clamp assembly to the vehicle wheel. The lower bracket has a plurality of measuring device mounting locations for adjustably mounting a wheel alignment element. The mounting locations are disposed such that when the wheel alignment element is mounted to one of them, the wheel alignment element can sight to a second wheel alignment element on the opposing side of the vehicle. | 12-04-2008 |
20090031782 | Calibration and operation of wheel alignment systems - A method is provided for calibrating a sensor pod of a wheel alignment system, the sensor pod including a housing rotatably mounted on a spindle, and an image sensor in the housing having a viewing axis oriented in a direction substantially normal to an axis of rotation of the spindle for imaging a target affixed to an object such as a vehicle wheel. An example of the method includes mounting the pod on a fixture via the pod spindle such that the pod spindle is stationary, and positioning a target to allow imaging of the target with the pod image sensor. The pod is rotated such that its image sensor obtains images of the target in at least two rotational positions, and the images of the target at the at least two rotational positions are processed to determine the location of the axis of rotation of the spindle relative to the image sensor. | 02-05-2009 |
20100039513 | IMAGE-BASED INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION AND IMAGE CORRECTION - Systems for monitoring an inventory condition of objects based on captured images are described. An exemplary system includes at least one storage drawer, each storage drawer including a plurality of storage locations for storing objects, wherein each drawer is associated with an identifier with known color attributes; and an image sensing device configured to capture an image of one of the storage drawers along with the associated identifier. A data storage device of the system stores, for each storage drawer, information of the known color attributes of the associated identifier. A data processor of the system is configured to access information of the known color attributes of the identifier associated with the drawer corresponding to the captured image; determine color attributes of the identifier in the captured image; determine a correction factor based on the color attributes of the identifier in the captured image and the known color attributes of the identifier; and apply the correction factor to subsequent images captured by the image sensing device. | 02-18-2010 |
20100045423 | IMAGE-BASED INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD - Systems and methods for determining an inventory condition of objects based on captured images are described. An exemplary inventory control system or method utilizes a highly efficient and economical approach to apply suitable imaging parameters for capturing images of a storage drawer being accessed by a user, or for manipulating the captured images of the drawer. An inventory condition of the drawer is determined based on the captured images or manipulated images. | 02-25-2010 |
20100046791 | IMAGE-BASED INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM USING ADVANCED IMAGE RECOGNITION - Systems for monitoring an inventory condition of objects based on captured images are described. An exemplary system includes at least one storage drawer, each storage drawer including a plurality of storage locations for storing objects; and a data storage device storing reference data for each storage drawer. The reference data includes, for each region of interest corresponding to each respective storage drawer, at least one of a reference image signature representing attributes of the region of interest when a stored object is present, and a reference image signature representing attributes of the region of interest when the stored object is not present. A data processor of the system is configured to derive an image signature representing attributes of a region of interest corresponding to a drawer using a captured image of the drawer; and determine an inventory condition of the drawer according to the stored reference data corresponding to the region of interest and the derived image signature representing attributes of the captured image of the region of interest. | 02-25-2010 |
20110146089 | LIGHTWEIGHT WHEEL CLAMP FOR VEHICLE WHEEL ALIGNMENT SYSTEM - A lightweight wheel clamp assembly is provided for attaching to a vehicle wheel for performing a wheel alignment on the vehicle. The assembly comprises a first bracket for engaging the vehicle wheel; a second bracket for engaging the vehicle wheel; a handle rotatably mounted to the second bracket; and a rod having a threaded portion and an attachment portion near a first end of the rod. The first bracket is attachable to the attachment portion of the rod, and the handle is threaded to engage the threaded portion of the rod, such that when a user grasps and rotates the handle, a distance between the first and second brackets can be adjusted to rigidly attach the wheel clamp assembly to the vehicle wheel. | 06-23-2011 |
20110185584 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WHEEL ALIGNMENT - A vehicle wheel alignment method and system is provided. A three-dimensional target is attached to a vehicle wheel known to be in alignment. The three-dimensional target has multiple target elements thereon, each of which has known geometric characteristics and 3D spatial relationship with one another. | 08-04-2011 |
20120117812 | LIGHTWEIGHT WHEEL CLAMP FOR VEHICLE WHEEL ALIGNMENT SYSTEM - A lightweight wheel clamp assembly is provided for attaching to a vehicle wheel for performing a wheel alignment on the vehicle. The assembly comprises a first bracket for engaging the vehicle wheel; a second bracket for engaging the vehicle wheel; a handle rotatably mounted to the second bracket; and a rod having a threaded portion and an attachment portion near a first end of the rod. The first bracket is attachable to the attachment portion of the rod, and the handle is threaded to engage the threaded portion of the rod, such that when a user grasps and rotates the handle, a distance between the first and second brackets can be adjusted to rigidly attach the wheel clamp assembly to the vehicle wheel. | 05-17-2012 |
20120170811 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WHEEL ALIGNMENT - A vehicle wheel alignment method and system is provided. A three-dimensional target is attached to a vehicle wheel known to be in alignment. The three-dimensional target has multiple target elements thereon, each of which has known geometric characteristics and 3D spatial relationship with one another. | 07-05-2012 |
20130222793 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WHEEL ALIGNMENT - A vehicle wheel alignment method and system is provided. A three-dimensional target is attached to a vehicle wheel known to be in alignment. The three-dimensional target has multiple target elements thereon, each of which has known geometric characteristics and 3D spatial relationship with one another. | 08-29-2013 |
20130232039 | IMAGE-BASED INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM - Inventory control systems for monitoring the removal and replacement of objects are described. An exemplary system includes at least one storage drawer, each storage drawer includes at least one storage location for storing objects, and configured to move in a first direction allowing increasing access to storage locations of the drawer, and a second direction allowing decreasing access to storage locations of the drawer. An image sensing device is provided to form at least one first image of the storage locations when a respective storage drawer moves in the second direction. The system includes a data processor configured to receive information representing images of the storage locations generated by the image sensing device, and determine an inventory condition of the objects stored in the respective storage drawer according to the at least one first image. | 09-05-2013 |
20140070474 | SELF-CENTERING WHEEL CLAMP WITH NO WHEEL CONTACT - A wheel clamp attaches to a vehicle wheel for performing a wheel alignment on the vehicle. The wheel clamp has a body for supporting a target or measuring head, and three extendable arms slidably mounted to the body. Each arm has a gripping portion for gripping the tire's tread surface and a sidewall contact portion for contacting the tire sidewall such that the clamp body is substantially parallel to the vehicle wheel and the wheel clamp has no contact with the rim. A self-centering linkage has enmeshed gears and link arms respectively connecting the arms to the gears, such that when the gears are rotated, the arms simultaneously proportionally slide relative to the clamp body, so the gripping portions of the arms engage and grip the tire tread surface and tighten the clamp onto the tire, while the sidewall contact portions of the arms contact the tire sidewall. | 03-13-2014 |
20150049188 | SELF-CALIBRATING MULTI-CAMERA ALIGNMENT SYSTEM - A portable vehicle alignment system is provided having two base tower assemblies, each having a pedestal, a columnar tower removably attachable to the top of the pedestal, and a camera pod movable along a length of the tower; and a data processor with a wireless communication device for processing image data from the camera pods. Each camera pod includes a camera for capturing image data of a target mounted on a vehicle, and a communication device for wirelessly communicating with the data processor. One pod has a calibration target and the other pod has a calibration camera for capturing images of the calibration target. The pedestals each have a manually-operated clamp for removably fixedly attaching the tower to the pedestal in one of a plurality of positions such that the orientation of the camera pod to the pedestal is angularly adjustable, allowing horizontal rotation of the camera pod. | 02-19-2015 |