Patent ID: 11953315
Assignee: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 8:
9. A vehicle wheel assembly position measurement apparatus for measuring a height position of a wheel assembly relative to a vehicle body, the vehicle wheel assembly position measurement apparatus comprising:
a distance measuring instrument that is arranged on a lateral side of each of at least three measurement positions in a circumferential direction on a lateral surface of a tire section in the wheel assembly and measures a distance in a vehicle width direction to each of plural measurement points at the respective measurement position, each of the plural measurement points being located on a specified line that crosses the lateral surface of the tire section from an inner circumferential end to an outer circumferential end;
a vehicle body position measuring instrument that measures a height position of a specified portion of the vehicle body;
an approximate curve calculation section that calculates, at each of the measurement positions, an approximate curve in a graph on the basis of measurement data of each of the measurement points, at which the distance on the specified line is measured, a relationship between a position in an extending direction of the specified line and the distance of the respective measurement point being plotted in the graph;
a rotation center position calculation section that calculates a rotation center position of the wheel assembly from a specific position on the approximate curve at each of the at least three measurement positions; and
a wheel assembly height position calculation section that calculates the height position of the wheel assembly relative to the vehicle body from the rotation center position calculated by the rotation center position calculation section and the height position of the specified portion of the vehicle body measured by the vehicle body position measuring instrument.