Patent ID: 7191651

Claim:
In a wheel balancer having a shaft adapted for receiving a wheel rim and tire assembly, said shaft having a longitudinal axis and being rotatable about said axis so as to rotate the wheel rim and tire assembly removably mounted thereon; a rim measuring apparatus configured to measure at least one parameter of the wheel rim and tire assembly; a sensor assembly for measuring rotation of the shaft about its longitudinal axis; a control circuit connected to the sensor assembly and being responsive to the measured rotation of the shaft; a second sensor assembly for measuring imbalance of the wheel rim and tire assembly; and a microprocessor configured to utilize the wheel rim and tire parameters and measured imbalance to determining the magnitude and placement of a first correction weight in a first imbalance correction plane and the magnitude and placement of a second correction weight in a second imbalance correction plane; the improvement comprising: a display projection system for projecting at least one two-dimensional bit-mapped image onto a surface of a wheel rim and tire assembly mounted on the shaft; wherein the microprocessor is further configured to alter said at least one two-dimensional bit-mapped image responsive to the at least one parameter of the wheel rim and tire assembly measured by the rim measuring apparatus; and wherein said at least one two-dimensional bit-mapped image projected onto said wheel rim and tire assembly surface is compensated for a shape of said wheel rim and tire assembly surface.