Patent ID: 6929442

Claim:
A lifting unit for a vehicle wheel designed to cooperate with a tire changing machine and a balancing machine arranged on opposite sides thereof and located at a respective operating level, said lifting unit comprising: a support frame; guide means vertically extending from said support frame; a cross-member guide slidingly mounted on said guide means and arranged to be moved up and down thereon; driving means carried by said support frame and arranged to move said cross-member guide on said guide means; a bracket means slidingly supported on said cross-member guide and designed to carry a vehicle wheel to be processed; a limiting means slidably carried on a vertical guide means, supported by said support frame, and arranged to engage with said guide means to act upon said driving means; wheel detecting means carried by said support frame and arranged to detect the diameter of a wheel standing on said bracket means; and control means arranged to position said limiting means depending upon the diameter of a vehicle wheel as detected by said wheel detecting means, wherein said wheel detecting means comprises a lever member pivoted to said support frame, sensing means carried by said lever member and designed to contact from above a wheel standing on said bracket means when said lever member is pivoted to a working position, and motion transmission means located between said lever member and said limiting means and arranged to swivel between a resting position and a working position.