Patent ID: 8096173

Claim:
A tire-acting-force detection apparatus for a vehicle which includes a wheel unit composed of a wheel having a circular plate portion perpendicular to a rotation axis and a tire held at an outer circumferential portion of the wheel; a wheel support member which is supported by a vehicle body for rotation about the rotation axis and which supports the wheel for rotation about the rotation axis by a wheel support portion thereof extending perpendicularly to the rotation axis; and at least one connection means for connecting the circular plate portion of the wheel and the wheel support portion of the wheel support member, the tire-acting-force detection apparatus being adapted to estimate a tire acting force, which is a force acting at a ground contact point of the tire, and comprising: at least one stress detection means for detecting a stress acting on the at least one connection means, the stress detection means disposed at the connection means; and calculation means for calculating the tire acting force on the basis of a detected stress.