Methods of automatic calibration for four-wheel alignment based on superimposing angles

Abstract

The four-wheel aligner is an important piece of testing equipment for calibrating the positional parameters of wheels on vehicles. We have designed a device suitable for automation that can be used to achieve accurate calibration for four-wheel alignment. It is driven by three direct drive motors to calibrate toe-in angle, camber angle, kingpin inclination angle and kingpin caster angle. Kingpin inclination angle and kingpin caster angle calibrations are based on the angle of formation by one direct drive motor in the horizontal plane; the other motor is mounted on the moving ring of the first motor and is angled in the vertical plane. Accurate synthetic angle mathematical models produce calculations to obtain the kingpin inclination angle and kingpin caster angle. This can simulate the true size of the chassis suspension wheel positioning system over a dynamic range of parameters for various models and is applicable to most available four-wheel alignments.