Display device for rotary balancing machines

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to display devices for rotary balancing machines.

It is already known for example from U.K. patent specification No. 1,339,724 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,737 to provide a rotary balancing machine which provides a digital output in the form of one value representative of the balance weight value required to balance a work piece and another digital value indicative of the angular position with respect to a datum at which the weight should be placed. In a wheel balancer for balancing automotive and similar wheels, it is desirable to balance the wheel in two planes to ensure that out of balance couples as well as out of balance forces are taken into consideration when balancing the wheel. The axial positions (that is radial planes) at which weights can be added are defined by the structure of the wheel so that in the case of a wheel balancer, what is required and available from the known balancers is a weight value and an angular position value for each of the two planes.

Considering for the moment only the situation within a single radial plane, it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,455 that in order to standardise the value of weights which have to be made available, a pair of weights of a predetermined standard value may be employed at angular positions to either side of the nominal position at which a single weight would be placed.

In further detail, when:

W is the value of a single weight required to balance a wheel θ is the angle with respect to a datum at which weight W should be placed.

W₁ is the value of standardised weight

θ₁ and θ₂ are angles with respect to the datum at which weights W₁ should be placed to be equivalent of weight W at angle θ.

Δθ is equal to θ-θ₁ and equal to θ₂ -θ

Then:

θ=arc cos (W/2W1)

It has also been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,532 to provide an electronic arithmetic unit to calculate from weight and basic angle signals the corresponding angle positions for weights of a single weight value to replace the single weight at the basic angular position.

The present invention is concerned with certain details of a display device for a rotary balancing machine which display device includes means for receiving signals indicative of values of W and θ, means for calculating corresponding values of θ₁ and θ₂ for weights of predetermined value W₁ and means for displaying in digital form the angles θ₁ and θ₂.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a display device for a rotary balancing machine which machine is of the kind which generates a digital out of balance weight signal of value defined as W and a digital out of balance position signal of angle defined as θ with respect to a datum angle to give an indication of the value and position of a weight required for balancing purposes and in which balancing requirements are to be converted to digital position values for weights of predetermined uniform value defined as W₁, wherein to calculate the angle defined as Δθ in relation to weight position θ at which weights of value W₁ should be placed to give a resultant balancing effect equivalent to W at θ, the signal indicative of weight W is fed to a pre-programmable read only memory device (hereinafter PROM) programmed to give a digital output Δθ equivalent to an angle of arc COS (W/2W₁), provided W/2W₁ <1, to indicate a requirement for weights of value W₁ at angles θ₁ and θ₂ defined by: θ₁ =θ-Δθ and θ₂ =θ+Δθ.

Preferably the PROM is programmed so that when W/2W₁ =1, then θ₁ and θ₂ are each approximately equal to θ. For practical convenience it is preferred to specify small angles either side of θ to provide for the finite length of the weight.

Preferably the PROM is programmed so that when W/3W₁ <1 <W/2W₁ it gives an output signal of arc COS (W-W₁)/2W₁ together with an indication that a third weight is required at angle θ. The value of this third weight is of course W₁.

Preferably the PROM is programmed so that when W/3W₁ >1, it gives an output signal of θ and suppresses θ₁ and θ₂, indicating a requirement for some weight at angle θ. It is convenient to use a weight of the order of 3W₁, but this is not critical. This weight addition reduces the out of balance so that balance can be achieved in a subsequent balancing operation.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a display device for a rotary balancing machine which is of the kind which generates a digital out of balance weight signal of value defined as W and digital out of balance angular position signal of angle defined as θ with respect to a datum angle to give an indication of the value and position of a weight required for balancing purposes including calculating means for calculating in digital form angular position signals defined as θ₁, θ₂ indicative of angles at which weights of a predetermined uniform value should be placed to be equivalent to weight W at angle θ, digital display means for displaying said angular position signals θ₁, θ₂ and means for suppressing said angular position signals θ₁, θ₂ and displaying weight and angular position signals W and θ in said display means to operate said display device in a calibration mode for calibrating the balancing machine.

A typical balancing machine is such that the relationship between an analogue out of balance force signal and the actual out of balance weight of a work piece is a linear relationship but the actual convertion factor cannot be predetermined and has to be set by adjusting the gain of an amplifier on installation of the machine. The most convenient way to do this is to operate the machine with a test piece incorporating a known out of balance force at a known angle, reading the recorded out of balance weight on a display device and adjusting the gain of the amplifier so that the displayed value corresponds to the actual out of balance weight of the test piece. At the same time, the angle indicating function of the machine can be checked if the out of balance angle is also displayed and corresponds to the out of balance angle of the test piece.

It is inconvenient and inaccurate to use for calibration purposes the display in the form of angle signals for weights of pre-determined value, partly because approximation is required in converting weight signals to angle signals and partly because during calibration it is desirable to use large out of balance weight values which are not particularly easily dealt with by an angle only display system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying circuit diagram and table 1 which indicates the relationships between various binary signals.

Input Signals

The inputs to the display device are shown at the left hand side of the drawing. The weight input signals are received at terminals WA₀ to WA₅ respectively. The weight signal is given to the nearest 5 grams and terminal WA₀ is used to indicate whether the units figure of the weight value is 0 or 5. Terminals WA₁ to WA₄ are used to receive the tens figure in binary coded decimal form. The maximum out of balance weight which can be measured is 195 grms, so a single terminal WA₅ is needed to indicate whether the hundreds figure should be 0 or 1.

The angle signal θ is provided in decimal form in units of 5° to correspond to 72 specific angular locations defined in the machine. Units value of the angle is indicated in binary coded decimal (BCD) form on inputs UA UB UC and UD. Similarly, the tens figure for the angular position is indicated in BCD form at inputs TA TB TC and TD.

A control input C is also provided to control the time at which the input signals cause the display device to respond.

These input signals may be derived from a rotary balancing machine as described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,737 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Angle Calculation

The weight input signals are fed directly or indirectly through OR gates G₁ and G₂ to a programmable read only memory PROM which is programmed as indicated in table 1 to convert the input weight signal to angle signals with respect to the basic single weight angle θ. The display system is intended to indicate a requirement for a maximum of 3 weights of 30 grms each at the same location, in other words for a maximum weight of 90 grms to be added. For this reason, it is unnecessary to provide a separate input to the PROM for the hundreds signal but instead the hundreds signal is gated to two inputs of the tens BCD to ensure that when the actual weight is in the hundreds, the weight signal fed to the PROM is at least 90 grms.

The relationship between the input weight signals WA₀ to WA₅, PROM input signals A₀ to A₄ and PROM output signals B₀ to B₇ is indicated in the table. It can be seen that on all occasions when the weight W exceeds 90 grms the signals at A₃ and A₄ are `1`s so that the total PROM input signal is at least binary 11000, in other words at least 120 grms.

The PROM is programmed so that whenever the inputs are in the form of column A of the table, the outputs are in the form of column B of the table. These outputs indicate the required angle Δθ but also show other functions. Outputs B₀ to B₃ give the unit figure for Δθ in BCD. Output B₄ gives the tens figure for Δθ which is either 1 or 0 in decimal terms because the maximum value for Δθ is 18 units of 5° per unit. Output B₅ indicates whether or not θ should be suppressed or displayed at the display in a display unit intended for use when a third weight W₁ is required, that is when W exceeds 60 grms. Output B₆ is used to indicate when a balanced condition exists. A balance weight requirement of less than 10 grms is considered to be sufficient for there to be no requirement to add weights. Output B₇ is used to indicate that W is greater than 90 grms so that the addition of weights does not result in balance.

Display of θ

₂

The BCD inputs UA to UD and TA to TD are fed respectively to decade counters C₁ and C₂ to set these counters to the value of θ. The units counter C₂ can be counted up from an input 11 which receives a train of pulses corresponding to Δθ in a way which will now be explained.

Returning to the output of the PROM, and particularly outputs B₀ to B₄ inclusive, these are fed to two decade counters C₃ and C₄ respectively and are set to Δθ. Outputs from the counters C₃ and C₄ are connected through a network of NOR gates G₃ and G₄ and NAND gate G₅ to clock pulse NAND gate G₆ which controls the output of clock pulses from a clock pulse generator CP. The output train of clock pulses is connected both to the counter C₂ at input 11 and to counter C₄ at input 12. Counters C₁ and C₂ are connected in cascade by connections 13 and 14 and counters C₃ and C₄ are similarly connected in cascade by connections 15 and 16. Thus the counters C₃ and C₄ together are counted down in sequence with corresponding counting up of counters C₁ and C₂. This counting continues until all the outputs from counters C₃ and C₄ are in the 0 state, meaning that the cascade of counters C₃ and C₄ has been counted to 0 and at that stage a signal passes through the network of gates G₃ G₄ and G₅ to an input of NAND gate G₆ so that it cuts off further clock pulses. In this way, counters C₁ and C₂ are counted up by the original count of counters C₃ and C₄ so that the total count of counters C₁ and C₂ becomes equal to the count of θ plus the count of Δθ. This count is representative of θ₂ because θ₂ equals θ plus Δθ.

In order to cater for the situation when θ plus Δθ is greater than 71 so that θ₂ should be displayed as θ plus Δθ minus 72, the cascade connection of counters C₁ and C₂ includes a loop with NAND gates G₇ and G₈ to reset the counter to 0 when the output reaches 72.

The outputs from counters C₁ and C₂ are connected to decoders D₁ and D₂ which are in turn connected to conventional seven segment display units DIS₁ and DIS₂. Output from the decoders is normally inhibited until the counting operation has been completed through connections 17 and 18 of the decoders D₁ and D₂, the sources of which will be described subsequently but when the final value of θ₂ has been calculated as described above, the inhibition is cancelled so that θ₂ is displayed in the display units DIS₁ and DIS₂.

Display of θ

₁

θ₁ is calculated and displayed in a way which is generally similar to the calculation and display of θ₂. A first difference is associated with a possible counting down through 0 after which the next down count should be 71. The value of θ is fed from inputs UA to UD and TA to TD to two two-way multiplexer devices G₉ and G₁₀ which are set to θ in response to a load command signal which will be described subsequently and which at all other times are set to 71. The outputs from these two-way multiplexers G₉ and G₁₀ are connected to two decade counters C₅ and C₆ so that these can be set to θ. Counters C₅ and C₆ can be counted down by the gated clock pulses from gate G₆ in exactly the same way as counters C₁ and C₂ were counted up. At the termination of the counting operation, the count stored in counters C₅ and C₆ then amounts to θ-Δθ, that is θ₁.

In counting down, the count required immediately after 0 is not 99 but is 71. This is because a complete circle of angular movement is constituted by 72 divisions of 5° each. To achieve this count of 71, an output of 99 is detected by NAND gates G₁₁ and G₁₂ which signal the counters C₅ and C₆ via OR gate G₁₃ and one shot TD to reset the counters to the value contained in multiplexers G₉ and G₁₀ that is the value 71.

The output from the counters C₅ and C₆ is then normally passed through two-way multiplexers G₁₅ and G₁₆ to decoders D₃ and D₄. A display enabling signal is applied to inputs 19 and 20 of the decoder when the counting has been completed so that the θ₁ signal stored in counters C₅ and C₆ can be displayed in display units DIS₃ and DIS₄.

The other inputs which can be fed to the θ₁ display units DIS₃ and DIS₄ via multiplexers G₁₅ and G₁₆ will be described subsequently in relation to the calibration mode of the complete system.

Display of θ

The signals representative of θ at inputs UA to UD and TA to TD are also fed directly to decoders D₅ and D₆ which in turn are connected to display units DIS₅ and DIS₆.

As described above in relation to the PROM device, no weight is to be placed at angle θ when the total out of balance is less than 60 grms but an output display of θ is required when Δθ is greater than 60 grms. An appropriate display enabling signal derived in a way to be described subsequently is applied to inputs 21 and 22 of decoders D₅ and D₆ to enable θ to be displayed in display units DIS₅ and DIS₆.

Display Enabling Signals

The normal display enabling requirements are that no output should be displayed either when the balancer is running up to speed or while the counting calculations are taking place. Once the balancer has reached its appropriate speed and the calculations have been completed, the appropriate information should be displayed and should continue to be displayed until either the machine is switched off or a new balancing operation is commenced. An external display enabling signal is applied to input C.

The display enabling signal at input C is a 0 and this signal is fed directly to NOR gate G₁₇ and from there is fed directly to display enabling input 17 and through OR gates G₁₈ and G₁₉ to display enabling inputs 18, 19 and 20. Thus θ₁ and θ₂ are normally displayed in response to a 0 on input C.

Output B₇ from the PROM device is connected to gate G₁₇ to inhibit display of θ₁ or θ₂ when the weight W exceeds 90 grms.

The 0 signal from input C is also supplied through a NOR gate G₂₀ and OR gate G₂₁ to display enabling inputs 21 and 22 of decoders D₅ and D₆ to enable θ to be displayed in display units DIS₅ and DIS₆. When W is between 0 and 60 grms an inhibit signal from output B₅ of the PROM device is fed to gate G₂₀ to inhibit passage of the display signal through that gate and therefore to prevent display of θ.

Display of Balanced Condition

When the out of balance weight is less than 10 grms no addition of weights to a wheel is required and the display of θ₁ θ₂ and θ is inhibited. The inhibit signal is derived from output B₆ of the PROM device which is connected to gate G₁₇ to inhibit the display enabling signal from this gate to decoders D₁ D₂ D₃ and D₄. With such a low weight, display of θ is automatically inhibited as previously described. A display enabling signal from output B₆ reaches decoder D₂ through a second input of gate G₁₈. Output B₆ is also connected to terminal 23 of decoder D₂ to cause the decoder to illuminate all 7 display elements and thus exhibit an 8 which in this situation is intended to be read as a B. Output B₆ also activates a power source P which provides power to a bus rail BAL which is in turn connected directly to 3 appropriate elements of display device DIS₄ and 6 appropriate elements of display device DIS₆ so that these display devices display an A and L respectively. In the display equipment, display units DIS₂ DIS₄ DIS₆ are arranged in line so that the complete display has the form BAL indicative of balance of the wheel.

Operation in the Calibration Mode

In the calibration mode, a calibration circuit CC is rendered operative by closing calibration switch CS so that a 1 signal is developed at output CC₁ and a 0 signal (as opposed to a previous 1 signal) at output CC₀. The signal from CC₁ is supplied to the two-way multiplexers G₁₅ and G₁₆ to switch these gates over from counters C₅ and C₆ to inputs WA₀ to WA₄ respectively. This causes the display devices DIS₃ and DIS₄ to display the out of balance weight in grms instead of displaying θ₁. As out of balance weights used during calibration are less than 100 grms, there is no requirement for displaying the 100's element of weight W from input WA₅. An output from CC₁ is also fed to gate G₂₁ to provide an enabling signal at inputs 21 and 22 of decoders D₅ and D₆ so that θ is displayed in display devices DIS₅ and DIS₆ . Output CC₀ from the calibration circuit CC is connected to the power source P to inhibit supply of power to the bus rail BAL and thus inhibit the A and the L of the normal balance signal. However, in order to enable balance still to be indicated during operation in the calibration mode, the possible display of a B in display unit DIS₂ when the out of balance weight is less than 10 grms is not inhibited. Because greater accuracy is required during calibration than in normal operation, the actual out of balance weight W is displayed in display units DIS₃ and DIS₄ even when nominal balance is indicated.

Loading and Re-Setting of the Complete System

It is necessary to ensure that the counters C₁ to C₆ respectively do not become connected to their inputs until stable signals have been achieved. It is also necessary to ensure that they do not remain connected to their inputs after the beginning of the counting operation. For this reason a load signal of short duration is required shortly after the appearance of the display signal at control input C. For this reason input C is connected through a delay device DD to a one shot PG which generates a load command signal pulse at output L shortly after the display signal occurs at the control input C. This load signal is supplied to counters C₁, C₂, C₃ and C₄ directly and to multiplexers G₉ and G₁₀ for counters C₅ and C₆ so that the counters are loaded. The load signal is also supplied to gate G₆, which controls the counting operation and inhibits the supply of clock pulses for a sufficient time to ensure that the counters are loaded correctly.

General Operation

In operation of the wheel balancer, a wheel is mounted on the spindle of the machine and is spun up to speed in order to generate the W and θ signals. If the display device indicates that the wheel is balanced, no action is necessary. If on the other hand, there is an out of balance between 10 and 60 grms, θ₁ and θ₂ are displayed as appropriate values for addition of 30 grm weights to correct the out of balance. If the out of balance weight is between 65 and 90 grms, θ, θ₁ and θ₂ are all displayed to indicate a requirement for weight at the 3 locations to achieve balance. If the out of balance weight is greater than 90 grms, and there is no specific upper limit to the out of balance weight which can be catered for, a weight should be added at position θ. If the only weights available are 30 grm weights, it is desirable to add 2 of these at position θ, but it is preferable to use single weight of about 60 to 90 grms if this is available. The actual value of this weight is unimportant. When the new weight has been added, a new balancing operation is carried out and it is to be hoped that with the previous addition of 60 grms or so, the remaining out of balance should be less than 90 grms so that complete balance can be achieved with two or three additional 30 grm weights. In the extremely unusual situation where a weight of approximately 60 grms does not bring the wheel within 90 grms of balance, the display device will again illuminate only the angle θ, indicating that further weight should be applied to this position before carrying out a further balancing operation. If necessary, this operation can be completed an indefinite number of times until balance is achieved.

As a check on the correct positioning of weights, it is always recommended that when weights have been added, a further balancing operation should be carried out as a check to ensure that balance has been brought within the 10 grm limit set by the machine.

Balancing in two Planes

As thus far described, the display device operates solely to display balancing requirements in one plane of a wheel. In the case of a balancer intended to balance couples as well as out of balance forces, a second complete device corresponding to that described above should be provided to enable the requirements for balancing in the other plane to be displayed. As an alternative, switching means could be provided for switching the system described between input data for two planes and each plane could be balanced in turn.

General

Although the detailed description has for convenience made reference to weights of 30 grms, the balancing machine could be calibrated in such a way that the input weight signals represent other weights besides 5 grms per unit in which case a different standard weight should be used. Alternatively, the PROM device could be re-programmed to cater for weights other than 30 grms.

Although the detailed description of the invention has for convenience made reference to its use in connection with a wheel balancer, the invention is not so limited and could be used in connection with any rotary balancing machine which provides a suitable digital output.

                                  TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________WA                A          BWeight5 4 3 2  1 0 4 3 2  1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 .increment.0__________________________________________________________________________ 0   0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0  0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 18 5   0 0 0 0  0 1 0 0 0 0  1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1    1                                    1710   0 0 0 0  1 0 0 0 0 1  0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1    0                                    1615   0 0 0 0  1 1 0 0 0 1  1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0    1                                    1520   0 0 0 1  0 0 0 0 1 0  0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0    0                                    1425   0 0 0 1  0 1 0 0 1 0  1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1    1                                    1330   0 0 0 1  1 0 0 0 1 1  0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1    0                                    1235   0 0 0 1  1 1 0 0 1 1  1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0    1                                    1140   0 0 1 0  0 0 0 1 0 0  0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0    0                                    1045   0 0 1 0  0 1 0 1 0 0  1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0    0                                    850   0 0 1 0  1 0 0 1 0 1  0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1    1                                    755   0 0 1 0  1 1 0 1 0 1  1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0    1                                    560   0 0 1 1  0 0 0 1 1 0  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1    0                                    265   0 0 1 1  0 1 0 1 1 0  1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0    1                                    1170   0 0 1 1  1 0 0 1 1 1  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0    0                                    1075   0 0 1 1  1 1 0 1 1 1  1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0    0                                    880   0 1 0 0  0 0 1 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1    1                                    785   0 1 0 0  0 1 1 0 0 0  1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0    1                                    590   0 1 0 0  1 0 1 0 0 1  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1    0                                    295   0 1 0 0  1 1 1 0 0 1  1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0    0                                    0 95+ 1 ←    ←      any         →           →             1 1 ←                   any                      →                        1 0 0 0 0 0 0    0                                    0    ↓     ↓     ↓.BHorizBrace.     .BHorizBrace.                        .BHorizBrace.__________________________________________________________________________