Importance

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Abstract

A wheel balancer is provided that includes a shaft adapted for receiving a wheel/tire assembly, the shaft having a longitudinal axis and being rotatable about the axis so as to rotate a wheel/tire assembly removably mounted thereon. The wheel balancer also includes a rotation sensor for measuring the rotation of the shaft about its longitudinal axis, vibration sensor operatively connected to the shaft for measuring vibrations resulting from imbalance in the wheel/tire assembly and a motor operatively connected the shaft for rotating the shaft about its longitudinal axis, thereby rotating the wheel/tire assembly. A control circuit for controlling the application of power to the motor is also included. The control circuit controls the application of power to the motor to rotate the wheel/tire assembly and to actively hold the wheel/tire assembly at desired positions. The control circuit may also be connected to the rotation sensor and responsive to the measured rotation of the shaft and to software instructions stored in a memory to control a parameter of the rotation of the wheel/tire assembly. The parameter may be selected from a group consisting of direction of rotation of the wheel/tire assembly, speed of rotation of the wheel/tire assembly and torque applied to the wheel/tire assembly.

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First Claim