Importance

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for dynamically balancing a tire/wheel assembly of a motor vehicle is provided. The wheel of the tire/wheel assembly has raceways along the circumference of the wheel containing balancing media that provide dynamic rotational harmonic center of moment compensation for manufacturing imperfections. Balancing media may be solid bearings, fluid, or a combination thereof, and the balancing media moves along the raceways to certain areas of the wheel to compensate for the mass imbalances on the correspondingly opposing side of the wheel. The raceways have any combination of mathematically-described geometric cross-sectional area shapes, and the balancing media may be shaped accordingly. In another embodiment, the raceways may be noncontiguous and may have different orientations throughout the wheel. The present invention also provides sensors for real-time management of the balancing media to inform the driver of sudden changes in the state of the tire/wheel assembly.

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First Claim