Matching Machine for Vehicle Wheels
150 SBXR

Range of application
Matching of passenger vehicle wheels with tubeless tires in normal, low profile and super low profile design mounted onto steel rims of various dimensions.

Application of the machine in mid- and high-volume production.

Optimization of the true-running properties by correct mounting of the tire on the rim using the matching points. Maximum is by the first harmonic of radial-force oscillations on the tire.

Simple integration into existing or new lines, as a rule, linked with a preceding tire mounting machine, and succeeding inflation station, tire setting machine and wheel balancing machine.

Design
Single-station machine with fully-automatic operating sequence. Machine stand with built-in console for supporting the wheel adapter, wheel adapter with AC servo motor, pneumatically actuated external wheel centering equipment.

Tire pressing tools controlled by servo axes.

Verification of matched wheel. Optional re-matching function with extended cycle time.

Fully automatic loading and unloading of the machine by integrated transfer system.

Sequence of operations

• Automatic transfer of the pre-assembled wheel by transport conveyor and take-up into platform of the matching machine
• The wheel is lit up. A camera installed over a section of the wheel reads the matching points of the rim and tire and controls the rotation drive. The matching procedure follows: Rotate the wheel until the tire mark is in the base position. Depress the tire bead away from the rim flange and grip the tire. Rotate the rim until the rim and the tire points match.
• Unclamp the wheel and transport out of the machine.

“Point-to-point matching” is the method that is demonstrated to be the most cost-effective and efficient. To achieve satisfactory true-running of the wheel, the properties of the individual components, i.e. rim and tire, are measured with respect to their deviations during the manufacturing process. On the rim the radial run-out is determined and the low-spot marked, on the tire the first harmonic of the radial force-oscillation is determined on a uniformity machine and marked. These markings are brought together by rotation in the matching machine.

A further variant of matching is a method where the wheel is mounted and the existing uniformity is determined in a uniformity machine. In case of deviations the wheel is deflated, run through a matching station and optimized by rotation through a fixed angle, e.g. 120°, 180°. If no points are available the tire must be removed from the rim.

For identification of the matching points a high-resolution color camera is used, as a rule mounted directly in the matching station. In high production lines, the camera can optionally be installed in a preceding station. The identification of the points and the actual matching process can then be done in parallel, the cycle time shortened and the machine made correspondingly more productive.