A method of measuring thickness of a material generally includes applying an oscillating signal to a first electrode at a fixed frequency, passing the signal through the material to a second electrode, and measuring the magnitude of the signal reflected back to the first electrode. The thickness of the material is determined based on the measured magnitude of the reflected signal by: 1) comparing the determined magnitude to a predetermined baseline to establish a difference; and 2) identifying the thickness based on the difference. Related apparatuses are also disclosed. The material may be a vehicle tire.

The present invention provides a tire lifting device that allows an operator to lift vehicle and remove vehicle tires remotely, thereby providing a more efficient and effortless vehicle tire removal operation to the operator. The device is configured to capture, remove, replace, and minutely position vehicle wheel and tire for easy re-installation without involving lifting by the technician. The device further is powered by hydraulic and or electric operation. The device comprises a steel frame with at least at least two fixed wheels, at least one steerable wheel and drives for steering the device over surface. The device further comprises a remote control unit to perform complex motions of the device remotely. A main jack and roller stand raises and lowers the wheel and tire for height positioning, while a support tubes and tire guide hold the tire erect either for removing or remounting the vehicle tire.

A storage maintains coefficients that map histogram data elements to tire wear, the coefficients being trained based on a correlation of histogram data to measured tire wear. A processor is programmed to receive a wear data histogram from a vehicle, utilize the coefficients to translate the wear data histogram into a measure of physical tire wear; and send an alert message indicating the estimated tire wear.

A rotating body load measuring device (100) according to the present invention detects a force acting on a rotating body (30) that is formed in a columnar shape and rotates around a central axis (L60) of a shaft body (60) protruding from a center of an end face, in a state where a main load is applied to the rotating body (30) in a main load direction (P) that is one direction in a radial direction, and includes a load cell (70) having a measurement center (C70) and capable of measuring forces acting in at least three directions with the measurement center (C70) as a reference, in which the load cell (70) is disposed such that the measurement center (C70) and the central axis (L60) overlap when viewed in the main load direction (P), and is connected to the shaft body (60).

A tire testing machine is for testing a tire, comprising a free roller section configured to include a plurality of rollers having an endmost roller disposed downstream of a lubricator in a conveying direction and farthest from a predetermined reference position, the endmost roller being disposed such that a horizontal distance from the reference position is equal to or greater than a radius of a largest of a plurality of tires set in advance as objects of application of a lubricant.

A tire management method with which specific information of a tire can be acquired at arbitrary timing in a manufacturing process of a vehicle is provided. The tire management method is a method of managing a tire group including a plurality of tires 1 on each of which a first mark M1 and a second mark M2 are provided on specific positions of a side surface, the method including: a step of associating, with respect to each of the tires included in the tire group, specific information of the tire and mark positional information (12, r1, and r2) related to positions of the marks M1 and M2, and recording these into a computer 2; a step of acquiring mark positional information of a tire selected from the tire group; and a step of acquiring, by using the computer 2, specific information associated with the previously-acquired mark positional information.

A vehicle wheel service apparatus that includes: a frame; a plurality of working tools, connected to the frame and movable to perform operations for mounting and/or demounting the tyre relative to the wheel rim; a shaft driven by an actuator rotationally about a longitudinal axis and connectable to the rim; a measuring system for generating vibration signals representing vibrations of the shaft produced by wheel imbalances; a control unit, connected to the measuring system to receive the vibration signals; a support device, connected to the frame and movable between an activated position, where it encircles the shaft while still allowing it to rotate, and a deactivated position, where it is spaced from the shaft; a connector, movable between a working position, where it mechanically connects the measuring system to the frame, and a rest position, where the measuring system is mechanically disengaged from the frame.

A hand-held device for measuring tire pressure and temperature including a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, an optical pointer, a processor responsive to an output of the pressure sensor and the temperature sensor, and a display. The processor is configured to output a value on the display indicative of a measured tire pressure.

In an embodiment, a system for wear monitoring, includes a wear surface, a metallic reflector embedded in the wear surface, a radio-wave transmitter, and a radio-wave receiver. The metallic reflector reflects radio waves transmitted by the radio-wave transmitter for detection by the radio wave receiver. Attenuation of the radio waves between transmission by the radio-wave transmitter and detection by the radio-wave receiver indicates a degree of wear of the wear surface.

A tire characteristic determination system is disclosed. The tire characteristic determination system includes a memory device that stores tire-engaging data related to one or more tire-engaging value to be utilized for spatially manipulating a tire about a wheel for forming a tire-wheel assembly. The tire characteristic determination device includes a tire-engaging test probe that is urged adjacent the tire at one or more tire displacement distances or is urged against the tire with one or more amounts of urging forces. The tire characteristic determination device is communicatively-coupled to the memory device for communicating the one or more tire displacement distances or the one or more amounts of urging forces to the memory device.