Vehicle dimension data describing dimensions of a vehicle are obtained, a robotic apparatus is moved to a position about the vehicle, a reference point of the vehicle is determined, and the robotic apparatus is caused to move to positions about the vehicle based on the reference point. The reference point is a center point of a selected wheel of the vehicle. A coordinate system of the robotic apparatus is aligned to the reference point of the selected wheel of the vehicle. Based on the aligned coordinate system of the robotic apparatus, operations are performed by the robotic apparatus to remove lug nuts from a wheel hub of the vehicle.

A robotic tire mounter for mounting a tire to a wheel is disclosed. The robotic tire mounted comprises a robotic arm and a gripping unit. The gripping unit further comprises a plurality of gripping fingers that are selectively moveable between a releasing position and a gripping position. When in the gripping fingers are in the releasing position, the gripping fingers are positioned adjacent one another adjacent a center of the gripping unit. A method of mounting a tire to a wheel using a robotic tire mounter is also disclosed.

A handling robot includes an articulated arm movable in three directions, which carries a gripper at its free end for gripping and holding pneumatic tires. The pneumatic tire is held on its running surface by the gripper, taken from a provision position and moved to an optional wetting station for wetting the pneumatic tire with lubricant. The wetted pneumatic tire is then moved to an assembly station with a clamping device for releasably holding a wheel rim, which comprises a handling device with an assembly head equipped with assembly tools that can be guided along between the tire bead and the wheel rim flange. Here, the pneumatic tire is mounted on the wheel rim by a coordinated movement of the handling robot and the assembly head.

A vehicle wheel service system with a control system and air pathway coupling an inflated tire to an air discharge into a low pressure volume for accelerated deflation of the tire, and for reducing tire inflation pressure below atmospheric pressure during a tire demount procedure.

Provided is an automatic tire changer, relating to the technical field of tire repair and maintenance. The automatic tire changer includes a base configured to carry a carrier of a device; a column vertically disposed on the base; a tire mounting seat mechanism movably disposed on the base and configured to secure a rim when a tire is demounted or mounted; a first demounting and mounting apparatus movably disposed on the column and configured to demount or mount an upper portion of the tire; a second demounting and mounting apparatus movably disposed on the column and configured to demount or mount a lower portion of the tire; and a control system configured to run a program and control multiple components to run through an execution mechanism.

A weight apply system capable of changing tooling to apply weights to an assembly to correct unbalance. It may include a selectively movable arm, at least one weight apply tool, the ability to change the tooling based on assembly type, and a controller configured to manage the selection of the tool, loading the weight, and application of the weight to the assembly in station.