A robot device and method for maintaining wheels of a vehicle

Abstract

A robot tool has a chassis, and a wheel maintenance subsystem supported on the chassis, wherein the wheel maintenance subsystem has a subsystem interface component that can be engaged with a wheel interface component, and the engagement of the interface component of the wheel maintenance subsystem with the wheel interface portion can allow the wheel maintenance subsystem to perform maintenance operations on the wheel, and the robot tool also has a control unit for controlling the operation of the wheel maintenance subsystem to implement the wheel maintenance operation. The wheel maintenance subsystem can be one or more of a chassis subsystem, a tool support subsystem, a fastener installation / removal subsystem, a fastener storage subsystem, a lifting subsystem, a wheel holding subsystem, a tire detection subsystem, a tire pressure subsystem, and a wheel dynamic balancing subsystem.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related patents

[0002] This patent application filed in the United States of America is a continuation of a portion of U.S. Patent Application 16,104,792 filed on August 17, 2018, and is entitled "Device and method for installing and removing circular array threaded fasteners."

[0003] This application is an application in China of PCT application No. PCT / CA2019 / 000058 filed on May 3, 2019, Eastern Time, Canada.

[0004] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 62666481, filed on May 3, 2018, and U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 62670596, filed on May 11, 2018, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e). The disclosures of the above-mentioned provisional applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and are made a part of this application for all purposes. Technical Field

[0005] The present invention relates to a robotic tool and method for automatically maintaining wheels of a vehicle. Background Art

[0006] There may be a number of specific steps to perform during the complete operation of maintaining a wheel, whether it is a new wheel, a wheel that has been installed on a vehicle, or a wheel that has been removed from a vehicle. For example, such maintenance may involve any or all of the following: locating and identifying the target wheel to be maintained, jacking up a portion of the vehicle on which the target wheel is located, loosening and removing nuts or other types of fasteners that secure the wheel from the vehicle's wheel hub bolts and properly placing the removed wheel fasteners in preparation for installing the original wheel or another wheel, holding and removing the wheel, inspecting the wheel for damage, the remaining life of the tire tread pattern, testing and adjusting tire pressure, testing or performing wheel dynamic balancing, etc. Various vehicles come in different types, makes and models, and correspondingly, various vehicles and wheels also have various widths, diameters and configurations. Currently, most wheel maintenance work is performed manually by maintenance technicians in various maintenance stations located on the side of the road or other locations. This labor-intensive way of wheel maintenance today is expensive, inefficient, and generally inconvenient.

[0007] Co-pending U.S. Patent Application 16104792 describes an automatic threaded fastener installation / removal device suitable for installing or removing wheels on or from vehicles. However, installing and removing threaded fasteners such as wheel nuts is only part of the operation of automatically changing wheels. If there is a device that can automatically perform the remaining operations of wheel installation and maintenance, except for the initial control, so as to partially or completely eliminate manual intervention and labor, then such a device would be very valuable. Summary of the invention

[0008] The present invention provides a device and method for automatically maintaining a wheel of a vehicle. The device can automatically approach a target vehicle and a target wheel, can automatically perform various operation steps required for maintaining the wheel, and can automatically adapt to different vehicles and wheels with different parameters and characteristics. The device can also be used to perform similar operations on other objects with structures similar to wheels.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, a robot tool has a chassis and at least one wheel maintenance subsystem supported on the chassis, wherein the wheel maintenance subsystem has an operating axis and a subsystem interface component capable of being combined with an interface component of a wheel, wherein the combination of the subsystem interface component and the wheel interface allows the wheel maintenance subsystem to perform maintenance operations on the wheel, and furthermore, the robot tool also has a control system capable of controlling the operation of the wheel maintenance subsystem so that the wheel maintenance subsystem can perform the wheel maintenance operations. The interface components of the wheel include, but are not limited to, the center axis of the wheel, the tread, the sidewall, the air nozzle, the air nozzle dust cover, the wheel rim, the inner mounting plane and other surfaces of the wheel rim, the fastener mounting holes on the wheel rim, the center hole of the wheel, the center hole cover, the counterweight, and the like.

[0010] As a disc-shaped rotating part, the central axis of the wheel (hereinafter referred to as the wheel axis) is its most important and basic geometric feature and reference. Most subsystems perform many maintenance operations on the wheel based on the wheel axis as the geometric reference.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the operating axis of the robot tool coincides with the operating axes of at least two wheel maintenance subsystems, and the operating axis of the robot tool also coincides with the axis of the wheel being maintained by any one of the two wheel maintenance subsystems.

[0012] The chassis has rollers for supporting the chassis on a supporting surface, and the first and second roller drive motors are capable of driving the corresponding first and second rollers to rotate around a substantially horizontal axis, thereby changing the position of the operating axis. The above-mentioned roller drive motors are preferably independent of each other and can make the first and second rollers have different rotation speeds and different rotation directions. The chassis is preferably further provided with third and fourth drive motors, respectively driving the first and second rollers to rotate around a vertical axis independently, thereby changing the direction of the central axis of the first and second rollers, thereby changing the driving direction of the first and second rollers.

[0013] The robot tool may further include a support subsystem located above the chassis and connected to the chassis via a connection device for supporting the wheel maintenance subsystem, the support subsystem including a support platform located above the chassis, a connection device connecting the support platform to the chassis, and a drive motor for adjusting the connection device to change the distance between the support platform and the chassis, thereby changing the position of the operating axis. The support subsystem may also include a drive motor for changing the angle of the support platform relative to the chassis, thereby changing the direction of the operating axis.

[0014] One of the wheel maintenance subsystems can be a fastener installation / removal subsystem for installing a wheel onto a vehicle's wheel hub or removing a wheel from a vehicle's wheel hub, such as the fastener handling machine described in the co-pending U.S. patent application, which has sleeves capable of holding removed wheel fasteners and distributed in a circular array, wherein the pitch radius of the circular array is adjustable.

[0015] One of the wheel maintenance subsystems may be a fastener storage subsystem, which is used to store wheel fasteners removed from the wheel on the robot when the wheel is removed, and when the wheel is subsequently installed, the subsystem can take out the stored wheel fasteners needed from the robot tool so that the wheel fasteners can be installed on the bolts of the wheel hub. The storage subsystem may have several storage stations, each of which has storage seats distributed in a circular array for storing fasteners. The storage seat may have a magnetic element, which is used to suck out the wheel fasteners from the sleeve and keep the sucked out wheel fasteners on the storage seat. The sleeve may also have a corresponding magnetic element so that when the wheel fasteners need to be transferred from the storage seat to the sleeve, the magnetic element of the sleeve can suck out the wheel fasteners from the storage seat. At least one of the magnetic elements may be an electromagnet, which can be energized or de-energized to perform magnetic attraction, transfer and release of the wheel fasteners.

[0016] One of the wheel maintenance subsystems may be a lifting subsystem for lifting a portion of a vehicle in order to access, remove or install the wheel to be maintained in any manner. The subsystem is preferably composed of a plurality of lifters mounted on the robot tool and capable of being raised and lowered independently, and each of the lifters has a base for contacting the ground and a lifting pad capable of contacting a lifting point on the vehicle and capable of bearing at least a portion of the weight of the vehicle. Each of the above lifters preferably has a motor capable of driving the lifting pad thereon to move upward away from the base to lift part of the weight of the vehicle. When in a standby state, each lifter is preferably mounted in a mounting bracket on the tool, and when the lifter is pressed down by the weight of the vehicle and fixed to the ground and the chassis of the robot tool leaves the lifter, the fixed lifter can be separated from its corresponding mounting bracket.

[0017] The wheel maintenance subsystem may be a wheel gripping subsystem having at least three grippers that can be deployed to grip the outer tread of the wheel to be maintained. The grippers are located on a circle centered on the operating axis, and each gripper is preferably mounted to perform radial movement away from or toward the operating axis. Each gripper is preferably mounted with a first set of sensors to detect the proximity and distance of the wheel tread, and each gripper is preferably mounted with a second set of sensors to detect the proximity and distance of the sidewall of the gripped wheel. In addition, each gripper is preferably mounted with a camera to inspect at least one of the outer sidewall of the tire, the tire tread, and the outer side of the rim as the wheel rotates about the operating axis. The wheel gripping subsystem also preferably has a camera mounted on an articulated arm, the articulated arm being mounted on one of the grippers, and the camera can be manipulated into a position to observe the inner surface of the wheel as the wheel rotates about the operating axis. Each gripper preferably also has one or more rollers rotatable about a corresponding axis, and the gripper can clamp the target wheel by contacting the tread of the target wheel with the rollers, so that the gripped wheel can rotate. One or more of the grippers can have a motor capable of driving one of the rollers to rotate, so that the roller can rotate about its axis, thereby rotating the gripped wheel in the opposite direction about the operating axis.

[0018] The wheel maintenance subsystem may be a tire pressure adjustment subsystem for testing and adjusting the tire pressure of the wheel. In its optimal solution, the tire pressure adjustment subsystem has an interface component mounted on a support frame and capable of docking with a wheel air nozzle, and the support frame can rotate around an operating axis; the tire pressure adjustment subsystem preferably also has a tire pressure measuring unit capable of docking with a wheel air nozzle and capable of measuring tire pressure; the tire pressure adjustment subsystem preferably also has a tire pressure regulating unit capable of docking with a wheel air nozzle and capable of increasing or decreasing tire pressure, and the tire pressure regulating unit is installed together with the tire pressure measuring unit; the tire pressure adjustment subsystem preferably also has a valve dust cover removal / installation unit, which can dock with the wheel air nozzle so as to remove the dust cover on the wheel air nozzle from the air nozzle, and can also place the dust cover on the wheel air nozzle and fasten it in place. One or each of the above units is mounted on a bracket in a mounting mechanism, and the bracket is mounted on a bracket. The mounting mechanism preferably includes a rotary and translational motor capable of directing the or each unit to the wheel air nozzle and capable of manipulating the or each unit into engagement with the wheel air nozzle.

[0019] One of the wheel maintenance subsystems may be an automatic wheel dynamic balancing subsystem having a cone head assembly and a pressure plate assembly, wherein the rim of the gripped wheel can be automatically clamped between the cone head assembly and the pressure plate assembly, so that when the gripper releases the wheel, the clamped wheel can rotate freely about its central axis. The wheel dynamic balancing subsystem may have a vibration monitoring system for monitoring vibration parameters of the wheel in the x-axis, y-axis and / or z-axis and correlating these parameters with the rotational position of the wheel.

[0020] The wheel balancing subsystem may have one or more auxiliary mechanisms mounted on one or more articulated arms. One of the auxiliary mechanisms may be a mechanism that automatically removes old balancing weights from the wheel rim. One of the auxiliary mechanisms may be a mechanism that automatically sprays and cleans the area where the new balancing weights are to be placed. One of the auxiliary mechanisms may also be a mechanism that automatically guides and secures the new balancing weights to the predetermined placement location on the wheel rim. One of the auxiliary mechanisms may also be a mechanism that automatically removes and stores the wheel center cap. One of the auxiliary mechanisms may also be a mechanism that automatically removes and stores gravel and similar foreign matter on the tire tread.

[0021] The specific maintenance operations performed by the robot tool on the wheel usually require multiple maintenance subsystems to work together. For example, wheel surface inspection requires the joint operation of the wheel surface inspection subsystem and the support subsystem.

[0022] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the elements illustrated in the drawings are not drawn to a common scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. The advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention and the methods, operations and functions of the related structural elements, as well as the combination of parts and manufacturing economies will become apparent after considering the following description, claims and reference drawings, all of which constitute a part of this specification, wherein the same reference numerals represent the same parts in the various drawings, and wherein:

[0024] Figure 1 is a side front three-dimensional view of an embodiment of a wheel maintenance robotic tool according to the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A side 3D view of the robotic tool shown.

[0026] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 Exploded rear and side 3D view of the robotic tool shown.

[0027] Figure 4 As an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 Shown is a three-dimensional view of the top of the chassis subsystem of the robotic tool looking down from the side front.

[0028] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 A bottom three-dimensional view of the chassis subsystem shown looking upward from the side and rear.

[0029] Figure 6 As an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 A three-dimensional view of a support subsystem of a robotic tool is shown looking down from the side and rear.

[0030] Figure 7 yes Figure 6 Exploded view of the support subsystem of the robotic tool.

[0031] Figure 8 yes Figure 6 A side view of the robot tool support subsystem is shown in a first articulated state.

[0032] Fig. 9 yes Figure 6 A side view of the robot tool support subsystem is shown in a second articulated state.

[0033] Fig.10 yes Figure 6 A side view of the robot tool support subsystem is shown in a third articulated state.

[0034] Fig.11 yes Figure 6 A side view of the robotic tool support subsystem is shown in a fourth articulated state.

[0035] FIG. 12 is an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 A three-dimensional view of the lifting subsystem of the robotic tool is shown looking up from the side front.

[0036] FIG. 13 is a three-dimensional view from the side and top of the lifting subsystem shown in FIG. 12 .

[0037] FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the lifting subsystem shown in FIG. 12 .

[0038] 15 is a partial three-dimensional view of the lift subsystem shown in FIG. 12 when it is in a certain stage of being activated.

[0039] FIG. 16 is a fragmentary three-dimensional view in the same position and orientation as FIG. 15 , but wherein the lifting subsystem is in the next stage of being activated.

[0040] Fig.17 It is a partial three-dimensional view having the same position and orientation as FIG. 16 , but wherein the lifting subsystem is in the next stage of being activated.

[0041] Fig.18 In one embodiment of the present invention, as Figure 1 A side front three-dimensional view of a wheel gripping subsystem of a portion of a robotic tool is shown.

[0042] Fig.18A Shown is a close-up view of the use of grippers to rotate the wheel.

[0043] Figure 19 is Fig.18 A three-dimensional view of the wheel gripping subsystem from the side and rear, looking down, is shown, wherein the wheel gripping subsystem is in a stage of being activated.

[0044] Figure 20 is a three-dimensional view of the wheel holding subsystem shown in Figure 19 from the side and rear, wherein the wheel holding subsystem is in the next stage of being activated.

[0045] Fig.21 Shown is a 3D view of the front side of the wheel, showing the use of the first set of sensors to Fig.18 The wheel gripping subsystem is shown axially positioned relative to the wheel.

[0046] Fig. 22 is a side view of the wheel showing how the second set of sensors Fig.18 The wheel gripping subsystem is shown radially positioned relative to the wheel.

[0047] Fig.22A for Fig.18A partial three-dimensional view of one embodiment of a gripper for use in a wheel gripping subsystem is shown.

[0048] FIG. 23 is an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 A three-dimensional view of a portion of a robotic tool shown looking down from the side and rear, illustrating a fastener storage subsystem.

[0049] 24 is a three-dimensional view of the fastener storage subsystem shown in FIG. 23 as viewed from the side front.

[0050] 25 is a schematic diagram showing a fastener storage station that is part of the fastener storage subsystem shown in FIG. 23 .

[0051] 26 is a three-dimensional view of a sleeve mechanism in a fastener unit used to temporarily hold a wheel fastener in preparation for transfer or installation of the wheel fastener.

[0052] Fig. 27 23 is a front view of a portion of the fastener storage subsystem, illustrating the fastener storage seat array and the fastener sleeve array at a certain stage in the fastener storage process.

[0053] Fig.28 yes Fig. 27 The fastener storage seat array and the fastener sleeve array are shown at the next stage in the fastener storage process.

[0054] Fig.29 23 is a side downward view of a portion of the fastener storage subsystem shown in FIG. 23, which illustrates the initial stages of the process of transferring fasteners from a sleeve of the fastener installation / removal subsystem to a fastener storage seat in the fastener storage subsystem.

[0055] Fig.30 is corresponding to Fig.29 A side view is shown illustrating the next stage in the fastener transfer process.

[0056] Fig.31 is corresponding to Fig.29 A side view is shown illustrating yet another stage in the fastener transfer process.

[0057] Fig.32 As an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 A three-dimensional view of the rear side of the robotic tool showing the tire pressure adjustment subsystem.

[0058] Fig.33 yes Figure 1A three-dimensional side and rear view of the robotic tool is shown with the tire pressure adjustment subsystem adjusted for interfacing with a wheel air valve.

[0059] Fig.34 The figure shows a partial view of the tire pressure adjustment subsystem viewed from the upper rear, wherein the related components of the tire pressure adjustment subsystem have been connected to the wheel air nozzle.

[0060] Fig.35 As an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 A three-dimensional side-front view of a portion of the robotic tool showing the wheel balancing subsystem.

[0061] Fig.36 yes Fig.35 Side and rear top view of the components shown.

[0062] Fig.37 yes Fig.35 A rear view of the wheel balancing subsystem is shown illustrating the operating arm in a first position.

[0063] Fig.38 is corresponding to Fig.37 Side view of.

[0064] Fig.39 yes Fig.35 A front view of the wheel balancing subsystem is shown illustrating the operating arm in a second position.

[0065] Fig.40 is corresponding to Fig.39 Side view of.

[0066] Fig.41 yes Fig.35 A front view of the wheel balancing subsystem is shown, illustrating the operating arm in a third position.

[0067] Fig.42 The 3D view in Fig.35 A portion of the pressure plate assembly of the wheel balancing subsystem is shown.

[0068] Fig.43 for Fig.35 A three-dimensional exploded view of a portion of a cone head assembly of a wheel dynamic balancing subsystem is shown.

[0069] Fig.44 is a three-dimensional view of a wheel center cap remover in one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the wheel center cap remover is Fig.35 A portion of a wheel balancing subsystem is shown in preparation for the procedure of removing the wheel center cap.

[0070] Fig.45 is corresponding to Fig.44 3D cross-sectional view showing the next stage in the operation of removing a wheel center cap by a wheel center cap remover.

[0071] Fig.46 It is a main flow chart of the overall control system of the robot tool in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0072] Fig.47 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 The partial working flow diagram of the chassis drive and steering control module in the overall control system is shown.

[0073] Fig.48 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 A partial workflow diagram of the tool support subsystem control module in the overall control system is shown.

[0074] Fig.49 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 The following is a partial working flow diagram of the vehicle lifting subsystem control module in the overall control system shown.

[0075] Fig.50 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 Partial workflow diagram of the wheel alignment and proximity control module in the overall control system shown.

[0076] Fig.51 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 Partial workflow diagram of the wheel holding control module in the overall control system shown.

[0077] Fig.52 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 Partial working flow diagram of the fastener storage control module in the overall control system shown.

[0078] Fig.53 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 Partial workflow diagram of the wheel inspection control module in the overall control system shown.

[0079] Fig.54 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46 Partial workflow diagram of the wheel dynamic balancing module in the overall control system shown.

[0080] Fig.55 yes Fig.54 The subsequent part of the workflow diagram shown.

[0081] Fig.56 In one embodiment of the present invention, Fig.46The following is a partial workflow diagram of the tire pressure adjustment module in the overall control system.

[0082] A detailed description of the invention including the currently best embodiments

[0083] like Figure 1 , 2 3. The robot tool 8 for maintaining the wheels of a vehicle has the following wheel maintenance subsystems:

[0084] Chassis subsystem 10;

[0085] Tool support subsystem 12;

[0086] Fastener installation / removal subsystem 14;

[0087] Fastener storage subsystem 15;

[0088] Lifting subsystem 16;

[0089] Wheel holding subsystem 18;

[0090] Wheel inspection subsystem 20;

[0091] Tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22;

[0092] Wheel dynamic balancing subsystem 24.

[0093] Each wheel maintenance subsystem has one or more interface components, which can automatically engage with corresponding wheel interface components under the control of the control system, and these engagements enable the corresponding wheel maintenance subsystem to automatically operate to maintain the wheel. In one embodiment of the present invention, when it is necessary to maintain the wheel, the exemplary steps described below will be performed in the order described below.

[0094] Fig.46 is a main flow chart of the overall control system of the robot tool in one embodiment of the present invention. Fig.46 According to the principles described in , the built-in control system of the robot tool receives instructions and related data from the external control center through a wireless network or other communication channels to identify the work tasks to be completed. Subsequently, the control system controls the robot tool to perform all specified maintenance operations according to the instructions received, without human intervention, unless when the control system receives a report about a fault or other problem that needs to be investigated, this will cause the control system to receive further instructions from the control center, or human intervention to manually solve the problem.

[0095] The initial command sent by the external control center to the robot tool will indicate where to perform the task, such as providing the location data of the target vehicle (such as GPS coordinates), or the data of the moving path required to reach the target vehicle, the relevant data of the target vehicle (such as vehicle model, year, color, license plate number and license plate shape, wheel maintenance history, vehicle appearance, wheel size, torque standard, etc.), and providing relevant images of the target vehicle, such as images of the body, lifting points under the vehicle, etc. Once the target vehicle is within the autonomous movement reachable range of the robot tool, the robot tool will move to the vicinity of the target vehicle according to a moving path. The source of the moving path can be the moving path data sent by the control center, or it can be the moving path calculated by the robot tool using its machine vision to analyze the images obtained by its camera during the movement. When the robot tool approaches the target vehicle, it will take a picture of the appearance characteristics of the target vehicle and compare it with the corresponding data contained in the command to confirm that the vehicle it is approaching is indeed the target vehicle.

[0096] Based on the instructions from the control center, the robot's control system will develop a detailed work list and sequence. For example, in what order to lift the various lifting points under the vehicle. Then, the robot tool's camera works with the control system to identify the parking direction of the vehicle and the position of the wheel to be removed, and then the robot tool moves to the appropriate side of the vehicle and positions itself appropriately relative to the vehicle. Fig.46 As shown, during the process of the relevant subsystems being enabled and operating, the control system will send control signals to each subsystem. Typically, these control signals are output to switches, motors and other actuators. As each subsystem operates, each subsystem will also generate output signals and send them to the control system to report the operation process of the subsystem. Typically, these output signals include output signals from cameras and sensors, which can be received and analyzed by the control system. The machine vision subsystem included in the control system can analyze the components of the target wheel being maintained, as well as the image of the maintenance subsystem performing this maintenance operation, so that the control system can independently use the analysis results of the machine vision system, or further combine data from other sources to achieve real-time control and adjustment of the corresponding subsystems. Some cameras and their positions are not shown in the accompanying drawings, but it should be understood that they are installed in appropriate locations.

[0097] Chassis subsystem

[0098] like Figure 4 , Figure 5As shown, the robot tool 8 is moved mainly by the movement of its wheeled chassis 10 on a supporting surface such as the ground. The built-in drive motor on the chassis 10 can be driven in a coordinated manner so as to drive the chassis to achieve linear, curved and rotational movements on the supporting surface. The four rollers 27 and 28 mounted on the bracket 30 of the chassis are each located at the vertices of an approximately rhombus shape. Among them, the swingable idler wheel or caster 27 mounted on the bracket 30 is installed at the front and rear vertices of the above-mentioned rhombus, and the drive wheel or drive roller 28 mounted on the bracket 30 is installed side by side at the other two opposite lateral vertices of the above-mentioned rhombus. Each drive wheel is controlled to change the direction of its own horizontal rotation axis so that the horizontal rotation axes of the two drive wheels can form any angle, including parallel and non-parallel. Each drive wheel can be driven by the motor 32 independently at the same or different speeds and rotation directions and rotate independently, so that the robot tool 8 can be driven to move in any direction and any path within a certain range. Each drive wheel 28 is also independently mounted along a vertical axis and can be driven by a respective rotary motor 34 to independently rotate horizontally about the vertical axis, so that each drive wheel can change the direction of its drive, thereby allowing the independent movement of the two drive wheels to have greater freedom. This design allows the robot tool to translate in any direction parallel to the support surface, and also allows the robot tool to rotate about any vertical axis, and also allows the robot tool to move in any combination of the above translational movement and rotation about any vertical axis. This design provides the robot tool with highly flexible and comprehensive translational and rotational movement capabilities, which is very valuable for operation in confined spaces. Fig.47 Shown is the working flow diagram of the chassis drive and steering control module.

[0099] Tool support subsystem

[0100] like Figures 6 to 11 As shown, the tool support platform 40 is mounted on the wheeled chassis 10 through the front support 36 and the rear support 38, and the upper and lower ends of the front support 36 and the rear support 38 are respectively hingedly mounted on the support platform 40 and the chassis frame 30. The lower end of the rear support 38 is slidably mounted in a horizontal slot 42 on a vertical straight plate 44 that is integral with the chassis frame 30, and the straight plate 44 is parallel to the axis A in the front-to-back direction of the chassis. A linear motor 46 can move the lower end of the rear support 38 along the slot 42 between two stop points of the slot 42. The outer end of the moving rod 48 of the linear motor 50 is hingedly mounted to the upper end of the rear support 38, and the outer end of the stator of the linear motor 50 is hingedly mounted to the lower end 36 of the front support. The linear motor 50 can change the spacing between the upper end of the rear support and the lower end of the front support. The coordinated action of the motors 46 and 50 can raise, lower, tilt forward or tilt backward the support platform 40 and the subsystems supported thereon.

[0101] like Figures 8 to 11 As shown, the motors 46 and 50 can adjust the height and tilt angle of the support platform 40 in any specified order and appropriate increments, so that the support platform 40 obtains any combination of height change and tilt angle change within the allowable range. Considering that the arrangement of each wheel maintenance subsystem is very compact, the movement of the robot tool and its subsystems needs to be precisely controlled to prevent collision and motion interference between the components of each subsystem, so the adjustment order of the height and tilt angle is very important. Among them, a specific combination of the tilt angle θ and the height H corresponds to a specific combination of the displacement L1 of the motor 46 and the displacement L2 of the motor 50. For a set of required θ values ​​and H values, the control system can calculate the corresponding values ​​of L1 and L2, and according to the values ​​of L1 and L2, either coordinately adjust the displacements of the two motors at one time, or adjust the displacements of the above two motors in a certain order, so as to obtain the required tilt angle θ and height H. The main functional requirement of the tool support subsystem is to adjust the height and inclination of the operating axis so that the position of each subsystem can be changed accordingly, for example, the height of the front end of the fastener subsystem can be changed, and the inclination angle of the front end of the fastener subsystem can be adjusted within a certain angle range at any height, and ensure that the front end of the fastener subsystem is located in an appropriate position in front of the chassis, and the movement of the wheel holding subsystem will not be blocked by the chassis. The lifting and tilting functions of the above-mentioned tool support subsystem can also be achieved through a modified mechanism of the above-mentioned mechanism, for example, one or more vertically placed linear motors, the bottom of the linear motor is mounted on the chassis frame, and the moving rod of the linear motor is hinged and slidably mounted on the lower side of the support platform. The above-mentioned and any other linear or rotary motors used in the robot tool can be equipped to measure their displacement or angle changes and output corresponding signals for subsequent control needs. Optionally, or additionally, a height and inclination angle measuring mechanism can be installed on the tool support platform. Fig.48 It is the control flow chart of the tool support control module.

[0102] Lifting subsystem

[0103] As shown in Figure 12 to Fig.17As shown, a lifting subsystem 16 having four lifters 52 is suspended on both sides of the rear of the chassis support 30, wherein each lifter 52 can be extended independently to lift a portion of the target vehicle 54. The lifting subsystem has two lifter stations 56, each of which is equipped with a pair of lifters 52. Each lifter station 56 is mounted on a sliding member 57, and the sliding member 57 is fixed on a slide rail member 58 mounted to the chassis bottom plate 30. The sliding components are arranged so that each lifter station 56 can be pushed out on the slide rail member 58 in a direction parallel to the operating axis and then returned. To achieve this purpose, a moving rod 61 of a linear motor 62 is connected to the sliding member 57, and the moving rod 61 can move back and forth in the barrel 60 of the linear motor 62. Each of the lift station brackets has a housing 64, each housing can receive and properly secure the pointed insert 66 on the lift 52, so that the lift 52 is fixed in the lift station in the standby mode, and when a lift is deployed, the lift can be separated from the housing 64. The housing 64 has upper and lower guides 65 for guiding the pointed insert 66 into the housing 64.

[0104] When a specific lifter 52 is needed to lift a vehicle, the chassis is appropriately moved and rotated so that the lifter station 56 faces the vehicle 54. Then, based on the control system's query of the vehicle body lifting point position data, the chassis will adjust its position so that a certain available lifter 52 is approximately laterally aligned with the expected position of the target lifting point 68 of the target vehicle. Then, the linear motor corresponding to the lifter station 56 where the selected lifter 52 is located will be turned on, so that the lifter station 56 slides out with the slide rail member 58, and the selected lifter is moved to the bottom of the vehicle.

[0105] At this point, the associated cameras on the lift stations and lifts will generate an image of the vehicle bottom, which the machine vision system will analyze to identify the exact location of the target lift point. In one embodiment of the lift subsystem 16, cameras are mounted on the front, rear, left and right corners of the chassis support 30, the lift stations 56 and each lift 52, and have a laser point light source at the center of the lift pad 70 of each lift.

[0106] In coordinated operation, the linear motor of the selected lift station 56 is activated to slide the lift station 56 out of the retaining frame, causing the lift pad 70 of the selected lift to move directly below the lifting point of the target vehicle (Figure 15). Then, the rotary motor 72 on the selected lift 52 is activated to rotate the screw actuator 74, causing the positioned lift to produce a scissor lift action, thereby raising the lift pad to contact and lift a portion of the vehicle above it (Figure 16). After the portion of the vehicle is lifted, part of the weight of the vehicle is supported by the deployed lift, while the lift base is pressed against the ground or other supporting surface. Subsequently, it is only necessary to drive the chassis 10 backward away from the vehicle 54 so that the pointed plug 66 slides out of the housing 64 on the docking station ( Fig.17 ), the robotic tool 8 can be separated from the deployed jacks 52. The chassis 10 can then be moved to a position adjacent to another lifting point on the same or other side of the vehicle, where a second lift 52 can be deployed in the same manner. After a particular repair phase is completed, the reverse sequence of operations can be used to remove the lift from the vehicle and reposition it on the robotic tool.

[0107] To lift the vehicle to remove the wheel, the robotic tool moves to a suitable position next to the lifting point closest to the target wheel and rotates so that the back of the robotic tool faces the vehicle. Then, one of the two lift stations 56 slides along the slide member 58 toward the vehicle 54. When the lift 52 reaches the appropriate position, the lift station 56 and the camera on the lift 52 scan the image under the vehicle. The machine vision system compares the scanned image with the stored image of the target lifting point and adjusts the position of the selected lift as needed until a matching position is found. The wheeled chassis and lift station 56 are moved in coordination to align the lifting head of one of the lifts vertically with the center of the vehicle's lifting point. Vertical alignment is determined by aligning the laser point emitted upward from the laser source at the center of the lift with the lifting point. The lift motor is then activated to lift the portion of the vehicle above the lift to the height given by the task instruction, and the scissor lift movement of the lift is detected to monitor the lift height. The camera can monitor the gap between the wheel tread and the ground or other supporting surface. Once the vehicle is lifted to the desired height so that the clearance between the vehicle and the ground is achieved, the motor of the lifter is turned off. Then, the lifter station motor and chassis drive wheel are activated to retract the lifter station 56 and move the robot tool away from the vehicle. Since the deployed lifters support the vehicle and the bottom of the lifters is pressed tightly against the ground, the insert 66 will slide out of the lifter station housing 64 when the robot tool moves backward. Subsequently, according to the control command, a portion of any one or more remaining lifters can be deployed at another lifting point of the vehicle to lift the vehicle, or the robot tool can be moved to another position to lift another vehicle. Now, the robot tool is ready for the next maintenance task. In another operation sequence, the machine vision system can directly calculate the coordinates of the lifting point of the target vehicle relative to the robot tool, and manipulate the robot tool to move the lift pad of the lifter directly to the position of the target lifting point. When the wheel replacement or other maintenance is completed, the lifter can be removed in a sequence roughly reversed from the above steps. Fig.49 is a working flow chart of a vehicle lifting subsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention, which can be used for Fig.46The control system shown. Many wheel maintenance operations can be performed even when the wheel is mounted on the vehicle. If a wheel is mounted on the vehicle and a certain wheel maintenance operation cannot be performed, the robotic tool can use a fastener installation / removal subsystem (e.g., a fastener installation / removal device of the type disclosed in co-pending U.S. Patent Application 16,104,792) to remove the wheel from the vehicle hub in preparation for the maintenance operation. When the vehicle is lifted and a wheel is off the ground, the wheel may be free to rotate or may be locked by the vehicle transmission system or parking brake, which characteristic can be determined based on vehicle data received by the control system. In a variant of the vehicle lifting procedure, when it is necessary to install or remove a wheel that is free to rotate when lifted, the lifting or lowering action of the lift can be temporarily interrupted when the lift head is in contact with the lifting point under the vehicle and the load surface is bearing the appropriate residual weight of the vehicle, at which time the wheel fasteners securing the wheel to the hub can be pre-loosened (removing the wheel) or tightened (installing the wheel) without the wheel rotating. Once the wheel fasteners are sufficiently loosened or tightened, the raising or lowering process of the lifter can continue. In other cases, if it is detected that the wheel has been fully braked, or otherwise prevented from rotating, there is no need to interrupt any process of raising or lowering.

[0108] Wheel grip subsystem

[0109] After the vehicle is raised on a lift to lift a wheel off the ground or other supporting surface, the wheel can be removed, then serviced and then reinstalled on the vehicle, or the wheel can be sent away and replaced with a previously serviced wheel, a spare wheel, or a new wheel. Figures 18 to 22 As shown, the wheel 26 will first be automatically held by the wheel holding subsystem in preparation for its removal. Fig.18 As shown in FIG19 , in the wheel gripping subsystem, three grippers 78 are mounted in a circular array at equal spacing on the front of the robot tool. Each gripper has a pair of cylindrical rollers 80 coaxially mounted on an axis 82, the axis of which is generally parallel to the tool operating axis 105 ( Figure 1). Each gripper 78 uses more than one roller 80 in order to make the gripper better match the shape of the tread 84 of the tire 26 or to more firmly grip the tread 84. Due to the original design shape of the tire and the wear during use, the cross-section of the tread 84 may be a drum-shaped curve, or one side of the tread may wear more than the other side. Therefore, by using two or more rollers 80, the contact between the gripper and the tread can be improved. In other optional schemes, the two rollers 80 may be conical with a smaller cone angle, or the two rollers 80 may be installed with a flexible connection to allow the rotation axes of the two rollers to be not completely aligned. The surface layer of the roller may be an elastic material to strengthen the gripping interface between the gripper 78 and the tire tread 84. Fig.18A As shown, a roller 80 on at least one gripper is connected to a rotation motor 90, which is driven to rotate the roller on the gripper 78 when necessary, thereby causing the gripped wheel 26 to rotate in the opposite direction. As will be described later herein, the wheel can be rotated slowly to facilitate wheel inspection or other related maintenance, or the wheel can be driven to rotate at a higher speed during the process of detecting and correcting wheel dynamic balance.

[0110] One end of each shaft 82 is fixed to a bracket 92 having a support plate or piece 94 supporting the shaft 82. Each bracket 92 is mounted to slide radially back and forth along a corresponding bracket 96 mounted on each fork of a tripod plate 98. Each of the three brackets 92 is independently driven by a respective linear motor 100 to move the three grippers 78 in a coordinated manner to increase or decrease the pitch radius of the circular array of grippers. Increasing the pitch radius allows the wheel 26 to be accommodated within the three grippers distributed in the circular array, while decreasing the pitch radius allows the grippers 78 to move toward the tread 84 of the wheel to grip the tire 86. In one embodiment, the three linear motors 100 have built-in displacement sensors, or each gripper 78 has a displacement sensor, and the displacement of each gripper from a coordinated starting point is measured by the displacement sensor, and the three grippers 78 can move independently to grip the wheel 26. The control system calculates the position of the target wheel axis and then adjusts the position of the tool operating axis to align it with the wheel axis. In an optional embodiment, the linear motor does not have a built-in displacement sensor, but instead uses a wire cable to implement a "comparison" function. Two of the three brackets are slave brackets and are connected to the "master" bracket by wire cables. The movement of the wire cable can transmit the displacement of the slave bracket to the comparator on the master bracket, where the displacements of the three brackets are compared. If the displacement of one bracket lags behind, the drive of the other two brackets is stopped until the displacements of the three are equal. In this way, the circular array of grippers can be gradually adjusted so that the circle in which the array is located remains coaxial with the tool operating axis 105. Fig.50 Shown is the working flow diagram of the wheel alignment and proximity control module.

[0111] The wheel holding subsystem also has the following structure and corresponding operation process. Fig. 22 and Fig.22A As shown, the tread contact sensor 102 installed between the rollers 80 of each gripper 78 is used to detect the offset direction of the center axis of the wheel relative to the tool operating axis 105. If only one of the tread contact sensors 102 is activated during the radial inward movement of each sensor pad 104, it means that the associated gripper 78 is closer to the wheel than the other two grippers. In response, the control system moves the operating axis to make the spacing between each gripper 78 and the tread 84 equal, and also makes all grippers 78 gradually move toward the tread 84 to achieve the grip of the wheel. If the head of the sensor 102 directly contacts the tire 86 of the rotating wheel, the sensor 102 will be damaged. Therefore, each sensor 102 has a corresponding sensor pad 104, and when a certain sensor pad 104 contacts the tread 84, it can trigger the corresponding tread contact sensor 102, and the sensor pad 104 will not be damaged by the dynamic impact of the wheel.

[0112] like Fig.21 As shown, similar sidewall contact sensors 103 and sensor pads 104 are mounted on the bracket 92, and similar methods are also used to ensure that the operating axis is perpendicular to the wheel sidewall when the wheel gripping subsystem moves toward the outer sidewall of the vehicle tire. The geometric equivalent is to ensure that the operating axis is parallel to the center axis of the wheel. When the sensor pad 104 of a sidewall sensor 103 contacts the wheel sidewall during the process of the robot tool approaching and contacting the wheel sidewall, the corresponding sidewall sensor 103 will be triggered. In fact, the above-mentioned manipulation of the wheel sidewall should precede the manipulation of the wheel tread, that is, first make the operating axis parallel to the wheel axis, and then eliminate the offset of the operating axis relative to the wheel axis, so that the operating axis coincides with the wheel axis. Other types of sensors, such as non-contact proximity and distance sensors (optical, ultrasonic, etc.), can also be used to monitor this incremental proximity control technology and its analysis process.

[0113] During operation (FIG. 19), the robot tool moves to a set position in front of the target wheel 26 and projects a centering laser beam 107 along the operating axis toward the wheel. At the same time, the machine vision system analyzes the image of the wheel and the laser spot, calculates the offset between the laser spot and the center of the wheel, and the inclination between the axis of the wheel and the operating axis, and the offset and inclination are used to calculate the approach path and direction of the three-pronged plate 98. Subsequently, the chassis and the support plate are driven accordingly to move the three-pronged plate 98 toward the location of the wheel and align the tool operating axis with the axis of the wheel. As shown in FIG. 20, as the gripper assembly approaches the wheel, the gripper will make the necessary radial movement based on the analysis of the machine vision system's live image data of the wheel and the body, as well as the stored corresponding image data, so as to insert each gripper into the cavity between the wheel and the body. A similar sequence can be used to approach and grip wheels that are not mounted on the vehicle, such as new wheels stacked in a distribution device. As shown in FIG. 20 , according to the offset and tilt between the robot operating axis and the wheel axis, the robot tool will correct the position and tilt of the tool operating axis to make the tool operating axis roughly aligned with the wheel axis.

[0114] Subsequently, three sidewall proximity sensors 103 and three tread proximity sensors 102 are required to achieve more accurate positioning. The ends of the three sidewall proximity sensors are shown in FIG. Fig.21 , the ends of the three tread proximity sensors are shown at Fig. 22 .like Fig.21 As shown, as the robot tool approaches the wheel, one (or two) sidewall sensors 103 will be triggered first. Subsequently, the robot tool continues to move toward the wheel, but the direction of the robot tool is appropriately adjusted so that the triggered sidewall sensor and the wheel sidewall are restored to a smaller distance. When all three sidewall sensors are triggered, the forward movement of the robot tool is stopped, and the operating axis is parallel to the axis of the wheel. When the robot tool is correctly positioned relative to the tire sidewall, the three grippers in the tire well move radially inward toward the tread ( Fig. 22 ). Once again, one (or two) tread proximity sensors 102 will be triggered first. Subsequently, the grippers continue to move inward, but the position of the robot needs to be appropriately adjusted so that a small gap is maintained between the triggered tread proximity sensors and the tread. When all three tread proximity sensors 102 are triggered, the grippers are correctly positioned so that the center of the circular array of the three grippers is located on the wheel axis. At this point, in order to hold the wheel tightly enough, the grippers continue to move a short controlled stroke to perform subsequent maintenance operations, including removing the wheel. Fig.51 Shown is the workflow diagram of the wheel grip control module.

[0115] Fastener Installation / Removal Subsystem

[0116] Co-pending U.S. Patent Application 16104792 describes the use of a robotic wheel maintenance tool to install and remove wheel fasteners. Figures 1 to 3 As shown, an exemplary fastener handling unit 14 is mounted on a support platform 40 and has a set of parallel spindles 106, each of which can rotate around its longitudinal axis, and these spindles are distributed in a circular array. The sleeve 108 at the front end of each spindle is used to hold and rotate a threaded fastener 110, such as a wheel nut, which is configured to engage with a corresponding threaded fastener, such as a thread of a stud mounted on a vehicle hub member. The rear end of each spindle 106 is connected to a motor 116 through a universal joint 114 to rotate the spindle 106 around its axis. The adjustment mechanism 118 is used to synchronously change the "expansion" degree of the spindle, that is, the spacing of each spindle. In operation, in order to remove the wheel 26, the fastener handling unit 14 can be used to automatically sleeve the sleeve 108 onto the fastener 110 of the target wheel on the vehicle, and unscrew the wheel fastener from the corresponding fastener (such as a bolt) on the wheel hub. Similarly, in order to install the wheel, the fastener can be held on the sleeve by the fastener handling unit and automatically tightened to the corresponding fastener on the wheel hub. In order to achieve the installation or removal of the wheel fastener, the fastener handling unit 14 needs to perform various actions relative to the wheel so that the whole or part of its components can move between different positions or change the orientation between various directions and angles to perform the installation and removal operations of the wheel fastener. As described in U.S. Patent Application No. 16104792, some of these actions are automatically performed by the action of components such as the motor and the bracket device inside the fastener handling unit. Since the fastener handling unit 14 is installed on the support platform 40, other actions of the fastener handling unit 14 can be obtained by manipulating the support platform 40.

[0117] Fastener Storage Subsystem

[0118] Once the wheel 26 is fully gripped, the wheel can be maintained accordingly by the robotic tool, regardless of whether the wheel is still mounted on the vehicle or not. In the former case, if the upcoming wheel maintenance operation requires the wheel to be removed, the fastener installation / removal subsystem 14 can be enabled to remove wheel fasteners such as nuts in order to remove the wheel. The fastener 110 removed from the position fixed to the wheel is first gripped in the fastener sleeve 108, as shown in Figures 24 and 26, and the magnetic attraction of the small magnet 120 integrated in the sleeve 108 can keep the fastener 110 in the corresponding sleeve. Subsequently, when necessary, the removed fastener 110 can be transferred from the sleeve and stored in a fastener storage subsystem 15, as shown in Figures 23 to 26. Fig.31 shown.

[0119] like Fig. 27 , Fig.28 As shown, in order to transfer the fastener 110 from the sleeve to the fastener storage subsystem 15, each sleeve 108 is moved from the initial position ( Fig. 27 ), move radially together to a final position ( Fig.28 ), in which end position, the fasteners 110 are distributed in a circular array, and the radius of the circular array is equal to a predefined storage-ready radius. As shown in Figure 25, each of the four storage stations 122 of the fastener storage subsystem 15 has five wheel nut storage seats, and each storage seat of each storage station is installed in a circular array with a storage-ready radius. The storage station 122 is mounted on a plate 126, which can rotate around an axis 128 mounted on the three-pronged plate 98. The distance from the center of the circular array where the storage seats of each storage station are located to the axis of the axis 128 is the same. In this way, any storage station can be rotated to a position where its central axis is aligned with the center line of the sleeve array. The plate 126 can be rotated to a position where the circular array of storage seats 124 on an optional storage station 122 is aligned with the circular array of the sleeve 108. Each fastener storage seat is arranged so that when a selected storage station is in a rotated position, the storage seats in the storage seat array of the storage station can be aligned with the corresponding sleeves in the sleeve array.

[0120] Then, as shown in FIGS. 23, 24, 29, 30, and 31, the tripod plate 98 is mounted on the parallel shaft 132, the parallel shaft 132 is mounted on the support platform 40, and the tripod plate 98 is slidable. The tripod plate 98 can be driven by the moving rod 133 of the linear motor 130 to move in the direction B parallel to the operating axis ( Fig.29 ) to move the storage station 122 toward the sleeve 108 until the fastener 110 held by the sleeve 108 contacts and engages with the corresponding storage seat 124 ( Fig.30 ). Each storage seat 124 has an electromagnet, and when the storage seat 124 contacts the fastener 110 in a certain sleeve, the electromagnet can lock the fastener in the corresponding storage seat 124 with a large magnetic attraction. The linear motor 130 then releases the drag on the three-pronged plate 98, and the spring 131 pushes the three-pronged plate 98 back forward, and the storage seat 124 in each storage station also moves forward and away from the sleeve, so that the fastener 110 locked by the corresponding storage seat 124 is pulled out of the sleeve 108 and remains locked on the storage seat 124. Then, the plate 126 rotates around the axis 128 to place each storage station 122 in the standby position. The electromagnet then remains energized to ensure that the fasteners on the storage seat 124 do not fall out of their storage seats 124 before being reused to install the wheel.

[0121] In an optional embodiment, a permanent magnet is installed in each storage seat, and an electromagnet is installed in the sleeve. In another optional embodiment, an electromagnet is installed on both the storage seat and the sleeve. Further, in another optional embodiment, the spacing between adjacent storage seats 124 is set to the spacing between adjacent sleeves when each sleeve is fully radially retracted. Optionally, the spacing between adjacent storage seats 124 can be set to any value within the allowable variation range of the spacing between adjacent sleeves, and when transferring fasteners, each sleeve can be adjusted to a radial position that can match the placement pattern of the storage seat so that the spacing between adjacent sleeves is equal to the spacing between storage seats. By changing the storage station or using a plate 126 with a different configuration, the size and number of storage seats in each storage station can be changed to match the configuration parameters such as the number and size of different fasteners for different wheels. In addition, the number of storage stations can also be changed according to the needs in actual use. Although the structure shown in the drawings has a maximum storage capacity of only 20 wheel nuts (i.e., the number of fasteners for 4 wheels, 5 nuts for each wheel), the maximum storage capacity of wheel fasteners can be different in different models of robot tools to fully meet application requirements; for example, many car wheels use 4 or 5 fasteners, and heavy-duty trucks and semi-trailers use up to 12 or more fasteners. For another example, in order to perform rapid maintenance, all wheels of the first vehicle can be removed first and wait for new wheels. During the waiting period, the robot can provide service for another vehicle, so the storage subsystem needs to have a larger fastener storage capacity. In another embodiment of the fastener storage subsystem, each storage station is mounted on a plate, and the storage seats of each storage station are distributed in a circular array, and the centers of the circular arrays coincide. When it is necessary to transfer the fasteners from the sleeve to the storage seat, the spindles of the fastener handling unit will be expanded so that the circular array where the sleeve is located matches the circular array where the selected fastener storage seat is located.

[0122] When the wheel is installed, the stored wheel fasteners are moved out of the fastener storage station and used to secure the wheel to the hub of the vehicle, which is essentially a reverse process. Fig.52 It is the working flow chart of the fastener storage control module.

[0123] Wheel inspection subsystem

[0124] The wheel inspection subsystem can inspect the wheel surface, including the outer wall, inner wall, tread and its pattern, inner and outer sides of the rim, air nozzle and its dust cap, etc., for damage, wear and other conditions on the surface.

[0125] In order to perform the wheel inspection operation, first, the wheel 26 should be gripped by the wheel gripping subsystem 18, whether or not the wheel is mounted on the vehicle, so that the components of the wheel inspection subsystem 20 can reach the operating position near the wheel 26. For a wheel 26 that can rotate freely on its hub, the wheel inspection operation can still be performed on it even if it is still mounted on the vehicle. In this case, the motor on the gripper is started to rotate the corresponding roller on the gripper, so that the wheel on the vehicle can be driven to rotate in the opposite direction. Optionally, if a wheel mounted on the vehicle cannot rotate freely, the vehicle's power system can be operated to drive the wheel to rotate. If it is completely impossible to rotate a wheel mounted on the vehicle, or if the wheel needs to be removed from the vehicle for other purposes, it can be removed from the vehicle according to the operating steps described above.

[0126] Subsequently, when a wheel 26 is gripped by the gripper 78, the wheel can be driven to rotate at a low speed, or driven to rotate intermittently, to obtain relevant data of the wheel. Fig.18, 19 and 22A, the condition of the wheel and tread is monitored by a lighted camera 135 mounted on or near the gripper 78, which is part of the machine vision system, which is part of the control system. The image of the wheel 26 is automatically compared with the images and other data stored by the control system to determine and record the presence and location of abnormalities such as bulges, nails, stones, scratches and cuts. In addition, similar methods can be used to analyze and determine the depth of the remaining tread pattern, whether the tread is evenly worn, and whether the tread is damaged. The lighted camera that monitors the tread pattern is installed together with the tread contact sensor 102. When a wheel is gripped, the inner wall of the wheel, such as the side of the wheel closer to the interior of the vehicle, is more difficult to detect. In order to monitor the condition of the inner wall of the wheel, the inner wall camera 134 of the wheel shown in Figure 19 is used, and the camera is in the standby position in this figure. The camera 134 is mounted on an articulated bracket 136, and a motor 138 (not shown) can drive the bracket 136 to extend and rotate, so that the camera 134 reaches a working position where it can photograph the inner surface of the wheel. In order to inspect the inner surface of the wheel, the camera 134 should first be moved forward a certain distance along the axis of the gripper where it is located, and then rotated at an angle so that the camera 134 reaches a working position where it can photograph the inner wall of the wheel. After the inspection is completed, the bracket 136 moves in the reverse order to return the camera 134 to the standby position. The tire sidewall camera 140 mounted on the bracket 142 is used to detect the condition of the outer sidewall of the tire. Fig.46 Shown is an exemplary flow chart of the steps that need to be performed during the wheel inspection process. Fig.53 It is the working flow chart of the wheel inspection control module.

[0127] Tire pressure adjustment subsystem

[0128] like Figure 32 to Figure 34As shown, the robot tool has a tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22 for measuring tire pressure and injecting or releasing air to correct the tire pressure when the tire pressure is lower or higher than the recommended pressure. The subsystem performs the above tire pressure adjustment maintenance operation without removing the target wheel 26 from the vehicle or rotating it relative to the vehicle, because as long as the robot tool 8 is within the normal communication range, the control system with the machine vision system will manipulate the tire pressure subsystem and guide its related components to the air nozzle of the wheel. Once in place, the tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22 will perform the following operations: hold, rotate and remove the air nozzle cover to measure the tire pressure; inject or release air to increase or decrease the tire pressure to the recommended value; reposition and tighten the air nozzle cover, and finally restore the tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22 to its standby position. The chassis 10, the tool support platform 40, and the structure and drive motor of the tire pressure adjustment subsystem itself enable the tire pressure subsystem to have flexible mobile positioning capabilities, so that tire pressure adjustment maintenance operations can be performed regardless of the rotational position of the wheel air nozzle.

[0129] Fig.32 , Fig.33 The chassis 10, support plate 40 and tire pressure subsystem 22 of the robot tool are shown, while other components are not shown. Fig.33As shown, the tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22 is located at the back of the robot tool, wherein the main components of the tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22 are mounted on a bracket 146. The bracket 146 is hingedly mounted on a vertical wall 148 that is integral with the support platform 40. The rotary motor 150 can drive the pinion 152 and the driven gear 154 to rotate, thereby rotating the bracket 146 around the tool operation axis D. The linear slide 158 is a part of the bracket 146, and the bracket member 156 is mounted on the linear slide 158 and can slide along the linear slide 158. The bracket member 156 can be driven by the linear motor 160 to move back and forth on the slide 158 along the direction E and stop at a required position. The bracket member 157 is hingedly mounted on the bracket member 156, and the rotary motor 162 can drive the bracket member 157 to rotate so that it rotates to the required tilt angle F. A pneumatic unit 164 and a dust cap remover 166 are mounted on the support member 157 close to each other, and the supporting bodies of the two units are parallel to each other and parallel to the tilting direction F. The dust cap remover 166 has an operating tube 175, which has two opposite gripping claws, and when the operating tube is put on the dust cap of the wheel air nozzle so as to hold the dust cap so that it can be rotated, the two opposite gripping claws will open outward. The gripping claws are lined with a layer of elastic gripping material, or other forms of elastic spring gripping methods can also be used. The rotary motor 172 can rotate the operating tube 175 of the dust cap remover and screw the dust cap out or screw it on the wheel air nozzle 144. The joint 174 of the pneumatic unit 164 can pneumatically connect the air nozzle to the air pipe, pressure sensor, valve, air pump, and pneumatic control unit (not shown) of the control system for measuring tire pressure and delivering air of the required pressure to the wheel air nozzle 144, or releasing air from the wheel air nozzle 144. The camera device installed on the robot tool can be used to identify the position of the air valve on the target wheel and the direction of the central axis of the air valve, so that the motors of the chassis and the support platform, as well as the motors 150, 160, and 162, can move the relevant components of the tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22 so that the joint 174 or the operating tube 175 of the tire pressure subsystem can be aligned with the wheel air valve 144. In actual operation, the bracket 146 and the components thereon will move to the first position so that the dust cover of the air valve can be removed from the wheel air valve using the dust cover remover 166, and then move to the second position, at which position, the tire pressure can be measured through the connection between the air pressure unit 164 and the wheel air valve, and air can be pumped into the wheel or released.

[0130] The actual steps for adjusting tire pressure are as follows. Fig.32 As shown, the tire pressure adjustment unit in standby state is located next to the target wheel 26 to be maintained. Initially, it is unlikely that the axis D is aligned with the wheel axis at the beginning, so the motors of the chassis 10 and the support platform 40 are properly operated until the two axes are aligned. Fig.33 As shown, each motor in the tire pressure adjustment subsystem is operated as required to adjust the position and azimuth of the bracket 146 and the bracket member 157 so that the operating tube 175 of the dust cover remover is coaxially sleeved on the wheel valve dust cover ( Fig.34 ). The operating tube 175 is then rotated by the motor 172 to unscrew the dust cover, and the dust cover is then held in the grip of the operating tube 175. The air pressure unit 164 then moves backward and then translates laterally to align its connector 174 with the wheel air nozzle 144, and then the connector 174 moves axially forward to press the outer end of the connector 174 against the interface of the air nozzle 144 until the connector 174 is sealed and connected to the interface. The tire pressure adjustment control program is then activated to check the tire pressure and, if necessary, pump air into the tire or release air from the tire until the recommended tire pressure is reached. Then, under the coordinated operation of the motors, the connector 174 moves axially backward to leave the wheel air nozzle. Thereafter, the robot tool moves backward again and translates laterally again to align the dust cover remover axially with the wheel air nozzle. The dust cap remover is then moved axially forward to press the held dust cap onto the valve and the rotary motor is activated to tighten the dust cap onto the valve until the desired torque is achieved, after which the air pressure unit can be removed, leaving the dust cap behind. Fig.56 It is the working flow chart of the tire pressure adjustment control module.

[0131] Wheel dynamic balancing subsystem

[0132] like Figures 35 to 41 As shown, the robot tool 8 has a wheel dynamic balancing subsystem 24, which can perform a dynamic balancing operation on a wheel 26 that has been removed by the aforementioned fastener installation / removal subsystem. Fig.36 As shown, the wheel dynamic balancing subsystem includes a first back plate 176 mounted on the tripod plate 98 through a bracket 178. The second back plate 180 is mounted on the first back plate 176 through a narrow slot and a pin structure and the two are coaxial, so that the second back plate 180 can be adjusted in a limited rotation relative to the plate 176 in the circumferential direction. The center of the plate 176 has a circular opening, and the second back plate 180 has a plurality of fan-shaped openings, which are required to cope with the limited rotation of the second back plate 180, so as to allow the fastener installation / removal subsystem 14 ( Fig.36 The related parts (not shown) can completely pass through the second back plate 180 in the shape of a spoke to remove the fastener from the wheel or install it on the wheel.

[0133] like Fig.35 , 36As shown in Figures 37, the wheel dynamic balancing subsystem 24 has an operating arm 182, on which a retaining frame 190, a pressure plate assembly 184, an impact wrench 234 and several auxiliary mechanisms required for the wheel dynamic balancing test and correction process are installed. A motor 186 can drive the operating arm 182 to swing along the X direction, and a linear motor can drive the operating arm to reciprocate along the Y direction.

[0134] One function of the operating arm 182 is to move the pressure plate assembly 184 and the auxiliary mechanism as follows: Fig.37 , Fig.39 The "off-axis" position shown means that the pressure plate assembly 184 and the auxiliary mechanism are in a standby position away from the operating axis 105, and Fig.40 , 41 The "coaxial" position shown, i.e., the central axis of the pressure plate assembly 184 is coaxial with the operating axis 105, is shifted between the operating positions to prepare for the wheel dynamic balancing operation. Fig.39 , Fig.41 As shown, during the transfer process, the operating arm 182 moves the pressure plate assembly and the mounting bracket and auxiliary mechanism of the pressure plate assembly thereon so that they leave the wheel 26 held in the gripper 78 without interference or collision.

[0135] Another function of the operating arm 182 is to remove the wheel center cap from the wheel. The wheel center cap is a cover that is mounted on the center hole of the wheel by means of a resilient clip. In normal road use, the wheel center cap protects the axle nut and bearings from dust and other foreign matter. In order to perform a wheel balancing operation, the wheel center cap must be removed from the wheel. To remove the wheel center cap, the operating arm is appropriately manipulated to move one end of a threaded shaft member 200 on the pressure plate assembly 184 toward the wheel and insert it into the wheel center hole ( Fig.40 ), then the threaded shaft 200 will overcome the force of the elastic clip and push the center cap out of the center hole of the wheel. A center cap grabbing mechanism 236 ( Fig.35 , 37, 44 and 45). Before the wheel center cap is pushed out, the operating rod of the center cap grabbing mechanism 236 is driven by the linear motor to a position in which its gripping head 237 is aligned with the center of the wheel. When the wheel center cap is pushed out of the wheel, the wheel center cap is gripped and fixed by the gripping head 237, and then the gripping head 237 will be moved to a position away from the wheel axis to prevent it from interfering with the subsequent dynamic balancing operation. Currently, commercially available wheel center caps have a variety of different forms, sizes and structures. It is expected that as the maintenance of vehicle wheels by robots becomes more and more common, the design of the center cap will become standardized. In one form, this wheel center cap has a ferromagnetic core and an electromagnet in the gripping head, which can be used to magnetically attract and hold the wheel center cap when the wheel center cap is pushed out of the wheel.

[0136] like Fig.39 , 40 , 41, once the wheel center cap is removed and the pressure plate assembly (also referred to as the drum assembly)

[0137] The threaded shaft 200 of 184 is aligned with the operating axis 105 ( Fig.40 ), the operating arm 182 is further manipulated to move the pressure plate assembly 184 along the tool operating axis 105 toward the cone head assembly 192 ( Fig.35 ) move. Fig.42 As shown, the pressure plate assembly 184 has a flange-shaped pressure plate 196, which is integrated with the drum 194 and two pins 204, wherein one end of the pin 204 has a hole 208. The outer ring of the bearing 198 is fixed inside the drum 194, and the inner ring of the bearing is fixed to the head end of the threaded shaft 200 with a larger diameter. Such a structure allows the pressure plate 196 to rotate around the shaft 200. The groove 202 provided on the head of the shaft 200 can accommodate the drive head of the impact wrench 234 mounted on the operating arm 182. The other side of the shaft 200 is threaded. When the pressure plate assembly 184 is in a standby state or a state close to the working position, the pin 204 integrated with the pressure plate 196 is accommodated in the corresponding hole 206 ( Fig.41 ), so that the retainer 190 can hold the pressure plate 196, thereby holding the pressure plate assembly 184. Fig.35 , 39 As shown, an electromagnet 205 is fixed next to each hole 206 of the retaining frame 190, and the hole 208 in the pin 204 can accommodate a movable iron core of a corresponding electromagnet 205. The movable iron core of the electromagnet can enter or move out of the hole 208 to lock the pressure plate assembly 184 on the retaining frame 190, or release the lock of the retaining frame 190 on the pressure plate assembly 184.

[0138] like Fig.43As shown, the cone head assembly 192 has a cone head 216, a center shaft 210, a needle bearing 218 and a radial thrust bearing 212. The front side of the center shaft 210 has a flange 214 integrated with the center shaft 210, and the middle position of the center shaft 210 also has a pin 224 integrated with it. The needle bearing 218 is fixed to the head of the center shaft 210, the radial thrust bearing 212 is fixed to the inner position of the front end of the center shaft 210, and the rear end of the thrust bearing 212 is supported on the flange 214. The cone head 216 with a center hole 193 located in front of the center shaft 210 is installed on the needle bearing 218 fixed to the head of the center shaft 210, and the radial thrust bearing 212, and the cone head 216 can rotate freely. The threaded shaft 200 is integrated in the center of the drum 194, and the center of the front end of the center shaft 210 has a corresponding deep threaded hole 220. As shown Fig.36 , Fig.45 As shown, the shaft tube 211 with the linear motor 222 and the slide slot 226 is fixed on the second back plate 180 and is coaxial with the operating axis. The rear half of the center shaft 210 is installed in the shaft tube 211, and its pin 224 is inserted into the slot 226. The linear motor 222 can drive the center shaft 210 to move forward and backward. Therefore, the center shaft 210 is constrained to be coaxial with the operating axis, and the cone head assembly 192 can be driven by the linear motor 222 to move toward the held wheel 26. Through the engagement of the pin 224 with the slot 226, the center shaft 210 is constrained to move only in a direction parallel to the tool operating axis. In the initial setting for the dynamic balancing test operation, the cone head assembly 192 is driven by the linear motor 222 to move toward the held wheel 26, and then the cone head 216 contacts the center hole of the wheel and is blocked by it, so that the conical shape of the cone head is pressed on the outer edge of the center hole of the wheel rim. At the same time, the operating arm 182 moves so that the pressure plate assembly 191 is coaxial with the wheel and moves toward the inner mounting surface of the rim, so that the shaft 200 passes through the center hole of the rim and contacts one side of the threaded hole at the front end of the center shaft 210. At this time, the driving head of the rotating impact wrench 234 drives the shaft 200 to rotate through the groove 202, so that it is screwed into the threaded hole 220 of the center shaft 210, so as to clamp the wheel between the pressure plate 196 and the cone head.

[0139] In the setup for the dynamic balancing test operation, the contact between the drum shaft 200 and the cone 216 can be detected by using the machine vision system built into the robot tool, or it can be detected by the increase in the current of the rotary impact motor 234, because the movement of the shaft is hindered, which will cause the rotary impact motor 234 to increase the current. Once the contact between the drum shaft 200 and the shaft 210 is made, the rotary impact motor 234 drives the shaft 200 in the drum 194 to rotate, screwing the shaft 200 into the hole 220, and the wheel rim is clamped between the cone 216 and the pressure plate 196 integral with the drum 194. During the standby and moving to the working position, the pin 204 of the drum assembly 184 is inserted and fixed in the hole 206 of the retainer, and the pin is locked in the above-mentioned hole by the movable core of the electromagnet located in its hole 208. After the drum 194, the wheel 26 and the cone 216 are clamped together, the electromagnet is energized to release the pin 204 on the drum from the hole 206. Subsequently, the operating arm 182 of the pressure plate assembly is removed and returns to its standby position. After the wheel dynamic balancing test is performed, the steps of removing the pressure plate assembly from the wheel are generally the opposite of the above process.

[0140] Once the wheel is clamped as described above, the pressure plate assembly, wheel, and cone assembly can all be moved by the motorized gripper ( Fig.18A ) and rotates at a low or high speed according to the operation requirements. Optionally, in a dynamic balancing test, when the wheel needs to rotate at a relatively high speed, a larger roller can be installed that is separate from or replaces the motor of the gripper, and its rotation can cause the wheel to rotate in the opposite direction to perform a dynamic balancing test.

[0141] The rock remover 228 is mounted on the operating arm 182 ( Fig.35 , Fig.37 ), the use of the gravel remover 228 requires the cooperation of the tire inspection subsystem 20 to identify the presence and location of gravel and similar objects on the tire tread when the wheel 26 rotates at a low speed. Once the presence of gravel is found, the gravel will be removed so that its weight will not affect the subsequent wheel dynamic balancing process. The gravel remover 228 includes a picker or support 230 with a pointed tip. By coordinating the motors that drive and control the operating arm 182 and the rotation angle of the wheel, the tip of the picker 230 can be guided by the operating arm to the main grooves in the front-to-back direction on the tread, and auxiliary grooves such as diagonal extensions, and through the coordination of the front-to-back movement of the operating arm and the rotation of the wheel, the gravel is pushed out of the groove where it is located. Adjacent to the picker tip is an air suction port 231, which is pneumatically connected to a vacuum pump (not shown in the figure), which is used to suck the loose gravel into a storage box 233 through the air nozzle.

[0142] An "old" ballast weight removal head is also mounted on the operating arm 182, which can remove the old ballast weight before the wheel dynamic balance test, or when the wheel dynamic balance is detected to be unqualified afterwards. In order to remove the old ballast weight, the control system can compare the image of the wheel rim generated by the camera with the stored image of the corresponding wheel rim without ballast weight to identify the location and type of the old ballast weight. The operating arm 182 then guides a ballast weight removal head to a position close to the surface of the wheel rim, and the wheel is also rotated to push the old ballast weight against the edge of a chisel, which is part of the old ballast weight removal head. Once the two are in contact, the operating arm will move axially, or the wheel will rotate appropriately, to pull the old ballast weight off the wheel rim. The old ballast weight that falls off is collected in a box located in an appropriate position.

[0143] For dynamic balancing test, the power gripper 78 is rotated at a higher speed so that the wheel can rotate faster accordingly. Once the wheel reaches the required speed, the gripper 78 is lifted from the tread 84 so that the wheel 26 can rotate freely. The central shaft 210 of the cone head assembly has a rotary encoder (not shown) for displaying the rotation angle of the cone head, thereby being able to display the rotation angle of the wheel, so that during the dynamic balancing test, the rotational position of the wheel can be associated with the wheel vibration data generated by the control system. Any of a variety of commercially available vibration analysis systems can be integrated into the robot tool control system to collect wheel dynamic balancing data. The vibration sensor for such a vibration analysis subsystem can be mounted, for example, at the bracket 178, and the vibration analysis system can measure the forces on the tripod plate from the wheel in the x, y and z axes, and calculate the degree and direction of the wheel dynamic imbalance based on this. The wheel dynamic imbalance can be decomposed into forces and moments acting on the inner and outer planes of the wheel rim axial direction. The dynamic imbalance information, together with the stored or photographed wheel size information, is used to determine the exact weight of the balancing weight required to dynamically balance the wheel and its installation position on the wheel rim. Fig.54 and 55 Shown is the workflow diagram of the wheel dynamic balancing module.

[0144] In addition to the gravel remover and the old counterweight removal head, the operating arm 182 also has a rim cleaning head, a counterweight selector and a counterweight application head. The tool heads can be mounted on the operating arm in a manner similar to a turret lathe and powered by the relevant motors in the robot tool under the control of a control system that cooperates with a machine vision system. The operating arm 182 is mounted in a base fixed to the robot tool support and can be telescopically moved forward and backward so that the tool head can be moved to the desired axial position according to the width of the rim and other dimensions. The operating arm 182 can also swing on its mounting base so that the tool heads can be moved radially relative to the wheel so as to move to radial positions with different distances from the wheel axis, such as the flanges on the inside and outside of the wheel rim. By coordinating the rotation of the wheel and the movement of the operating arm 182, the rim cleaning head can be moved to the installation position of the new counterweight obtained by calculation, at which position the rim cleaning head will spray cleaning fluid to the installation position of the new counterweight and use a rotatable soft pad for cleaning. Afterwards, the counterweight application head on the operating arm takes out a new counterweight of the correct type from the counterweight storage box, transfers it to the installation position in the correct direction, and then presses it on the wheel rim surface so that it can be fixed in the correct position by the adhesive on the counterweight. The counterweight is usually fixed near the inner and outer flanges of the wheel rim to achieve dynamic balance. Finally, the wheel itself can rotate around its central axis. Since the angular position of the wheel can be known from the real-time output of the rotary encoder during the dynamic balancing test, the counterweight application head and the application position of the required counterweight on the wheel rim can be accurately brought together. The counterweight storage box can accommodate counterweights with different weights or a counterweight with a standard weight. In the latter case, multiple counterweights can be used to reach the calculated weight. As mentioned above, another function of the operating arm 182 is that it can move the camera mounted thereon to a position on the side of the vehicle where the wheel is held by the wheel holding subsystem so as to check the inner side of the wheel rim.

[0145] Although the wheel maintenance robot tool described above combines a chassis subsystem 10, a tool support subsystem 12, a fastener installation / removal subsystem 14, a fastener storage subsystem 15, a lifting subsystem 16, a wheel holding subsystem 18, a wheel surface inspection subsystem 20, a tire pressure adjustment subsystem 22, and a wheel dynamic balancing subsystem 24, in other embodiments of the present invention, the wheel maintenance robot tool may only include one or some of the above subsystems as hardware parts, and its corresponding control system also only includes control software or control modules corresponding to its subsystem hardware. For example, in some embodiments, the tire pressure adjustment subsystem is not included in the wheel maintenance robot tool; in other embodiments, the wheel dynamic balancing subsystem is not included in the wheel maintenance robot tool.

[0146] For those skilled in the art, other changes and modifications to the robot tool are obvious, and the description and illustration of the above embodiments of the present invention are not restrictive. According to the principles of the present invention, the present invention can have a variety of optional implementation schemes, which all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A robot tool, characterized in that: A wheel maintenance subsystem comprising a chassis, and at least one wheel maintenance subsystem supported on the chassis, the wheel maintenance subsystem having an operating axis, and a subsystem interface component configured to be mechanically coupled to a wheel interface component, the interface component of the wheel maintenance subsystem being capable of coupling with the wheel interface component, thereby allowing maintenance of the maintenance wheel through operation of the wheel maintenance subsystem; The wheel maintenance subsystem includes a wheel gripping subsystem having at least three gripping claws for gripping the outer tread of the wheel to be maintained; the at least three gripping claws define the operating axis, wherein each gripping claw is installed to perform a movement away from or close to the operating axis, so as to grip the outer tread of the wheel to be maintained with different diameters; The robotic tool also includes a drive subsystem that is used to change the angular orientation of the operating axis and is also used to translate the operating axis; The robot tool further comprises a first sensor array, wherein the sensors are spaced apart from each other and distributed around the operating axis, and are used to detect the position of the corresponding sidewall surface of the wheel located near the robot tool in a direction parallel to the operating axis; The robot tool further comprises a second sensor array, wherein the sensors are spaced apart from each other and distributed around the operating axis, and are used to detect the position of the corresponding tread of the wheel located near the robot tool in a direction perpendicular to the operating axis; The robotic tool also includes a control system that uses data from the sensors to control the drive subsystem to align the operating axis of the robotic tool with the wheel axis.

2. The robot tool according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drive subsystem is: The chassis has rollers capable of supporting the chassis on a supporting surface, and corresponding first and second roller drivers, which can drive the first and second rollers to rotate around a substantially horizontal axis, thereby changing the position of the operating axis.

3. The robot tool according to claim 2, characterized in that The roller drives are independent of each other, and the first and second rollers may have different rotation speeds and directions.

4. The robot tool according to claim 2, characterized in that The invention also includes a third and a fourth roller driver, which can independently drive the corresponding first and second rollers to rotate around the vertical axis to change the driving direction of the rollers.

5. The robot tool according to claim 1, characterized in that The driving subsystem also includes a tool support platform located above the chassis and connected to the chassis through a connecting piece, and the tool support platform is capable of supporting at least one of the wheel maintenance subsystems; the robot tool also includes a motor capable of adjusting the above-mentioned connecting piece, and the motor can change the distance between the tool support platform and the chassis, thereby changing the position of the operating axis.

6. The robot tool according to claim 5, characterized in that The drive subsystem also includes a motor for changing the orientation of the tool support platform relative to the chassis, thereby changing the orientation of the operating axis.

7. The robot tool according to claim 1, characterized in that The gripping claws can be moved parallel to the operating axis to be spread out so as to grip the tread of the wheel to be maintained, and the gripping claws are located on a circle centered on the operating axis.

8. The robot tool according to claim 7, characterized in that The wheel maintenance subsystem also includes a wheel inspection subsystem.

9. The robot tool according to claim 8, characterized in that The wheel inspection subsystem includes at least one camera mounted with at least one of the grippers.

10. The robot tool according to claim 1, characterized in that The wheel maintenance subsystem also includes a tire pressure measurement and regulation subsystem.

11. The robot tool according to claim 10, characterized in that The interface part of the tire pressure measurement and regulation subsystem is mounted on a support frame, and the support frame is mounted in a manner that allows it to rotate around the operating axis.

12. The robot tool according to claim 1, wherein: The wheel maintenance subsystem also includes a wheel dynamic balancing subsystem.

13. The robot tool according to claim 12, characterized in that The invention also includes a clamping assembly, which has a cone head and a pressure plate. The cone head can rotate around the operating axis and can move along the operating axis to contact the edge of the center hole of the wheel. The pressure plate can contact the wheel mounting plane of the inner wall of the rim. The pressure plate can move between a position where the wheel can be clamped and a position away from the operating axis. The installation method of the clamping assembly allows the pressure plate to rotate around the operating axis. The cone head and the pressure plate can clamp the wheel to be maintained at the center of its rim. The wheel dynamic balancing subsystem also includes an old counterweight removal mechanism, a tread foreign matter removal mechanism, a rim surface cleaning mechanism and a new counterweight installation mechanism.

14. The robot tool according to claim 1, wherein: The wheel maintenance subsystem also includes a fastener installation / removal subsystem for installing fasteners on or removing fasteners from the wheel mounting member so as to clamp the wheel on or remove the wheel from the wheel mounting member, the fastener installation / removal subsystem having parallel rotatable spindles having corresponding sleeves used to engage with the wheel fasteners, the parallel rotatable spindles being distributed in a circular array, the center of the circular array being located on the operating axis.

15. The robot tool according to claim 1, wherein: The wheel maintenance subsystem also includes a fastener storage library.

16. The robot tool according to claim 15, characterized in that The fastener storage library has at least one fastener storage station, which has a plurality of fastener storage seats distributed in a circular array. The storage station can be rotated about an installation position to move the storage station from a standby position to an operating position. In the operating position, each fastener storage seat of the storage station is coaxial with the corresponding sleeve.

17. The robot tool according to claim 1, wherein: The wheel maintenance subsystem also includes a lifting subsystem for lifting a certain part of the vehicle so as to remove or install the wheel to be maintained.

18. The robot tool according to claim 7, wherein: Each of the grippers is installed to be able to perform radial translational movement away from or close to the operating axis, and the wheel holding subsystem has a group of sensors installed together with at least one of the grippers, which are used to detect the relative position between at least one of the grippers and the tread of the wheel to be held during the translational movement; and each of the grippers is installed to be able to perform translational movement in a direction parallel to the operating axis, and the wheel holding subsystem has a group of sensors installed together with at least one of the grippers, which are used to detect the relative position between at least one of the grippers and the outer side wall of the wheel to be held during the translational movement.

19. The robot tool according to claim 7, wherein: At least one camera device is mounted on at least one of the grippers, and the camera device is used to inspect at least one outer side wall of the wheel, the tread of the wheel and the outer side of the rim when the wheel rotates around the operating axis. The wheel holding subsystem also has a camera device mounted on an articulated arm, which is mounted on one of the grippers. The camera device can be manipulated to a position so as to observe the inner side wall of the wheel when the wheel rotates around the operating axis.

20. The robot tool according to claim 7, wherein: At least one of the gripping claws has at least one rotating wheel rotatable on a corresponding shaft so as to enable the gripped wheel to rotate.

21. The robot tool according to claim 20, characterized in that It also includes a driving device capable of driving at least one of the rotating wheels to rotate around its axis, so that the held wheel can rotate around the operating axis.

22. The robotic tool according to claim 12, wherein: The wheel dynamic balancing subsystem also includes a wheel center cap holder.

23. The robotic tool according to claim 1, wherein: The operating axes of at least two wheel maintenance subsystems coincide with each other, the positions of the coincident operating axes are defined as the positions of the operating axes of the robotic tool, and when a wheel is being maintained by any one of the wheel maintenance subsystems, the center axis of the wheel is coaxial with the operating axis of the robotic tool.

24. The robotic tool according to claim 13, wherein: The clamping assembly includes a cone head assembly and a pressure plate assembly, wherein the cone head of the cone head assembly is coaxially mounted on a non-rotatable shaft having an axial threaded hole at the center of one end, a rotation angle encoder is provided between the cone head and the shaft, and the central axis of the cone head coincides with the operating axis of the dynamic balancing subsystem; An operating arm in the robot tool can move or release the pressure plate assembly; in the pressure plate assembly, a shaft with an external thread at one end is connected to a pressure plate with a flange at the other end through a bearing, and the two can rotate freely relative to each other; the flange of the pressure plate is perpendicular to the axis of the shaft in the pressure plate assembly, the cone head can be pushed into the center hole of the wheel from the outside of the wheel to be dynamically balanced, the shaft in the pressure plate assembly can pass through the center hole of the wheel and contact the shaft in the cone head assembly, the shaft of the pressure plate assembly can be driven to rotate by a motor and screwed into or out of the threaded hole through its external thread, and the flange of the pressure plate can contact the inner mounting surface of the wheel rim from the inner side of the wheel to be dynamically balanced, so that the shaft of the pressure plate assembly screwed into the threaded hole can clamp the wheel rim between the cone head and the pressure plate, so that the wheel is clamped and can rotate freely around the operating axis of the dynamic balancing subsystem together with the pressure plate; When the threaded shaft in the pressure plate assembly is unscrewed from the shaft with the threaded hole in the cone head assembly, the pressure plate assembly can be separated from the cone head assembly to release the wheel. When the pressure plate assembly is separated from the cone head assembly, it can be transferred to the operating arm in the robot tool again and moved by the operating arm to a position away from the operating axis of the dynamic balancing subsystem.

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