Pneumatic tyre and road surface contact analyser - has scanner to measure smooth tyre contact characteristics using reflective coating which provides contact pattern

摘要

A pneumatic tyre with a smooth surface (1a) is covered with a material (16a) with a coefficient of reflection or diffusion of light different to the tyre surface, at a point in advance of the point of contact between tyre and road. The pattern left by the road surface on the tyre is measured by an optical scanner (24), the light source (17) using fibre optics (8). The angular displacement of the wheel is continuously monitored (10), the road surface is cleaned (12), and most of the covering material is removed from the tyre at each revolution (32).