Distributed pump self-inflating tire assembly
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorRobert Leon Benedict
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A self-inflating tire assembly includes one or more air tube(s) connected to a tire and having a plurality of adjoining diaphragm chambers separated by a one-way valve. An air passageway extends through the air tube and the diaphragm chambers. The one-way valve allows a directional passage of air through the valve from an inlet valve side an outlet valve side. The footprint in a rotating tire sequentially collapses the diaphragm chambers to directionally pump air through the one-way valve between the diaphragm chambers and along the air passageway from an air tube inlet device to an air tube outlet device.
Claims20
A self-inflating tire assembly comprising:
- (A) a rim having a tire mounting surface extending between first and second rim flanges;
- (B) a tire mounted to the rim tire mounting surface, the tire having a tire cavity, first and second sidewalls extending respectively from first and second tire bead regions to a tire tread region;
- (C) at least one air tube connected to the tire and having a plurality of adjoining diaphragm segments containing respective adjoining diaphragm chambers and an air passageway extending through the air tube and the diaphragm chambers, at least one adjacent pair of the adjoining diaphragm chambers separated by a one-way check valve allowing a directional passage of air through the valve from an inlet valve side to an outlet valve side, the air tube being composed of an elastic material operative to sequentially at least partially collapse the adjacent diaphragm segments passing near a rolling tire footprint to pump air through the one-way valve between the adjacent diaphragm chambers along the air passageway;
- (D) an inlet device positioned within the air passageway operative to pass air into the air passageway;
- (E) an outlet device positioned within the passageway operative in an open position to pass air within the air passageway into the tire cavity.
A self-inflating tire assembly comprising:
- (A) a rim having a tire mounting surface extending between first and second rim flanges;
- (B) a tire mounted to the rim tire mounting surface, the tire having a tire cavity, first and second sidewalls extending respectively from first and second tire bead regions to a tire tread region;
- (C) at least one air tube connected to the tire and having a plurality of adjoining diaphragm segments containing respective diaphragm chambers and an air passageway extending through the air tube and the diaphragm chambers, at least one adjacent pair of the adjoining diaphragm chambers separated by a one-way check valve, check valve substantially blocking the air passageway between the diaphragm chambers in a closed condition and at least partially opening in an open condition to allow a flow of air toward the outlet device;
- (D) the air tube being composed of an elastomeric material operative to sequentially compress the diaphragm chambers of the adjacent pair of the adjoining air tube segments to pump air through the one-way valve between the diaphragm chambers along the air passageway;
- (E) an inlet device positioned within the air passageway operative to pass air into the air passageway;
- (F) an outlet device positioned within the passageway operative in an open position to pass air within the air passageway into the tire cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.